Isaac Aesili - Eye See

Rating

: * * * *

Verdict

:

New Zealand's answer to Stevie Wonder?

It might sound odd comparing a debut solo album by a New Zealand trumpet player to Stevie Wonder's classic

Songs In the Key Of Life

. And though

Eye See

by Open Souls and Solaa member Isaac Aesili, who is also a multi-instrumentalist and accomplished producer, is not quite in Wonder's realm, it has a similar spirit to that 1976 album with its mix of R&B hustle and forward-thinking experimental soul.

Aesili met Wonder last year and, as well as growing up on his music and seeing him live, it was a pivotal moment in the making of the album.

Perhaps the biggest salute to Wonder is the hypnotic and smouldering

The Way

, and the cute baby talk at the end of the opening title track is surely a nod to

Isn't She Lovely.

While Aesili's penetrating beats, synth work, and musical arrangements come to the fore on

Eye See

, his trumpet playing is sweet, soulful and often majestic - like on interlude

Fusion Illusion

. And his excellent use of vocoder - recently a mostly cheesy additive to songs - in

Media

pays respect to the machine's 70s heyday when greats like Kraftwerk and Herbie Hancock put it to use.

Elsewhere

Stranjah's

deep, loping reggae, with Black Seeds' guitarist Mike Fabulous providing the chink, finds Aesili in velvety vocal form; former NZ Idol winner Rosita Vai pops up on the sassy and slinky

What It Is

; and two of the smooth highlights are

Freedomcry

and the slumberous soul of

The Heat

.

Scott Kara