Szun Waves
New Hymn To Freedom
The Leaf Label Ltd
Szun Waves calls themselves a jazz trio – and that’s certainly true. Luke Abbott on synths, Laurence Pike (PVT) on drums with Jack Wyllie of Portico Quartet on sax create a wonderful mix of jazz, ambient and electronics that spans jazz – the title of the record is a remembrance of the Oscar Peterson Trio’s “Hymn To Freedom” from 1962 – and at times the group revels in ECM territory, but jazz is just a beginning.
New Hymn To Freedom is the groups second release, following 2016’s At Sacred Walls, and shows that in breaking new ground in jazz and improvised music one must look increasingly to the UK. Szun Waves creates their music in the same way as the mighty Can – by taking portions of jams among the three “until we had enough” for a record. This is pure improvising, no overdubs, no studio trickery. It’s the reaction of Wyllie’s sax against the cushion of Abbott’s modular synthesizer, with the subtle drums of Pike moving the music forward. Fans of Eno, krautrock and the sonic experiments of Sun Ra will find much to enjoy here.
