Leni Stern
4
Leni Stern Recordings
2020
(https://www.allaboutjazz.com/global-fusions-and-african-connections)
If 3 (Leni Stern Recordings, 2018) was the sound of Leni Stern having gone practically native after many years of travels through Africa, 4 could almost represent her bringing plenty of souvenirs to redecorate back home. That's not to say that she's drifting away from those roots that have been central to her music for nine albums now, but just that this one has a bit more of a familiar electric-fusion feel than on its organic predecessor. Her finely-tuned working trio expands to a quartet with the addition of Leo Genovese (hence the title), expanding on his previous guest spot to add new layers of keyboard tones. From the fusion-synth sheen of the opening "Lambar," followed by dreamy piano on the following track and funky electric keys for the next, his presence only gives the others more and more of a boost.
With Alioune Faye and Mamadou Ba still providing a superbly textured rhythm section, Stern has a foundation just as unassumingly solid as her guitar work. The pieces are again full of groove and yet humble in evoking their respective themes; even while simple chants and tricky rhythms form the base, touches of Asian or South American melodies are as likely to pop up as communal vocal chants or juicy electric jams. Holding steady patterns or snappily trading solos, each of the four adds whatever will fit the whole without losing their collective grounding. Perhaps Stern's most expansive and free-spirited outing yet, 4 shows that the change in the band's balance is all for the better.