A Matter of Time
by Laufey
Two years ago, when reviewing the Bewitched album by this Icelandic-Chinese, Berklee-educated singer and cellist, we noted she was the most streamed jazz artist in 2022.
It’s easy to understand her popularity, especially with this further instalment of her sophisticated, orchestrated originals and a style acknowledging Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan.
However, she’s also a lyricist bringing a deft touch to material like the folk-set Snow White, about perceptions of women and body image: “The world is a sick place, at least for a girl. The people want beauty; skinny always wins.”
She can sell her break-up pop-jazz (with a female friend in Castle in Hollywood), shuffle in some bossa nova cool (skewering the superficial Mr Eclectic) and get earthy amidst the poised sheen of Silver Lining: “When you go to hell I’ll go there with you too. And when we’re punished for being cruel, the silver lining’s I’ll be there with you too.”
She also has a sassy take on Taylor Swift-type revenge in Tough Luck: “I’ve had enough of waiting ’til you lie and cheat, just like you did to the actress before me. Oops, she doesn’t even know.”
Laufey offers a smart distillation of jazz and contemporary pop which some might dismiss as MOR. That’s true to some extent, especially with the instrumental “interlude” Cuckoo Ballet, an internal overture that sounds dropped in from a romantic animated Disney feature.
But that criticism would miss the nuances of the lush arrangements, the pointed writing – many with co-producer Spencer Stewart, a fellow Berklee graduate in jazz and film scoring; A Cautionary Tale with The National’s Aaron Dessner, who has worked with Swift – and her persuasively versatile voice even when dropping a profanity (Clean Air). Listen without prejudice, as the man said.
The Prophet and the Madman
by Ami Taf Ra
The ecstatic trance sound of Moroccan music seduced Rolling Stone Brian Jones and jazz musician Ornette Coleman. Jones recorded the Master Musicians of Joujouka, Coleman performed with them over the decades. Others influenced have been Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, saxophonist Pharoah Sanders and Peter Gabriel. These days, of course, some traffic flows the other way, and Moroccan artists have been influenced by pop, hip-hop, reggae, jazz and rock.
The striking Ami Taf Ra, Moroccan-born but now based in Los Angeles, comes to attention on this debut, produced by Kamasi Washington with support from young, hip West Coast jazz artists.
Inspired by Khalil Gibran’s philosophical book The Prophet, her soaring vocals sit atop tumbling rhythms, rolling piano and funk guitars on the busy How I Became a Madman, indulge in high drama on Love, with trombonist Ryan Porter, which swerves into a lavish MOR soundtrack, and the majestic, lyrically dense nine-minute jazz-fusion ballad The Prophet.
Also here are God (she competes with furious jazz-rock guitar and bass) and 1970s soul-funk, for My Friend and, most impressive, Khalil, with choral backing.
But overall, this isn’t the transcendental, spiritual jazz album some might expect from the publicity. And Washington’s all-in, kitchen-sink approach regularly overwhelms her often mainstream vocal.
These albums are available digitally, on CD and vinyl.
