Ambrose Akinmusire – honey from a winter stone (2025) [FLAC 24bit/44,1kHz]

Ambrose Akinmusire - honey from a winter stone (2025) [FLAC 24bit/44,1kHz] Download

Mixing hip-hop and a string quartet with synthesizers and his trumpet, Ambrose Akinmusire extracts a sweetness that sounds like dreams set to music. The gifted player, who currently serves as the artistic director of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at UCLA, called upon the talents of Mivos Quartet and rapper Kokayi for Honey From A Winter Stone, a beautiful realization of melding words and music.In the opening track, “muffled screams,” Kokayi intones, “I’m singing/ Nobody gotta/ Transform transform/ Until the whole spirit/ Is warm the whole/ Spirit is one.” Strings and piano open “Bloomed (the ongoing processional of nighas in hoodies),” with violins keeping up a nervous rhythm. Drummer Justin Brown enters, setting the pace before Akinmusire’s darting, burbling horn reaches for high notes. That pairing fades until the strings return with the same uneasy melodies, bows rocking back and forth before finally winding down into silence. The sweeping dynamics of “Bloomed,” along with the rest of Honey From A Winter Stone, are recorded with great presence and accuracy by engineer Jason Orris.

After morphing from deep bass notes and the shimmering chords from chiquitamagic’s synths, “MYanx.” rolls into a monster groove as Kokayi delivers, “Can’t understand what the voices need from me/ I please easily.” Plucked strings provide a brief, quiet interlude before the motion rolls on, violins darting between cymbal accents. Akinmusire enters three-quarters of the way through, playing long lines over the rhythmic commotion before Mivos Quartet eases into a final somber phrase.

The 29-plus minutes of the final track “Kinfolks” also begins with strings; Akinmusire enters, swinging between guttural and legato, as synths emit outer-space-like yelps in the background. Piano and violin play a delicate, nostalgic-sounding middle section before Akinmusire rejoins. A groove appears as Kokayi raps in a duet with Akinmusire before the string coda. While judicious edits may have sharpened the piece’s impact, this mini epic is impressive nonetheless. Unforced and natural, the meshing of musical styles is an achievement. – Robert Baird

Tracklist:

1-01. Ambrose Akinmusire – muffled screams (15:25)
1-02. Ambrose Akinmusire – Bloomed (the ongoing processional of nighas in hoodies) (07:35)
1-03. Ambrose Akinmusire – MYanx. (09:37)
1-04. Ambrose Akinmusire – Owled (12:49)
1-05. Ambrose Akinmusire – s-/Kinfolks (29:12)