Posted on 7 July 2020 7 July 2020Group: Album of the day

Greg Foat – Symphonie Pacifique | Album of the day 7th of July 2020

Pianist and composer Greg Foat was in a rich vein of form in 2019 with an armful of albums and collaborations and this year sees no let up as he follows his joint project with Linkwood with a sublime album of jazz, classical and ambient. The surging title track brings to mind the likes of GoGo Penguin, the pulsating ‘Anticipation’ is a swaggering slab of sax lead jazz while the muscular ‘Yonaguni’ is carried along on bubbling percussion and a chunky bass that gives it an irresistible groove. ‘Island Life’ has a raw, funky head nodding groove that brings it close to several cuts from his acclaimed ‘The Dreaming Jewels’ set from 2019, the thumping ‘Nikinakinu’ is a driving slab of funky jazz worthy of anything that came out of the Strata East stable of the 70s while the heavily percussive loops of ‘Man Vs Machine’ demonstrate how much he can engage with just a simple refrain. The sublime ‘After The Storm’ is a stunningly melancholic pies of ambient classical, the warm spiritual ‘Lament For Lamont’ is similar in feel and quality to certain cuts from Chip Wickham’s ‘Blue To Red’ while the atmospheric ‘Mother’s Love’ has a floating, ethereal quality that slowly unfurls. This is absolutely one of the best new jazz albums of 2020. Unmissable.