Terra Boa

This debut album from London bassist, composer and bandleader Jonny Wickham presents a heartfelt love letter to Afro-Brazilian rhythmic traditions. The scene-setting opener ‘Mono No Aware’ gently draws you into a beguiling soundworld, a free-time, multilayered collage. Motifs on handpan, guitar and piano, coupled with a constantly shifting bed of percussion, gradually coalesce into a beautiful melodic line presented first in soprano sax and guitar, before being taken up by the crystalline tones of vocalist Irini Arabatzi, who is a key presence throughout. ‘Neon Muse’ reveals a different facet of Wickham's artistry, a sumptuous ballad (with lyrics by Yasmin Nabavi) blessed with a big-hearted contribution from Tom Barford on tenor sax. Underpinned by the incredibly rich superimposition of maculelê, ijexá and maracatu rhythms, the sublime ‘Space and Time’ features one of this year's great earworms in the form of Arabatzi and guitarist Greg Sanders’ unison melodic line. With music by Wickham and lyrics (in Portuguese) by London-based singer-songwriter Inês Loubet Franco, the pulsating, samba-fuelled title track crackles with life and a compelling, danceable energy. An album which ranges from the most delicate, susurrating timbres to the most forceful improvisational freedom, Terra Boa is a fascinating, brilliantly realised collection.