Mark De Clive-Lowe: Tides Arising

Herald rating: * * *

De Clive-Lowe has travelled long and admirably interesting paths - from straight-ahead, keen young jazz pianist in Auckland, through working with turntablists in Japan, to this full-on funky outing mostly recorded in London and aimed at what we used to call discos.

This is booty-shaking, 70s-influenced stuff driven by a battery of electronic keyboards and percussion which, to his credit, De Clive-Lowe keeps in check while leaving plenty of space for soulfully sexy singer Bembe Segue, who is a real asset.

He slashes through with some solo jazz-fusion (State of the Mental), delivers deeply dumping bass-heavy funk on Syndrome, and lets his bad self loose on the too-brief Pino+Mashi, which sounds like a lost fusion track hauled into the late 90s by some jazz-funk from Pino Palladino's basslines.

The cover art, and tracks like the edgy techno-nasty Sila's Theme, the more dreamy Heaven (with guitar from Joel Haines) and the rapid-fire Afro-Cuban rhythms of 4YV (with Nathan Haines on flute) suggest there is a cosmic trip going on.

Classy production and a sense of coherent direction are hallmarks here, and while its unlikely De Clive-Lowe will settle in this place for long, he's proved that when it comes to making music for getting down with it, he can deliver better than most.

Label: Abb Soul