By Charlie Maybee
London based jazz guitarist, Jamie Leeming, is back with a soul stirring debut EP titled Resynthesis. With the contemplative album opener titled “Shinkansen”, he kicks off an extended moment of zen with a thoughtful collection of tracks that is sure to carry any careful listener off into musical sunset.
The solo instruments of “Shinkansen” (primarily guitar and saxophone) contrast each other heavily with their musical approaches. Leeming takes a more ambience, psychedelic approach that could fade into the primordial void at any moment, while the saxophonist (UK legend, Nathaniel Facey, for this track) digs into brow-furrowing, off-kilter rhythms that push against such an ethereal foundation.
It is an exciting mix that combines the rhythmic push and pull of bebop with more contemporary, electronic sounds and effects added in for cosmic effect that feels larger than the sum of its parts. While it feels laid back and relaxed, there is an electricity that pulses beneath the surface activating the nerves into a state of openness. What one can expect to receive from it musically will probably change depending on what the listener brings themselves. Each song that follows has this same open circuit of electricity that flows easily, but with no apparent destination – simply guided into place by the listener as they float through an eclectic pool of ethereal tones and propulsive rhythms.
“Shinkansen” is available on major streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. Find this and more great music on the Alchemical Records Multigenre Mixture playlist on Spotify.
Charlie Maybee is a dancer, musician, educator, and writer based in Charleston, South Carolina who currently teaches with the Dance Program at the College of Charleston. His primary work as an artist is with his performing collective, Polymath Performance Project, through which he makes interdisciplinary performance art that centers tap dance as the primary medium of expression and research. He also currently plays rhythm guitar for the Charleston-based punk band, Anergy, and releases music as a solo artist under the name Nox Eterna.
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Alchemical Records is a Washington, D.C. based music publication. We cover the Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Richmond, VA metro area music scenes, including band interviews, articles about your favorite musicians, new music and concert dates.
