Wildflower - Wildflower

The trio Wildflower consists of Ill Considered affiliates, Idris Rahman (on sax, flutes and clarinet) and Leon Brichard (on electric and double bass), alongside drummer Tom Skinner (of Sons Of Kemet fame and numerous other projects). The group dropped their first album in 2017, leaving a big impact on the UK jazz scene with their original take on groove-based improvised jazz. If you’ve missed it, be quick as these are the last copies of the last repress.

Taking inspiration from spiritual jazz pioneers, the trio takes you on an intense, meditative and spiritual musical journey that embodies the spirit of innovation and freedom of self-expression itself. The trio creates freely improvised waves of emotion ranging from powerful climaxes to hauntingly beautiful breath-like passages and everything in-between.

The superb ‘Flute Song' opens the set in a soft and magical fashion, following the path of Yusef Lateef and Alice Coltrane with a deeply spiritual feel and oriental influences from Bengali folk music. Splendid. 

‘Where the Earth Meets the Sky” follows unhurriedly, a dreamy ballad on which with Rahman steals the show with some deeply moving and delicate melodies on the saxophone. This one goes deep into the soul.

Based around hypnotic grooves laid down by Brichard’s unswervingly solid bass lines, drummer Skinner plays around artfully with the beats, grooving hard in constantly shifting, unexpected turns of rhythmic play, with ‘Hogol’ being the most dance floor orientated number of the set. 

The album’s centrepiece however, ‘Other Worlds’, though it may have been named after Sun Ra, evolves equally in a deep and majestic Coltranesque mood, as Rahman cosmically rides a subtle but relentless groove into untraveled territories. A future end of the night classic on the most adventurous dance floors without a doubt.