Alfa Mist is a creature of East London, a place of interchange and collaboration that continues to be a locus of well recognized but unorthodox interpretations of classic jazz motifs, of which his work is an exemplary choreographed instance.
It's hard not to think of each showcase of the producer and improviser's catalog as a ballet- an elegant interpretation of thought, impression, and emotion, forged through sweat and commitment, and materializing in a seamless progression through stages of motion that lend expression to the ineffable tides and textures of our lives. His latest release, Bring Backs is no different.
On this outing, the self-taught pianist reflects on his past and journey through music, while cutting confidently upstream through influents of jazz fusion and mindful, spiritual orchestrations. The album has a very deliberate but naturalistic flow to it, one that feels like a refinement for the collaborative style exhibited on his 2017 album Antiphon and 2019's Structuralism. Both of those albums were very warm and concerted (as is Bring Back), but there was a formalness to them that is not present here.
Bring Back feels freer. It sees Alfa Mist letting go more, while trusting the shape that his efforts take with the eye of a wise but watchful guardian. These compositions feel like they grow of their own accord, and only need reflection and guidance to nurture them to reach their potential (much like the man behind them, I imagine).
One more thing that I think is important in understanding Bring Back is Alfa Mist's insistence on his music's interfacing nature with the world of hip hop. This is very interesting to me, because it forces a reckoning with my own understanding and received definition of the word.
Is hip hop simply a style of music? A way of life? A branch of philosophy? All of these and more? The influence of jazz on hip hop is well documented, but the inverse relationship is not as well defined- what is jazz after decades of music enthusiasts learning about Herbie Hancock by chasing down samples from Digable Planets songs? And how do you define the parameters of these sounds when younger fans discover Nina Simone because one of their favorite rappers credits Ye as one of their influences only to learn to whom their idol's inspiration owes his debts?
One's sense of self is always to a degree, a product of one's understanding of their past. Pulling apart and rethreading the fabric of this record will always hold the potential to reveal insights into one's own possible futures- a practice of singing back through time and then listening intently to the changing timbre of the returning echo.
