CHRIS BOWDEN
Slightly Askew
Ninjatune
· Jazz musician comprises the giant cerebellum of Ninjatune.
If Ninjatune was an anatomical entity, Chris Bowden would fill in quite nicely for the brains of the label. His first album, the brilliant Time Capsule, was released six years ago, and it was a standout from start to finish, with Bowden exploring his classical music leanings and learning to intertwine ambient symphonics with electronics and jazz.
Slightly Askew is a further refinement of his Mingus-esque style – rough around the edges, with intricate arrangements stapled to a meaty broken-beat template. With this approach, Bowden produces a gem of an album that is equal parts thug-jazz and nu-jazz, as well as something that is completely within the Ninja arsenal – intelligence.
His jazz motifs run the gamut from garish nightmarish cacophony to spacious future lounge, populated with the genius elements of the post-bop and fusion movements and their contemporary manifestations in the left-field realm of electronic music. Cellos soar and saxes moan over a percussive bed, adding texture to the density of Bowden’s soundtrack. Combined, these elements ensure this generation's place on the jazz timeline. Slightly Askew is on track to deliver the message that jazz and innovation are still synonymous and still quite necessary to carry the genre into the now.
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