Rich Brown – Nyaeba

Rich Brown is a bassist based in Toronto. With Nyaeba, the artist is pushing the electric bass where few dare to go. With his instrument, he creates fantastic sounds, that are all created naturally in studio, and then united with multitracking. No looping, no sequencing. It is thus amazing that everywhere we hear so many overtones of surprising sonorities like thumb-piano, pizzicato strings, percussions, etc. Brown constructs rather abstract but light and clear panoramas that sometimes nod to Alice Coltrane and Ornette Coleman in some aspects. He also provides beautiful but only occasional lyricism, something we do not usually associate with this instrument. In these times, Rich Brown has the soul of a manding griot telling poignant and mesmerizing stories. We would have liked more of this, as other tracks seem very much on the pouncing side and not enough on narrative storytelling. 

An album with discreet charm.