UK-based Ishmael Ensemble release highly-anticipated debut album ‘A State of Flow’
Following a string of brilliant limited-edition seven-inch singles over the last year, the Bristol-based quartet Ishmael Ensemble have released their highly-anticipated full-length debut, titled A State of Flow.
Led by multi-instrumentalist and producer Pete Cunningham, the new album features a mixture of selections that were previously released as forty-five singles like “The Chapel,” “First Light,” and “The River,” as well as many brand new tracks including a newer rendition of “Full Circle” with vocalist Holysseus Fly (who also sings on “Waterfall”). Throughout the recording, the band brilliantly blends together jazz melodies, hypnotic atmospheric tones, electronic synth grooves, and driving breakbeat rhythms.
Alongside Cunningham on saxophone, the band is rounded out by percussionists Rory O’Gorman and Jackson Lapes, Jake Spurgeon’s on synths, and guitarists Stephen Mullins and Fred Brooks. The quartet is also joined by Bristol-based Japanese vocalist and keyboardist Yama Warashi on “Yellow House,” and celebrated British-Bahraini trumpet player Yazz Ahmed contributes on “The River.”
When you add up the number of breakthrough releases over the past couple of years, including this remarkable full-length debut, there is no doubt that Ishmael Ensemble has firmly cemented itself as one of the leading and most forward-thinking jazz groups right now in the UK.
Ishmael Ensemble — ‘A State of Flow’
(Severn Songs)
1. The Chapel
2. Full Circle (Feat. Holysseus Fly)
3. Siren!
4. Lapwing
5. Yellow House (Feat. Yama Warashi)
6. The River (Feat. Yazz Ahmed)
7. First Light
8. Waterfall (Feat. Holysseus Fly)
9. Surge
