CD Review: Soweto Kinch, Conversations With The Unseen
9.2.2004

By Jason Caffrey
jason@jazznation.co.uk

Personnel: Soweto Kinch (alto sax/rap vocals), Femi Temowo (guitar), Michael Olatuja (double bass), Troy Miller (drums), plus special guests Abram Wilson (trumpet/vocals) and Eska Mtungwazi (vocals).

Remember when you first started listening to jazz, finding your way around the cornerstones of the repertoire, discovering the greats and the great recordings?

It felt good didn't it? And so does this! It's been quite a while since I last got such a thrill from a first listening to an artist. So what is it about Conversations with the Unseen that's got me standing in front of the stereo, head-to-toe foot-tapping and shouting 'Oh Yeah!' at the speakers?

First and foremost, Soweto Kinch swings - hard. I'm talking here about a tough, balls-to-bone kind of swing. Soweto's got something of that tight-but-loose thing going on, and a relaxed, joyful lilt to his playing. And in case you're in any doubt, his timing is bang on. On the crest of the wave, or sitting back on it, Kinch is in the pocket every time.

While some other British artists are turning away from an essentially straight ahead style, Kinch, who counts MOBO and Mercury prizes amongst his accolades, is drawing on the examples of the heavyweights of the jazz canon. The imprint left by Charlie Parker in Soweto's playing can be heard plainly in Doxology, as can the harmonic legacy of Coltrane's Giant Steps. But this isn't a retrospective. Kinch quotes Ornette Coleman as a growing influence, pointing to the freedom his approach offers, and this can be detected in some of the arrangements on this hugely impressive debut.

With a sound that has some of the rough edge of Jackie Maclean, Kinch introduces the title track unaccompanied, before slipping into a ballad tempo groove that offers plenty of room to stretch out. Snake hips switches between a hypnotic beguine and a classic mid-tempo swing which, to quote Dizzy Gillespie, 'will make you slap your Grand Mama'. Equiano's Tears features the kind of explosive virtuosity that Kinch displays throughout.

This CD is a superb opening shot from an outstanding player ready to take risks. Soaring sky-high, or shooting form the hip, Soweto Kinch is bluesy, energetic and raw as hell.

Conversations with the Unseen? I'll take three dozen.