BRAHJA releases hypnotic spiritual jazz full-length on RR Gems Records

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BRAHJA releases hypnotic spiritual jazz full-length on RR Gems Records

New York saxophonist, drummer, synthesizer player and composer Devin Brahja Waldman, who leads the group BRAHJA, has just released an absolutely brilliant full-length self-titled recording on the Estonia-based jazz and experimental label RR Gems.

Over the past decade, Waldman has been making a name for himself as both a sideman and leader, performing alongside prolific acts like Patti Smith, Thurston Moore, Godspeed! You Black Emperor, William Parker, and many others, while also being a member of New York City’s Heroes Are Gang Leaders collective (led by poet Thomas Sayers Ellis and saxophonist James Brandon Lewis), and establishing the Moroccan ensemble Ziad Qoulaii Allstars.

On this remarkable new album, Waldman and the BRAHJA group featuring pianist, keyboardist, and organist Damon Shadrach Hankoff, synth wiz Isis Giraldo, bassist Martin Heslop, and drummer Daniel Gelinas, create a hauntingly beautiful spiritual jazz album that incorporates spacey hypnotic synth melodies and atmospheric tones, with chanting vocals, Waldman’s powerful lead saxophone solos, moody grooves, and driving percussion rhythms. The recording also features a number of guest artists including electric bassist Luke Stewart, vocalists Anais Mavieland Margaret Morris, guitarist Sam Shalabi, and soprano saxophonist Daniel Carter. They all ended up being incorporated into the recording process following their impromptu live guest collaborations that took place when the band toured the US and Canada a few years ago in 2015 and 2016.

Overall, the album is uniquely original, and almost addicting in nature, as it takes many listens to really catch on to all the fascinating nuances of each track. There is no doubt this is one of the best albums, regardless of genre, to be released in 2019. Limited to only 500 copies, this is one record you’ll definitely want to snatch up quickly.