Nick Woodmansey aka Emanative’s 2009 release “Space” was a celestial beauty of cosmic compositions. That astral journey would lead to “The Light Years Of The Darkness”, the first release for the Steve Reid Foundation. Through that project he would connect with a number of like minded musicians that would inspire a deeper dive into his spirituality, which brings us to “Earth”. Emanative’s latest release focuses on African, Indian and Middle Eastern influences. Among the highlights are “Heaven’s Mirror”, enhanced by The Pyramids Idris Ackamoor’s psychedelic horn riffs and David Molina’s deep bass grooves. “Iyaami” sets the tone with a five minute balafon solo before seguing into a slow simmering Afrobeat groove for vocalist Dele Sosimi. “Sandhyavandanam” is a meditative tune with a hypnotic bass and Tabla rhythms. Nat Birchall contributes his tenor sax melodies to “Spice Route Suite” and “Reflection”. The latter features heavenly vocal harmonies from Liz Elensky. Other notable contributors throughout this disc include Jessica Lauren, Sarathy Korwar, Tamar Osborn, Ben Hadwen and Ahu just to name a few. Woodmansey set a high bar with his previous projects yet he has easily surpassed them with a tremendous record.
