Every week, the “New English Jazz Scene” section gets a bit larger. Although Blume might be Nérija’s first album, it isn’t the founding members’ first rodeo. The gang is almost entirely female: Nubya Garcia and Cassie Kinoshi (KOKOROKO, Seed Ensemble) on saxophones, trumpet player Sheila Maurice-Grey (KOKOROKO), trombonist Rosie Turton, drummer Lizy Exell, guitarist Shirley Tetteh (Nardeydey) as well as Mr. Rio Kai on bass. Young virtuosos who have proven their generation to be dynamic and highly capable of twisting the blue note to fit any mold. Mirroring the 2018 compilation We Out Here (a Qobuzissime record!), which was a sort of manifesto of the scene itself, Blume is jazz intertwined with soul, rock, Afrobeat and Caribbean rhythms. Its strongest feature is the brass section, which is extremely tight and carries as much momentum as it does bewildering melodic power. All the players are “for the song”, and this team spirit can be felt in each moment of this record’s silky groove. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz