Racines

As the album’s French title would suggest, tenor saxophonist JB Moundele here explores the traditional West African ‘roots’ of jazz, blues and funk. Joined by Mbady Diabaté on kora and Bruno Desbiolles on percussion, this is essentially a jazz trio album in which the typical accompanying instruments have been swapped for traditional West African instruments. Tenor sax jazz greats such as John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders and Gato Barbieri are clear musical influences, particularly in the way that the improvisational language of jazz is used as a bridge to explore the varied sounds of world music. Diabaté’s expertly plucked kora gives the album a shimmering, harmonic quality. Desbiolles’ rich array of percussive sounds creates intelligent polyrhythmic interplay with Moundele’s muscular tenor. Throughout, the album is underpinned by an astute musicality and a deep appreciation of history. However, there is, regrettably, a noticeable drop in intensity in the second half of the record.