Mammal Hands

Since 2012, the British trio has invented a form of post jazz that follows on beautifully from Portico Quarter and Gogo Penguin. In the space of two albums they have gained a solid stage reputation based on hypnotic jazz fusion imbued with folk and electro. Rolling on the waves of Bonobo, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Gilles Peterson, Pharoah Sanders, Cinematic Orchestra and Jamie Cullum and signed to Matthew Halsall’s Gondwana Records, they skilfully sail through choppy waters churning contemporary pop with serious jazz. Drawing on a wealth of influences such as Sufi music, shaman trance, Irish and Balkan folklore, their sound is built around deceptively simple ideas that gain power and complexity as the rhythmic loops wind and unwind.

Line-up : Jordan Smart (sax), Nick Smart (p) and Jesse Barrett (dms, perc)

Photo : © Tom Barrett