Artist: Soweto Kinch

Date of Release: 01/01/2000

Catalogue no: Dune CD 08

Label: Dune

Price: £12

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Track Listing

Soweto’s fiery attack, supple tone and elastic sense of harmony make a deep, lasting impression and, whilst Conversations With The Unseen reveals all of these qualities, it also unveils another side of his creativity: the spoken word.

Though he feasts at the table of jazz, Soweto drinks at the fountain of hip-hop and rap, soaking up the vibe from groups such as Q-Tip, De La Soul, and The Roots. He’s not afraid to bring Charlie Parker and Q-Tip into the zone and in doing so upholds a central tenet of jazz that also carries much weight in hip-hop: be yourself and be of your time.

This is a stunning, mature début by an incredibly talented young artist, beautifully recorded by Tony Platt and produced by J-Life leader, Jason Yarde, the Dune Records production team responsible for Jazz Jamaica All Stars’ hit album Massive (DUNECD06) and Juliet Roberts’ Beneath The Surface (DUNECD07).

Conversations With The Unseen Personnel: Soweto Kinch (alto sax/rap vocals), Femi Temowo (guitar), Michael Olatuja (double bass), Troy Miller (drums), plus special guests Abram Wilson (trumpet/vocals) and Eska Mtungwazi (vocals)

Reviews

01/01/2000 Tony Hall/Jazz Express

The best and most original British jazz album ever made.

01/01/2000 Alyn Shipton/Jazzwise

Kinch has assembled yesterday’s lingua franca into a distinctive voice of his own.