Radio Afloat

Layale Chaker is a Lebanese violinist and composer whose music draws rich inspiration from contemporary classical music, jazz improvisation and traditional Arabic forms. Radio Afloat is the second album recorded with her Sarafand chamber jazz quintet, and this new project certainly builds upon the inventive sounds pioneered on her 2019 Inner Rhyme (a Top of the World in April of that year). The album is built around the slightly surreal concept of ‘a radio lost at sea,’ a philosophical undercurrent which Chaker uses to contemplate various themes: the natural environment, human agency, the intertwined destiny of humanity. Pianist Phillip Golub, bassist Sam Minaie and drummer John Hadfield make up the rhythm section and provide jazz-infused accompaniment. Nimble ride cymbals and walking basslines underpin tracks such as ‘Khab Nisan’ and ‘Sketch – Unraveled’, and Golub’s ingenious use of a microtonal keyboard elevates these jazzier moments with spicy intervals and wonky intonations. Chaker is joined by cellist Jake Charkey, and a distinctly Arabic flavour emerges from their chromatic melodies and microtonal improvisations on tracks such as ‘Southern Sky’ and the two-part ‘Anatomie of Titus’. For listeners keen to hear more of the classical dimensions of Chaker’s music, In a Circle Records is simultaneously releasing a sister record from Chaker and the string quartet ETHEL, titled Vigil.