Following a multitude of incredible successes for the highly-educated and highly-decorated Asha Parkinson, the release of her new album 'Possession' suitably finds its home on the venerable Ubuntu Music.
The saxophonist, composer and band leader continues to lend her talents to increasingly diverse projects, live performances, distinctions - as well as helming new music and releases - all at a phenomenal pace, but a pace worthy of Parkinson's tireless efforts and incomparable vision. As founder to her own ensemble, Kalpadruma, Parkinson's massively ambitious fourteen-piece jazz orchestra prove to be an impassioned extension of her music and ultimately bring life to the eclectic and vibrant imagination that comes with any and all Asha Parkinson projects.
Boasting an extensive musical education that includes having achieved a 1st class degree from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and further being awarded the Concert Recital Diploma for exceptional performance, Parkinson's adventures in jazz have seen her continually open to embracing new concepts and infusing a variety of musical influences into Kalpadruma's broad sonic pallette.
Having accrued a healthy appreciation for music from around the world at a very young age - ranging from a love of Moroccan Gnawa music all the way through to an appreciation of the pioneering electronic compositions of Germany's Karlheinz Stockhausen - the openness and subsequent boundary-less approach to Parkinson's own compositions has helped to establish her as an enviable voice amidst a thriving contemporary scene.
And it's an approach that benefits 'Possession' significantly - an inspired nine-track album that finds Parkinson navigate a scintillating course through the intricate musical identity that is Asha Parkinson & Kalpadruma. A collective comprised of outstanding contributors, each one key to the project's overarching sound, including that of vocalist Rebecka Edlund who provides a captivating layer to the compositions.
The album's opener 'Urban Fantasy' marks a masterful introduction to the dynamic imagination captured throughout 'Possession' - with music at times spirited and playful and at times haunting and captivating like the album's jewel in 'Distant Devotion'.
For such an accomplished record, it's almost humbling to know that 'Possession', in time, will represent just one of countless endeavours for Asha Parkinson that will be uttered with the reverance of this release.
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