ESKA: ESKA - review

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ESKA

(Naim Audio)

Having turned up as guest vocalist on records by chill-out specialists Zero 7 and nu-jazzers The Cinematic Orchestra, Eska Mtungwazi's solo debut initially adopts a similar course. The music is a relaxed composite of jazz and soul, covered in a subtle electronic sheen (electronic musician Matthew Herbert is a co-producer).

But then the songs alter course, taking flight into baroque folk-pop ("She's in the Flowers" and R&B-inflected dub-reggae ("Heroes & Villains"). The versatility is echoed by Mtungwazi's vocals, which combine the rare knack of expressiveness and precision, roaming around the scale not in a showy display of virtuosity but as the music requires.

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