Jake Mehew Sage

Jake Mehew's debut album Sage is a modern and contemporary take on spiritual jazz, a truly exceptional record from the eclectic and highly talented Leeds' artist.Whilst staying within the ethos of spontaneous, unedited performance, Mehew constantly pushes and manipulates the genre's boundaries.The recognisable and lush sound of the Fender Rhodes, layered on a bed of punchy, percussive, grooves, provides the bedrock for powerful improvisations, running alongside Meyhew's subtle analogue synth manipulation and production. Sage was workshopped over one frantic lockdown week in August 2020. It's a truly honest experience of seven days of hard work, a multi tracked record, made without using overdub to capture the true energy of the performance.True to the spirit of albums made in a pre digital era Mehew set out to capture ideas, interaction and performance at their inception rather than post production. Tracks like Black Nation, The Key, Say What Again! And Calm Storm have their feet firmly in the camp of the output of labels Like Black Jazz or Strata East. Solid compositions, underpinned by grooving rhythm section provide the spring board for freer improvisation. All of which are enriched by the addition of modular synthesiser production. These moments on the edge improvisation always have something solid to return to compositionally. Harvest, Freefall and Freeflow draw on the more percussion heavy vibes of artists like Lloyd McNeil or Moon Dog. Freefall in particular features superb interaction between hammer dulcimer and drums. This piece has a flavour of 60's film composers like Roy Budd. It's tracks Sage, Rainfall and Astra coast line are where Mehew digs deeper into the world of sound scapes, painting a rich tapestry with his modular synthesiser and a various acoustic elements Jake Mehew is an up and coming composer, performer and producer based in Leeds, UK. His work combines principles of free improvisation with