Audiopile Review: Alfa Mist, the London-based pianist and producer once again teams up with drummer Richard Spaven, a long-time active member of the city’s ever-vibrant jazz scene and collaborator with the likes of Flying Lotus and Goldie. Alfa Mist has never been one to shy away from his love of hip-hop, incorporating a break-centric backbone to his vibe-y jazz albums, not to mention always leaving spots for a guest MC or two. 44th Move, who finally dish a debut full length after teasing an EP five years back, continue to amplify this melding, advancing further into a territory where it becomes difficult to see where one ends and the other begins. With Spaven’s precise, tireless and Dilla-esque time shift drumming as the driving force, Alfa Mist stacks up his haunted piano, vibrant keys, sneaky bass lines, and wistful flutes with the deftness and ingenuity of a hip-hop producer repurposing a dusty set of old soul-jazz LPs. All this reverse-engineering brings to mind Questlove and his reintegration of live jazz back into hip-hop production during The Roots’ incredible string of records in the ‘90s is surely on the mind of Alfa Mist as he takes up that mantle.

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44th Move is the combined creative force of world class Jazz talents Alfa Mist & Richard Spaven. As individuals both artists have a rich history spanning classic projects like Alfa’s Antiphon & Rich’s legendary drum work with Flying Lotus and Goldie. When coming together as 44th Move they caused an immediate stir with their genre busting forays into Dance and Hip Hop. Anthem is their debut album where they continue the tradition of an R&D mindstate. Here they combine forces with Bristol turntablist royalty Awkward and Detroit Rapper / Producer Quelle Chris. The album moves through Hip Hop, Techno and DnB influences while remaining firmly rooted in a Jazz-ified sonic palette.