Following up on her breakthrough 2017 album La Saboteuse, British-Bahraini trumpet player and composer Yazz Ahmed returns with a brilliant new record, titled Polyhymnia.

This new recording features six movements, and is a celebration of the outstanding women and female role models that Ahmed has had a strong connection in her life including Civil Rights activists Rosa Parks and Ruby Bridges, Pakistani education advocate Malala Yousafzai, Saudi Arabia’s first female film director Haifa Al-Mansour, the early 20th century British voting rights proponent group The Suffragettes, and pioneering jazz musician Barbara Thompson. The project was inspired partially inspired by a commissioned work that she did for Tomorrow’s Warriors in 2015 with the Nu Civilisation Orchestra. The piece was performed at the Women of the World Festival, in London’s Southbank Centre, on International Women’s Day.

The powerful album also features some of the most notable female musicians in today’s London jazz scene, including tenor saxophonist Nubya Garcia, alto saxophonist Camilla George, guitarist Shirley Tetteh, trumpeter Shelia Maurice-Grey, pianist Sarah Tandy, trombonist Rosie Turton, and over fifteen others. Musically, this recording continues to build on the signature sound Ahmed had begun to establish on La Saboteuse, fusing together layered horns and complex jazz structures with Arabic melodies and psychedelic grooves.

The album also includes a beautiful 12-page full color booklet showcasing the original art of Sophie Bass, who also did the artwork of Ahmed’s previous recordings.

Overall, this is a great new conceptual album that not only pays tribute to pioneering and brave women throughout history, but makes a strong statement of empowerment to women globally. There is no doubt that Polyhymnia is one of the most important and necessary recordings of 2019, and the stories and inspiration for the music is truly moving.

I also recommend reading Ahmed’s op-ed she wrote for The Vinyl Factory in 2017 on facing down sexism in jazz.

Yazz Ahmed — ‘Polyhymnia’
(Ropeadope)

1. Lahan al-Mansour
2. Ruby Bridges
3. One Girl Among Many
4. 2857
5. Deeds Not Words
6. Barbara

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