Country : United Kingdom Label : Movementt Genres and styles : Afrobeat / Electro-Jazz / Electronic / Groove / House / Jazz-Funk / Soul Jazz Year : 2021

Emma-Jean Thackray – Yellow

· by Elsa Fortant

Originally from Yorkshire and now based in South London, Emma-Jean Thackray has always known she wanted to be an artist. It was only after playing in a number of soul and jazz bands in her home region that she trained in jazz composition at university. A multi-instrumentalist, singer, and producer, Thackray is a band in her own right, as proven by Ley Lines (2018), an album co-written by Gilles Peterson and Theo Parrish, which she produced entirely. Released on the label she created, Yellow offers a rich, organic sound recorded in the studio. It could perhaps be put in the easy-listening category, thanks to particularly catchy tracks like “Say Something”; one thing is certain, it’s more accessible than her previous EP Um Yang (2020) which played in the free-jazz court. The 14 compositions conjure up names like JDilla and Fela Kuti. The band leader is an Afrobeat lover and borrows her kick-hi-hat-snare rhythmic patterns from house music, which gives her work an unstoppable groove. Seeking to stimulate both mind and body, Thackray does not hesitate to emphasize the esoteric, as illustrated by the album cover (Sun Ra is not far away), the track “Third Eye” (“Just two eyes / They don’t see the truth / They only show what it takes to survive”), or the call to prayer “May There Be Peace”. With Yellow, Emma-Jean Thackray reminds us how much music connects us to ourselves, as well as to others.

Latest 360 Content

Transforming Hiroshima mon amour into contemporary opera: Christian Lapointe and Rosa Lind tell the story

Transforming Hiroshima mon amour into contemporary opera: Christian Lapointe and Rosa Lind tell the story

Sparks – MAD!

Sparks – MAD!

Peter Murphy – Silver Shade

Peter Murphy – Silver Shade

Ken Pomeroy – Cruel World

Ken Pomeroy – Cruel World

Art of the Line: Klangkarussell’s Euro Vision at SAT

Art of the Line: Klangkarussell’s Euro Vision at SAT

Centroamérica – a powerful docu-play about truth and connection in an age of distance and denial

Centroamérica – a powerful docu-play about truth and connection in an age of distance and denial

Lido Pimienta – La Belleza

Lido Pimienta – La Belleza

Tamir Barzilay – Phosphene Journal

Tamir Barzilay – Phosphene Journal

The best ‘’Candlelight concert‘’ ever.

The best ‘’Candlelight concert‘’ ever.

Men I Trust – Equus Caballus

Men I Trust – Equus Caballus

The Halluci Nation – Path of the Baby Face

The Halluci Nation – Path of the Baby Face

A lap steel guitar choir and an angel to end the Innovations en concert 24-25 season

A lap steel guitar choir and an angel to end the Innovations en concert 24-25 season

The OSM and Abel Selaocoe: Evenings When You’d Like to Stop Time

The OSM and Abel Selaocoe: Evenings When You’d Like to Stop Time

Reaching for the sky: Francis Choinière’s challenge to end his OPCM’s 10th season

Reaching for the sky: Francis Choinière’s challenge to end his OPCM’s 10th season

Piknic 3: A Little Bit of Everything Under the Sun

Piknic 3: A Little Bit of Everything Under the Sun

Cazzu – Latinaje

Cazzu – Latinaje

Stereolab – Instant Holograms On Metal Film

Stereolab – Instant Holograms On Metal Film

SMCQ | In memoriam Jocelyn Morlock

SMCQ | In memoriam Jocelyn Morlock

Abbey Road at Festival Classica

Abbey Road at Festival Classica

Mira Choquette – Hier encore

Mira Choquette – Hier encore

Jared Dunn; Anna Gorecka – Gorecki’s World of the Piano

Jared Dunn; Anna Gorecka – Gorecki’s World of the Piano

Cyrille Dubois; Tristan Raës – Dupont : The Complete Songs

Cyrille Dubois; Tristan Raës – Dupont : The Complete Songs

Subscribe to our newsletter