‘Quasi’ is Ariwo’s second album, after the release of their first self-titled album in 2017.
Despite Ariwo’s diverse mix of musicians (Cuba/Iran/Canada/UK) their music doesn’t belong to any specific genre. In ‘'Quasi’, Ariwo use the building blocks of deep bass, afro-Cuban polyrhythms, carnival melody and immersive live electronics as a starting point to engage with key players on London’s jazz scene.
The result is a hypnotic journey for the listener from techno to avant-garde jazz via West Africa and the Caribbean.
‘Quasi’ aims to mirror the evolved direction of Ariwo’s live set,
which after extensive touring over the past three years has gradually become
more stripped back and club-oriented.
Many of the building blocks for this album started life as improvisations in
live sets and have been developed into full tracks on ‘Quasi’.
The album features guest appearances from MOBO winning saxophonist Binker
Golding (Binker & Moses) and acclaimed UK keys player Joe Armon-Jones
(keys). Cuban trumpet players Thommy Lowry Garcia and Yelfris Valdes also
feature on the album, bringing carnival melodies
that interweave through the percussion and electronics.
Ariwo have used songs from ‘Quasi’ to create the music for ‘Portals’ – a tour of Carlos Acosta’s new contemporary dance company ‘Acosta Danza’ in Havana.