In recent years, Jamie Saft’s signature musician-polymath touch has graced numerous recordings released by RareNoise, spanning a high dimensional manifold of genres, from the microtonal metal of Slobber Pup’s Black Aces, Pole Axe and The Spanish Donkey’s RAOUL to the pure analog acoustic piano trio sounds of Saft/Swallow/Previte’s The New Standard to the lysergic free rock of Plymouth, to recent collaborations with masters Roswell Rudd and Wadada Leo Smith.
With Sunshine Seas, the New Zion Trio’s latest project (and RareNoise debut), Saft further builds on the success of New Zion’s first two releases Fight Against Babylon and CHALIWA. Saft not only supplies all the piano and an assortment of vintage keyboards and synths, he also plays all the electric bass and guitar parts on this heavy Dub influenced recording. Brazilian percussionist Cyro Baptista, a longtime colleague of Saft’s, adds his signature percussive flavors and ebullient presence on such mesmerizing dub groove tracks as the opening BrazilJah and the beguiling Chalice Pipe, which has Baptista on vocals and cuica and Saft comping in a gentle bossa nova vein on acoustic guitar. The darkly insinuating Onda features Baptista’s massive ceramic drum work and has him singing in Portuguese about waves on the beach in a flow metaphor which deftly captures the feeling of this evocative track. The heavy dub track Ranking is a prime showcase for Cyro’s mastery of the jaw harp (or Jew’s harp).