Ji

This pairing between German ex-Embryo bassist Pollheide and Indian sitar player Imran Khan marks the culmination of seven years of collaborative friendship. You can sense a familiarity borne of long hours spent jamming in their natural melding of jazz and Indian classical styles.

Opener ‘Syncopated Charukeshi’ is a suitable case in point as Pollheide’s jazz-inflected bass lines curl sinuously around Khan’s courtly sitar or engage with it in compelling call-and-response exchanges. On ‘Stay at Home Blues’ the bassist’s fretless chord changes provide a pliable base for some dreamily beautiful improvisations by Imran. Indian percussionist Ishteyak Khan and Turkish darbuka player Fethi Ak add similarly sympathetic musicianship, their virtuosic rhythms providing fluid backing throughout. The addition of Catrin Groth’s breathy saxophone and Pollheide’s flitting flute give the likes of ‘Cat Race’ and ‘Salomon’s Seal’ a more jazz-orientated feel. Best of all is ‘Inner Love’ whose slowly undulating waves of rhythm provide hypnotic backing for some incandescent soloing by Imran. A very welcome addition to the ever-expanding Indo-jazz canon.