Chiminyo
NRG 1

Chiminyo – NRG1 (NRG Discs)

Percussionist and drummer Chiminyo (Tim Doyle) is an entertaining force on the contemporary London scene, a drummer that transgresses boundaries of genre in his own exuberant and energetically heightened style. His solo work sees him play almost as a one-man band, activating synth patches and basslines on pads and drum triggers that act as an extension of his drum kit. A founding member of the group Maisha, Chiminyo has toured with the likes of Gary Bartz as a percussionist, as well as being a permanent fixture of the group Cykada, finding himself behind the drumkit. Doyle is a versatile and creative musician, capable of alternating between straight up percussion duties and kit drumming without hesitation, while demonstrating a natural understanding of global pulses, from South American, Caribbean and African rhythmical sources. Throw some contemporary electronic music such as grime, jungle and broken beat into the mixture and this just about sums up the kind of sound that Chiminyo expresses, a hybrid style of contemporary London “jazz” that leans heavily on diasporic African links and electronic music, a true melting pot of styles which make up what some have termed London’s “jazz renaissance”. This, his first self-released and funded project on fledgling imprint NRG Discs, sees Chiminyo collaborate with recognisable names on the London circuit; Yelfis Valdés – trumpet (Yusef Kamaal); Amané Suganami – synths (Jorja Smith); Luke Wynter – bass (Golden Mean, Nubiyan Twist) among other guests and cameos.

NRG1 is the first in a series of albums taken from a live session which Chiminyo hosts every four months. Each of these sessions will be recorded live and pressed up exclusively on an extremely limited run of vinyl: this press is limited to 200, although there are optimistic plans to increase capacity and production as the event grows. The next NRG session on the sixth of May at Ninety-One Living Room will be the best place in London to get your hands on a copy of NRG, while NRG2 will be recorded that evening, the subsequent LP physically available at the next event. A novel way of keeping the punters interested. With the likes of Steamdown and Jazz Re:freshed hosting live events on a weekly basis, Chiminyo’s concept falls within this bracket, experimental, improvised music informed by jazz, yet linked inextricably to electronic music and urban contemporary, a sound uniquely by London and its cultural and creative environs. The musical content of the album is totally improvised, jammed through and spoken about beforehand for structural clarity: solos don’t run on too long, and the tracks feel neat and cohesive, nothing overrunning the six-minute mark. Groovy dialoguing and tactful improvisation sit at the core of NRG1, the excitement of the room as palpable as it is audible. The set opens with Raze, a frenetic, up-tempo affair—a track that could foreseeably accommodate some harsh ragga vocals, a high octane outing which harks towards the tempo and aesthetic of output from labels such as Metalheadz. A quick number, that tests the group’s stamina early on. Personal highlight Elegua, the Yoruban deity for trumpeter Valdés, shimmers with atmospherics and a sub-aquatic ambience. It also features Valdés in prayer, cleansing the room and chanting the names of the players in a rare display of mystic spiritualism, while the music journeys through Latin and electronic soundscapes. Free Form features some visceral vocal stylings from emcee Temesgen Samuel a gritty, streetwise experience that draws on grime influences and sub-bass stylings for added bite. Overall, a rare, independent slab of contemporary London styles, an energetic live performance with slick musical interplay between players with open ears.