Mo Kolours
★★★★
Original Flow
WE RELEASE JAZZ. CD/DL/LP
Powerfully soulful concoction of laconic, jazzy, Afrocentric jams.
Half-Mauritian, half-English musician Joseph Deenmamode relocated five years ago to find inspirational solitude in the Japanese countryside. Now he folds jazz, loose-limbed funk, hip-hop and fluid sega rhythms into his fourth album, Original Flow. There’s an appealing, improv quality to its 21 tracks, whose provenance is jam sessions conducted with Deenmamode’s brothers, Reginald Omas Mamode and Jeen Bassa, and a collection of pals. As its title suggests, original, organic loops create a sinuous flow. They’re accompanied by a lyrical thread devised to uplift and empower but, also, to critique the world’s political order. “They wanna send rockets to Mars,” Deenmamode observes on the Cymande-esque street soul of Rockets To Mars, “but down here my people starve.” It’s joined by quasi live house workouts (Love Vibration), reflective hip-hop (Tatamaka Part 2) and Afro-futuristic broken beat (Nah Personal). A seductive, exhilarating album that crackles with personality and deep vibes.