Shay Hazan - Reclusive Rituals

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 175, March 2022.

Shay Hazan
Reclusive Rituals
Batov Records (24 mins)

In his first album for Batov Records, Tel Aviv-based jazz bassist Shay Hazan takes his sound in a different direction. Turning his fingerwork to the Moroccan Gnawa guimbri (bass lute) and pointing his headspace towards an ultra-cool instrumental funk, Hazan set out to create an album ‘in order to satisfy the inner urge for simple grooves.’ And groovy it is.

An obvious referent here comes in the shape of jazz’s hip Gen Z sibling, lo-fi hip-hop: wavy, nostalgic synths, wonky J Dilla-inspired beats and even a vinyl crackle are washed over the whole album. Together with sparse, layered rhythms and delay-drenched trumpet, it exudes that laid-back, go-with-the-flow vibe. Different ingredients are added here and there, with Afrobeat, Saharan rock and more straight-ahead jazz all stirring in comfortably into the mix (albeit with curiously little Gnawa thrown in, considering the distinctive presence of the guimbri).

It’s a bit of a shame that this album is so short. The eight tracks come to just under 25 minutes in total, and when it comes to an end, it just feels a bit unresolved. What is here, though, is a lovely little exploration into a juicy, chilled-out groove.

Gonora Sounds - Hard Times Never Kill

First published on The Quietus.

Gonora Sounds
Hard Times Never Kill
The Vital Record / Dust to Digital (54 mins)

There’s a good chance you’ve already seen Daniel Gonora and his son Isaac play before. A video of them busking in Harare has been bouncing around social media since about 2016, usually without credit. Surrounded by an attentive crowd, Daniel, sitting low and with eyes closed from blindness, plays an intricate piece on an electric guitar through a strained amplifier while Isaac, then only twelve years old, shows his energetic mastery of the groove on a beat-up drum set, all rounded off by the infectious refrain of “Go bhora!”. That video blew up, racking up over ten million views. Now, six years later and with a full band and a real drum kit, Gonora Sounds – as they are known – have their first album of spicy and sunny sungura music.

Read the full review over at The Quietus.