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Alfa Mist Bring Backs ANTI-

23.04.21

Of the core contributors to UK jazz today, Alfa Mist – though revered – rarely receives the plaudits and prominence that Nubya Garcia, Moses Boyd and Kamaal Williams enjoy. But if the Newham-based maestro deserves a bigger spotlight for his role in reinvigorating a genre that is enjoying critical acclaim right now, his fourth effort makes his case.

A pensive odyssey that spans nine tracks and wheels us back to Alfa’s hip-hop roots, Bring Backs is a journey laden with drum loops and soulful instrumentals that pay fitting tributes to his musical upbringing. Tracks such as Coasting, a head-nodder guided by sultry sax lines, and Organic Rust, where Alfa casually raps over minimal percussion as if he’s squinting up at sunny skies from his deck chair, are testament to the influence that Madlib and J Dilla clearly have on the gifted Londoner.

On the subject of the capital, Bring Backs also doubles up as Alfa’s eclectic love letter to London. The moody Mind the Gap is the type of joint you’d listen to as you wearily stare past a commuter on the opposite carriage, and the restless yet hypnotic lead single Run Outscaptures London’s frantic nature, summing up the ascent of the Big Smoke’s burgeoning jazz movement.

As ruminating as it is dynamic, Alfa Mist’s latest endeavour will have little difficulty pulling you into his orbit, and is on course to cement its place amongst a growing collection of essential next-gen jazz records hailing from the UK’s shores.