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

Lifeguard – Ripped and Torn

Lifeguard – Ripped and Torn

Brainwasher – At Least It Beats an Actor

Brainwasher – At Least It Beats an Actor

Nicholas Daniel – Complete Works for Oboe by Madeleine Dring

Nicholas Daniel – Complete Works for Oboe by Madeleine Dring

Christine Tassan; Marie-Véronique Bourque – Bruissement boréal

Christine Tassan; Marie-Véronique Bourque – Bruissement boréal

Lanaudière Festival | Metropolitan Orchestra/Yannick Nézet-Séguin/Marc-André Hamelin: When Nature Drives the Concert

Lanaudière Festival | Metropolitan Orchestra/Yannick Nézet-Séguin/Marc-André Hamelin: When Nature Drives the Concert

Festival de Lanaudière | Sol Gabetta : Queen of the cello meets les Violons du Roy

Festival de Lanaudière | Sol Gabetta : Queen of the cello meets les Violons du Roy

Friday night at the Dômesicle – All night long with Jump Source

Friday night at the Dômesicle – All night long with Jump Source

Éli Doyon et la Tempête – Attraper le ciel avant qu’il tombe

Éli Doyon et la Tempête – Attraper le ciel avant qu’il tombe

Barbara Hannigan; Katia et Marielle Labèque – Electric Fields

Barbara Hannigan; Katia et Marielle Labèque – Electric Fields

Fire, Fungi, and Family Fun: The ShazamFest XX Experience

Fire, Fungi, and Family Fun: The ShazamFest XX Experience

Festival de Lanaudière | Kent Nagano: The eternal, and always welcome, return

Festival de Lanaudière | Kent Nagano: The eternal, and always welcome, return

Tyler, the Creator – DON’T TAP THE GLASS

Tyler, the Creator – DON’T TAP THE GLASS

Off Piknic with Gorgon City, Dennis Ferrer, Riordan, and Linska

Off Piknic with Gorgon City, Dennis Ferrer, Riordan, and Linska

Jeff Bridges – Slow Magic, 1977-1978

Jeff Bridges – Slow Magic, 1977-1978

Piknic Electronik | DJ Fuckoff Turns Up The Heat for Pep Rally

Piknic Electronik | DJ Fuckoff Turns Up The Heat for Pep Rally

Orford 2025 | Collectif9: folk that innovates and grooves

Orford 2025 | Collectif9: folk that innovates and grooves

Nuits d’Afrique 2025 | The next global star of Tuareg blues is born, and it is in Montreal

Nuits d’Afrique 2025 | The next global star of Tuareg blues is born, and it is in Montreal

Ruby Creek – Forget Me Not

Ruby Creek – Forget Me Not

Clipse – Let God Sort Em Out

Clipse – Let God Sort Em Out

Ross Lee Finney : Landscapes Remembered

Ross Lee Finney : Landscapes Remembered

Lanaudière Festival | The Sparkle of Strauss, Schumann, and Brahms in Joliette

Lanaudière Festival | The Sparkle of Strauss, Schumann, and Brahms in Joliette

Wet Leg – moisturizer

Wet Leg – moisturizer

Sister Ray – Believer

Sister Ray – Believer

Festival de Lanaudière | Franco Fagioli and the voice of bel canto

Festival de Lanaudière | Franco Fagioli and the voice of bel canto

Subscribe to our newsletter