Amy Gadiaga: All Black Everything

Hailing from the Parisian suburbs, though based in London, bassist, composer and dancer Amy Gadiaga has steadily carved out a name for herself since graduating from Trinity Laban Conservatoire in 2023. Early neo-soul singles "Everything I Do" (2022) and "Nephi" (2023) introduced Gadiaga's appealing vocals and her socially conscious writing. Pleasant, stylish tunes, they held the promise of greater things to come. They could not, however, have prepared the listener for the leap that comes with Gadiaga's debut EP. To be sure, Gadiaga's neo-soul influences run deep, but Gadiaga wears her jazz hat throughout, on these distinctive and alluring compositions.

A singing bassist, Gadiaga's music courses with melody and rhythmic zip. On the Spanish-sung "Paloma Negra" Gadiaga intones "adoro la vida" ("I love life"), and this infectious optimism is relayed to her collaborators, drummer Simon Lamb, pianist Luke Bacchus—in whose quartet the bassist plays—and trumpeter Joseph Oti. Percussive colors, a wickedly swinging bass ostinato and a touch of Cuban son add to the joyful tapestry.

The jaunty soul-jazz of "Soar When I'm Alone" sounds like a shoo-in for summer radio play, though most of the soaring is reserved for Oti, a lynchpin of London's Hoos Collective. A recurring unison motif pulses through "Full Sun," a delightful hybrid of swing and funk that showcases the leader's wickedly grooving—yet always lyrical— bass lines. Gadialga lends minimalist piano touches in a duet with poet Isaiah Hull on "Isaiah's Interlude," a thematically tangled mosaic of striking images. Turning to French on "Petite," Gadiaga channels her inner Betty Carter—a major influence—with a sultry performance, punctuated by emotive scatting and a piercing r&b solo from alto saxophonist Tom Waters—a regular in Jools Holland's big band.

A celebratory vibe pervades the title track, a grooving, mantra-like paean to Black pride, faith and inner strength, with the leader's electric-bass anchor and her free-spirited scatting providing striking points of contrast. An uplifting anthem for our times.

This is a vibrant calling card that announces the arrival of a musician, composer and bandleader of undoubted class—an original voice. The openness to genres and eras that seamlessly permeates All Black Everything suggests that Gadiaga can take her music in any direction she wants. Esperanza Spalding, you have company.