Burn (Bonus Track Version)

Some new faces in jazz are working well outside the norm. Each has his or her own idea of what that means, but it seems that for Sons of Kemet, this means blending brass-band oomph, jittery beats, and dubby production touches, as well as jazz fusion and bebop melodies. Featuring reedist Shabacka Hutchings, tuba player Oren Marshall, and drummers Tom Skinner and Seb Rochford, the quartet makes its stunning debut with Burn, which includes nine originals and a well-chosen cover of “Rivers of Babylon.” Though leading the charge, Hutchings contributes the most conventional elements, usually creating naturalistic tones and hummable melodies using the clarinet on “Going Home” or the saxophone on “Inner Babylon.” The wild card is the rhythm section: Marshall’s range goes from funky New Orleans or Balkan percolations to long, didgeridoo-like tones while the two drummers create dense rhythmic tapestries, spacy sounds, and tribal beats. Other highlights include the manic “All Will Surely Burn” and the eerie “The Book of Disquiet.” It's a wonderful and mysterious adventure of an album.