You may have been lucky to have caught a glimpse of LA based vocalist/composer/producer Sharada Shashidhar’s debut EP ‘Rahu’ a few years ago. Here was a musician bringing something different to the future soul arena. Yes there were those spikey beats, intricately collaged electronics and no limits influences, but the vocal delivery eased away from L’Rain’s ‘Not Jazz’ hash tag. Playing with the tune, defying expectations and with a dynamism to send any notes at times subterranean at others into orbit, Shashidhar showed signs of picking up the baton from Esperanza Spalding and Georgia Anne Muldrow. So details of her sophomore release and first full album ‘Soft Echoes’ due 27th September, once again through the impeccable Leaving Records, definitely requires a Siri reminder.
Expect fresh ground to be covered with this new collection. As a jazz literate musician and active collaborator on the LA experimental scene alongside Carlos Niño, the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra and Zeroh, the likelihood of simple consolidation is slim. Shashidhar has dropped further hints of a shift on the forthcoming album saying she aimed to “let [her] body do what it wanted to do,” to trust her intuition“, and “play without judgment.” So ‘Soft Echoes’ promises something maybe a little less framed in loops and beats but with a more of a free-flowing DNA.
The album also marks Shashidhar’s first statement as a full-blown band leader, gathering an ensemble around her (Anna Butters on bass, Julian Rodriguez on keys, Devin Daniels on sax, and Timothy Angulo on drums) and thriving on guiding that collective spirit. Such combined energy sings out on the album’s preview single, the title-track Soft Echoes. It’s a succulent, sensitive ballad, shades of standard voicings, Indian classicism and even prog mingling playfully before the thrilling mid-section surges with a Kamasi-like burst of intensity. Harmonious and spiralling, this music seems to shimmer so naturally in a cosmic heat haze. Take note some real new, nu-jazz is coming our way soon…
Order your copy of ‘Soft Echoes‘ by Sharada Shashidhar from your local record store or direct from Leaving Records HERE
