Soothsayers are a multi racial collection of London based musicians centred around mainstays and effective co-leaders trumpeter Robin Hopcraft and saxophonist Idris Rahman.

“Tangled Roots” is their second album coming hot on the heels of the acclaimed “Lost City”. The new album is appropriately titled; the band clearly has a diverse range of influences and they cover a wide variety of styles. In short they are a microcosm of modern cosmopolitan London, a veritable music melting pot. “Tangled Roots” incorporates jazz, funk, soul and gospel plus dub reggae, high life, the Afro beat of Fela Kuti and much more besides.

What is common to the whole album is an underlying sense of groove. Soothsayers are a highly rhythmic band and their music, despite the political content of their lyrics is geared to dancing. They are an excellent live band and saxophonist Rahman is a particularly charismatic performer. A few years ago I remember them having 99% of the audience up and dancing at the village hall in Lingen, one of the most remote parts of Herefordshire. I’ll admit that a few glasses of the local brew probably helped but it was still an impressive display from a band that were probably unknown to most of the crowd.

I’ve since seen them play two successful sets at the Lichfield Jazz, Blues and Real Ale Festival and more recently a free open air lunchtime gig in the Guildhall Yard as part of this year’s City Of London Festival. Even if they couldn’t get the audience of curious city types on their feet the music was still excellent and the sandwich eating “suits” gave them a pretty good reception.

For the new album main composers Hopcraft and Rahman have collaborated with a number of guest vocalists and involved them in the writing process. It makes for an interesting mix of vocal and musical styles with which to convey the Soothsayers’ lyrical concerns of freedom, racial harmony and civil rights. It may not be a particularly original message but in the post 9/11 world it is an increasingly pertinent one and the band’s infectious, groove based delivery ensures that it never sounds sanctimonious or “preachy”.

First to feature is Adesose Wallace, a long-term associate of the band and who appeared with them at Lichfield.  He appears on the brief “Intro” and intones the one line spoken word lyric. This segues into “Do You Want To Know” with Wallace’s rich tones singing and speaking above the exotic forest of percussion conjured up by Richard Ajileye and Satin Singh. The whole thing has a great groove as does the following “Freedom” featuring vocalist Keziah Jones. There is more inventive percussion and some racing lines from the horn section.
“We Must Return” is less frenetic but still packs a powerful punch through Momo Hafsi’s deep bass groove and the atmospheric shared vocals of Netsayi Chingwendere and Mosi Condi, the latter also appearing on kora. Kwame Yeboah’s melodica adds another distinctive touch.
“Never Give Up” with vocalist Rikki Rankin adds a reggae groove and incorporates toasting and dub elements into a highly melodic song with a strong vocal performance from Rankin and his backing vocalists.
“Instant Hit” featuring the voice of Maxi Jazz is an unsettling item with a dark, semi spoken lyric and a brooding trip hop groove.
Wallace returns for the Afro beat of his own “In The Beginning” a paean to racial equality and human rights. He also takes the lead vocal on the exuberant “Blinded Souls” which sees Rankin and Chingwendere in the chorus and the nearest Soothsayers get to jazz soloing with breaks from Hopcraft and Rahman.
Netsayi Chingwendere’s collaboration with Hopcraft and Rahman, “Love And Money” cools the temperature and is the closest the album gets to a ballad. Reflective and contemplative it is atmospheric and rather lovely.
“Follow Your Path” in the form of a remix by the “419ers” takes the album storming out. A horn enlivened romp with yet another monstrous groove it features the voice of Wallace in a lyric that seems to owe much to Fela Kuti. Rahman and Hopcraft get to contribute brief solo statements.

The vocal performances throughout the album are uniformly strong but the performances of a large cast of instrumentalists are also worthy of credit. Versatile guitarist Phil Dawson appears on every track and had a hand in some of the writing.  Bassist Momo Hafsi and drummer Patrick Illingworth are similarly versatile and pack a mighty rhythmic punch whilst Richard Alejiye’s percussion is consistently colourful and inventive. Mercury Music Prize nominee Zoe Rahman appears here on electric keyboards rather than her normal acoustic grand and her textures weave in and out of the music. Oriole guitarist Jonny Phillips guests on a couple of tracks and trombonist Marcus Jones and baritone saxophonist John Telfer sometimes augment the horn section. There are others but the list is probably long enough already. Well done to all.

“Tangled Roots” is an exuberant and invigorating record and exhibits a high standard of musicianship. It may express political concerns in the lyrics but these are positive and are a plea for harmony and tolerance. Ultimately this is an uplifting record which celebrates the human spirit and with it’s joyous grooves it’s also great fun.
The album stands up well enough on it’s own but the best way to truly appreciate what the Soothsayers are all about is to go and see them live. See http://www.soothsayers.net for details of live shows, CDs, downloads etc.

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