Quasi by ARIWO
★★★★ Album of the Week – Evening Standard
Album of the Week – Gilles Peterson, Worldwide FM
"It is the kind of polyrhythmic 'noise', one imagines, that could – to use Jazzy B’s phrase – 'put you in a trance'" – Sounds & Colours
"Their 90 minute live set was magnetic, whipping the crowd into a fervent intensity" – Ransom Note
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Despite Ariwo’s diverse mix of musicians (Cuba/Iran/Canada/UK) their music doesn’t belong to any specific genre. In ‘Quasi’ Ariwo use the building blocks of deep bass, afro-Cuban polyrhythms, carnival melody and immersive live electronics as a starting point to engage with key players on London’s jazz scene. The result is a hypnotic journey for the listener from techno to avant-garde jazz via West Africa and the Caribbean.
Quasi aims to mirror the evolved direction of Ariwo’s live set, which after extensive touring over the past three years has gradually become more stripped back and club-oriented. Many of the building blocks for this album started life as improvisations in live sets and have been developed into full tracks on Quasi.
The album features guest appearances from MOBO winning saxophonist Binker Golding (Binker & Moses) and acclaimed UK keys player Joe-Armon Jones (keys). Cuban trumpet players Thommy Lowry Garcia and Yelfris Valdes also feature on the album, bringing carnival melodies that interweave through the percussion and electronics.
Ariwo have used songs from Quasi to create the music for ‘Portals' - a tour of Carlos Acosta’s new contemporary dance company 'Acosta Danza' in Havana.
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Ariwo are a Cuban/Iranian four-piece focused on intersection between electronic and ancestral music.
The band brings together Iranian electronic composer POUYA EHSAEI and three of London’s most influential Cuban musicians; Irakere's Latin Grammy winning “percussion virtuoso”, HAMMADI VALDES; Sierra Maestra lead trumpeter, YELFRIS VALDES; and godfather of London’s Cuban scene, ORESTE NODA.