A nightlife with your loved ones, sharing good food and fabulous Afro-Jazz music. A soul ignite is what a person might need in some weary times. A bohemian soul through storms, calmly crosses the entire globe, through numerous continents, gathering us around.
Voyagers, or simply as I would like to call them “The Musical United Nations” as Voyagers consist of nearly half of the planet. Three continents formed this band, and there is no way you would feel disconnected or unrelated to their music. They play a wonderful fusion of music, gathering pieces that rarely meet.
The New York-based trio is releasing their debut album ‘Chasing Light’. And just after pushing the ‘play’ button, I didn’t feel bored or less interested, I had that feeling of “And what happened next? Give me more information”. An interesting tone is always up ahead, an unexpected flow of tunes and adjacency of the instruments gave a synced harmony to the record. This also is heavily touched in the diversity of cultures throughout the record, and you could never rest a hand on an unrelated part of a single musical note. The harmony among the trio themselves and their instruments formed a state of unity in sound and sense.
Voyagers are kora maestro Yacouba Sissoko from Mali, American guitarist Banning Eyre, and Austrian saxophonist Edith Lettner, also besides saxophone, Edith Lettner plays alto and duduk in the record.
The whole record is instrumental, except for a couple of tracks that Yacouba Sissoko features in vocals. A thing which breaks the norm of the album and implies a surprising element concept.
The band stated previously that they limited their performances to smaller venues where people usually come for the music, not the hype; with no percussion nor drums, and the cause and effect were ultimately exposed.
As mentioned before, the record is a fusion of multiple cultures given the background of each artist contributing their own local folk music. “On ‘Danama’ a West African song from the Jeli (Mande griot) tradition, Yacouba sings about confidence and trust, noting that just because someone talks beautifully and dresses perfectly does not mean they are a good person. ‘Danama’ is someone you can trust.” – Voyagers stated.
Also, other tracks were of other members’ contributions, “Waiting for Spring” is a track Banning had been playing as a solo piece for a year or so before introducing it to Voyagers. Edith and Yacouba instantly found their places in it and it added a new dimension to the group’s repertoire. And ‘Today is a New Day’ is a song composed by Edith before COVID descended yet perfectly captures the optimistic mood the album aims to convey as we move beyond the pandemic. Banning’s guitar gives the song a Congolese flavor in a tight lock with Yacouba’s shimmering kora.” The band stated.
The album is smooth and seamlessly peaceful, with saxophones putting the special emotional touch to the record. It’s like you are attending a live gig for the band and you just can’t take your eyes off the stage.
If you are a jazz addict, you will surely find peace in this record.
Take a listen and tell us what you think!