Tag Archives: Sarathy Korwar

On Record: Akusmi – Terra Incognita (Tonal Union)

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Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Akusmi, the vehicle of London-based French composer Pascal Bideau, looks to match the impact and ambition of its first two albums with a third instalment.

The press release promises a great deal, namely an invitation to “seven faraway sonic imaginariums fusing global and spiritual jazz with life affirming minimalism into a hypnotic, polyrhythmic odyssey”.

Joining Bideau on this odyssey are a host of musicians, even though he himself is something of a one-man band. Terra Incognita features Sarathy Korwar (tabla), Dudú Kouate (percussion, ngoni and flutes), Levitation Orchestra’s Marysia Osu (harp) and Lluís Domènech Plana (flutes) and Daniel Brandt, providing electronics on Anima.

What’s the music like?

Richly colourful. There is a lot going on in Akusmi’s music, a hive of activity that rewards repeated listening, where the intricate inner parts and the freedom of the outer voices can be fully appreciated. The methods and techniques have deepened since previous album Fleeting Future, so the sound is more intricate, but the joy and warmth that make his music so attractive are here again in generous measures.

A Waking Dream is indeed like the start of a new day, starting with nocturnal rustlings but settling into a groove of crossrhythms and bright instrumental colours. Anima and Pleine Lune build on this, the latter especially a riot of colour, with the saxophone flying free up above. Rain Dance is even more propulsive, the ensemble swaying in a dazzling show of unity, while everything comes to a head in Dawning Dusk, an exhilarating track topped by Dudú Kouate’s multi-layered vocal. Kouate it is who secures the swagger to Drongo’s Flute, where the saxophone enjoys further freedom above the groove set by the Senegalese percussionist.

While jazz and Afrobeat are obvious influences here the musical processes Bideau uses are aligned closer to Reich or Glass, taking minimal riffs and developing them through communal means that build the musical intensity. The instrumental colours charm and bewitch, the musical equivalent of throwing open the windows on a sunny day.

Does it all work?

It really does, as Terra Incognita becomes an album of enduring positivity.

Is it recommended?

Yes, wholeheartedly. This is music with the most vibrant colours, reflecting its cover through grooves that sing and dance in unity. A life-affirming album reaffirming Pascal Bideau as a composer who knows no boundaries.

For fans of… Floating Points, Brandt Brauer Frick, Christian Prommer, Philip Glass, Terry Riley

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Published post no.2,957 – Friday 24 July 2026

On Record – Flock: Flock (Strut Records)

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flock

written by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The music for Flock was recorded all on one day, 27 August 2020, at The Fish Factory in London. It was the culmination of a project overseen by multi-instrumentalist Bex Burch, band leader of Vula Viel. She assembled a group of five musicians to respond to texts she had written as scores, as a basis for improvisation – or ‘murmuration’, as she described.

Her partners in the project were Sarathy Korwar (drums and tabla), Dan ‘Danalogue’ Leavers (fender rhodes, roland juno-60, upright piano and roland SH-09 bass synth) Al MacSween (prepared piano, piano, Moog sub37) and Tamar Osborn (bass clarinet, flute, soprano saxophone and EHX deluxe memory boy). Burch assigned herself a wide variety of instruments, credited for contributions on gyil, vibraphone, bass drum, shakers, bells, gong, snake drum and electronics.

What’s the music like?

Instinctive, to put it mildly – but fascinating, atmospheric and intense. The key here is that the improvisations are focused, especially the 13 minutes and 35 seconds of It’s Complicated, and even the slightly longer, hypnotic How many are one? The musical chemistry between the players is striking, and it says a lot that with a track such as Prepare to let go, led by Korwar on foreground percussion, there is still plenty of room for each line to make itself heard. This one in particular is led equally by him on tabla and percussion but also by the insistent, jagged groove at the lower end of proceedings, with some intriguing electronics going on up top. My resonance is another track where the ensemble gel seamlessly, the melodies colourfully distributed and developed.

The keyboards are economically used, and the dynamics are carefully managed, and the percussion detailed but providing much of the backbone. Tracks like Bold dream become rituals, with energetic and almost trancey figures in the half light. There is humour in this track, too, the performers laughing at the way it peters out – nicely caught in the recording.

The icing on the cake, however, are Tamar Osborn’s contributions on woodwind. The combination of bass clarinet and keyboards is wonderfully spooky as Sounds welcome takes shape, the atmospherics like a leftfield detective series. Gradually the track blossoms into a richer, mellow mid-range, where the mournful tones of the saxophone are complemented with percussion and keys.

The bass clarinet begins It’s complicated with an Eastern flavoured soliloquy, a fascinating solo that gradually climbs in pitch and volume as the other instruments join, rising to a tumult of percussion and a rush of noise. The storm quickly abates, the intensity sinking back to a held drone and more clarinet ruminations, before a minimal exchange of ideas takes hold.

Some of the timbres the group secure are fascinating. What purpose has a mellow flute and sedentary piano complementing each other, set against more spatial electronics,

Does it all work?

Yes. The results are electric at times as the players bounce off each other, and it is fascinating listening to a one-off experience, where things go in unexpected directions at times but where the changing colours and moods are compelling.

Is it recommended?

Enthusiastically. This is an improvised gathering of white hot intensity, and the results are consistently compelling. Even if such projects prove daunting to you musically, you are encouraged to listen to Flock, for they make extremely rewarding music.

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