Kaleidoscopic Vision

Most music fans know drummer/composer Tom Skinner as one third of the Smile with Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood. Since 1998 hes been a first-call session and touring musician who has amassed more than 200 credits with artists ranging from Ingrid Laubrock to Byron Wallen. He was a founding member of Sons of Kemet and played with African artists including Mulatu Astatke and the Owiny Sigoma Band. Kaleidoscopic Visions is Skinners second studio album as a leader following 2022s Voices of Bishara. This set retains some of the players from the earlier album, namely bassist Tom Herbert and cellist Kareem Dayes, alongside saxophonists Chelsea Carmichael and Robert Stillman, guitarist Adrian Utley, and vocal guests Meshell Ndegeocello, Contour, and Yaffra. More than the earlier work, this set bridges most of Skinners musical interests. Voices of Bishara was built around the inspiration of cellist Abdul Waduds 1978 solo cello masterpiece By Myself. This set is composed of original pieces written and arranged for the sextet. The first half consists of compelling, quirky, instrumental compositions performed by his live band. Note opener "Theres Nothing to Be Scared Of" that sounds like a cue from a film score. "Auster" employs double bass and trap kit as accompaniment for Carmichaels circular flute pattern and solo. The band ratchets the intensity without sacrificing the melody as Stillmans soprano saxophone dissonantly solos in the backdrop. The single "Margaret Anne" is introduced with low-end drums playing rhythms from Africa, Brazil, and Cuba, as cello, soprano sax, and bass wind around an expressionist melody that straddles East and West with each chorus. The title track is introduced with rolling tom-toms before double bass, cello, tenor saxophone, and processional drumming lead it into speculative territory, making use of subtle harmonies, overtones, and syncopation before the blissed-out, Yusef Lateef-esque "MHA" presents cello and bass under saxophone and clarinet lines. The albums second half features vocal collaborations. Meshell Ndegeocello appears on "The Maxim," and at ten minutes, its the albums longest track. Gentle, interwoven saxophone patterns meet a plucked, folksy bassline (Ndegeocello) and softly insistent drums. They commingle to find a ghostly groove as she sings warmly, framing the songs pillowy textural flow until the latter half, when Utley, keyboards, and dubwise horns abstract the body of the tune while underscoring it. Contour appears on the nocturnal "Logue" let by Skinners snare, subtle saxes, and a double bass. His tender baritone caresses the lyric from the mix as the instrumental melody walks a tightrope between neo-soul, jazz, and pop. Yaffra is the centerpiece of set closer "See How They Run." Introduced by ringing vibes, subtle drums and bass, and cello with seemingly alien sonics. A shuffling drum kit frames his jazzy rap over stacked crooning backing vocals. In the end, Kaleidoscopic Visions is a further step in Skinners evolution as a composer and conceptualist. He delivers a modern jazz recording constructed from sounds, strategies, and sonorities collected across his decades-long career and uses them to create something bracingly different. ~ Thom Jurek