Audiopile Review: From his recent work with Miles Spilsbury, his ongoing collaborative “Carlos Niño & Friends” albums for the International Anthem label, the spiritual and musical guidance on Andre 3000’s New Blue Sun, and a hotly anticipated new album on Leaving Records just around the corner, Carlos Niño has become, in our summation, one of the most important figures in not only contemporary jazz but also ambient music, the two genres usually crossing paths when he’s involved. And that’s exactly what we’ve got here with this trio’s slow burning ambient-jazz drifter. Joined by his longtime collaborator, the guitarist and A-list producer Nate Mercereau, as well as renowned multi-instrumentalist Idris Ackamoor of the legendary 70s jazz outfit The Pyramids, the trio lift above the mist of the humid jungle floor with their free-flowing exchange of synths, bells, field recordings, panflutes, and aquatic percussion, lead by the bleary laments of Ackamoor’s saxophone. This is gonna be a necessary grip for the growing cult of Niño.

Free, Dancing . . . is the first release by a new trio with percussionist and producer Carlos Niño, luminary multi-instrumentalist Idris Ackamoor (of The Pyramids) and wizard guitarist, producer Nate Mercereau. They have been playing concerts together in California since June 2022, sharing a unique vibrant sound, findings and energetics…