Short takes

NOMO
New Tones
(Ubiquity)
Recording with His Name Is Alive’s Warren Defever at the same Detroit studio where P-Funk tracked some classic cuts, Ann Arbor, Michigan, groovers NOMO lay down a pulsing blend of Afrobeat and space-age, Sun Ra–inflected jazz on their sophomore disc. Bandleader Elliot Bergman knows how to play it from all angles, with his rhythmically intense compositions, stomping brass-heavy arranging, and a soaring tenor-sax attack. The eight-piece band (plus the AACM’s own Nicole Mitchell as guest flautist) layers on plenty of synth weirdness and polyrhythmic percussion, even delving into some Konono N°1–style electrified thumb-piano madness. New York’s Antibalas has gotten a lot of attention for its Fela Kuti–inspired Afro-jams, but NOMO takes it out into the stratosphere while keeping it solidly rooted in the funk.—Ben Taylor

São Paulo Underground
Sauna: Um, Dois, Tres
(Aesthetics)
Cornetist and electronic-sound artist Rob Mazurek releases a lot of records under many different names, so let’s hope this one doesn’t get lost in the shuffle, because he’s on to something big here. After leaving Isotope 217 and Chicago winters behind and moving to Brazil a few years back, he hooked up with percussionist Mauricio Takara (of São Paulo post-rockers Hurtmold) and started cooking up this moody blend of abstract jazz, modern electronics, free-samba and dubbed-out rock. With Chicago Undergrounders Chad Taylor (drums) and Josh Abrams (bass) and members of locals the Eternals pitching in, SPU stretches out in an edgy post-fusion style—think Tortoise meets Bitches Brew. While occasionally dipping into meandering white noise, it’s easily balanced out by Mazurek’s dynamic horn melodies and some forceful grooves.—Ben Taylor