Audiopile Review: Back to back slam dunks from Astigmatic Records, the debut album from Uniri follows quickly on from the EABS album we highlighted last week. Uniri is helmed by drummer Tim “Chiminyo” Doyle, a mainstay of the UK jazz scene who has been behind the kit for acts like Cykada and Maisha, issuing albums on Brownswood, Gearbox and Night Dreamer. He’s joined here by several other in-demand UK jazz musicians who have played with Nubya Twist, Jorja Smith and Gary Bartz among others. The energetic quartet pair duelling synths with bass and drums, juxtaposing the hip-hop and funk rooted rhythm section with the atmospheric bliss of their vintage gear. Higher energy workouts like “Oneoiric Voyage”, “Neptune’s Arck” and “Celestial Waves”, are fuelled by the caffeinated and ceaseless drumming of Doyle, supplying an endless rhythm for the twin keyboardists to take flight above. An electro-jazz-funk blast to the stars! A captivating debut that sits nicely in the realm already carved out by the like of The Comet Is Coming, Yussef Dayes or even Misha Panfilov.

Every 20 years or so, certain musical movements come full circle. Young musicians are inspired by genres dating back two decades, channelling them through their modern sensibility. The legendary J Dilla’s Donuts album was released in 2006 and instantly marked a starting point for the work of musicians worldwide, laying the foundations especially for the beat scene in Los Angeles. A whole young generation of musicians brought up on the new, instrumental and abstract hip-hop has carried jazz into a new era. The four London-based musicians who make up Uniri have gone one step further by abandoning the idea of a jazz band and “bedroom production” in favour of collective composing, creating a new look at the new-beat aesthetics, framing it as a road novel set in an unspecified time and space.

Uniri translates as ‘one unified dream’ and is the key driving motto of the project conceived by Chiminyo (Cykada, Maisha), the band’s founder and head honcho. The project materialised in his private studio, where he invited fellow jazz musicians Amane Tsuganami (Jorja Smith, Maisha), Al Macsween (Nubya Garcia, Gary Bartz, Kefaya) and Luke Wynter (Nubyan Twist, Golden Mean) to spontaneously compose together. Hence, despite this being the band’s first album, it wouldn’t be right to call them rookies. The result of Uniri’s collaborative work is the psychedelic, rhythmic album Infinite Reflections, packed with cosmic and warm synths, which neatly balances hip-hop beat and jazz composition. It’s safe to say this music is even more appealing when played live, although it’s equally suited to the club dancefloor.

UK Jazz has become a permanent fixture in the London landscape, but also across Europe and the US. Today, the musicians who shape the new wave of jazz are drawing on more and more genres, reducing solo improvisation for the benefit of composition and increasingly drawing on influences from the beat scene. Among such formations are the British NOK Cultural Ensemble, the Polish Błoto, the Belgian ECHT!, and the Dutch Comité Hypnotisé. Uniri is part of this emerging yet already international trend, creating an entirely fresh aesthetic that echoes artists such as Flying Lotus, Samiyam, Dorian Concept, Ras G and Nosaj Things oriented around the Californian ‘new beats generation’ scene.

The title Infinite Reflections alludes to a phenomenon observable on the open sea or during intercontinental flights. Gazing at the horizon blurs the boundary between the ocean and the sky, forming an infinite palette of blue shades. This inspiration sparked an elusive musical narrative, navigating between a sea voyage and an astral journey, destination unknown.