London producer, DJ and beat maker Footshooter (aka Barney Whittaker) finds organic partners for his new album of electronica. The Oasis brings the life and heat of humanity to the cold precision of digitally created rhythms.
Footshooter’s “broken beat” style is rooted in the syncopation that made jazz swing and groove, and many of the guests featured on The Oasis have musical roots and careers in improvisation.
Saxophonist James Mollison, appearing on two songs, is a founding member of famed London modern jazz quintet Ezra Collective.
On the album’s opening song, “Cycles,” Footshooter’s light clapping rhythm matches heavy bass beats to set the scene for Mollison’s long sax lines that establish the melody. Giving over the rhythms to the bandleader, Mollison focuses on his lovely tone. Footshooter’s thumping keyboard lines lend more rhythm to building layers in the song and the saxophone leans into a relaxed solo.
The warm, melodic trumpet playing of Wilf Petherbridge is quite impressive. Mostly working behind the scenes in his career, he is a multi-instrumentalist and producer in theater, dance and various audio media. In “Parc de Belleville,” Petherbridge’s playing is doubled into melody and harmony lines before his gently direct blowing paints the mid-tempo soundscape with optimism.
Most of the guests on The Oasis are vocalists, lending an overall pop sound to the album as a whole. Two of them worthy of attention from jazz fans are Allysha Joy (“Folding”) and Andre Espeut (“Here to Learn”).
Soulful hip-hop influences drive Joy’s contribution on “Folding.” Dark keyboard drones threaten to suffocate Joy’s reflections on the complications of romance: “It’s all the ease and pain at once, and I’ll be folding in on love.”
Espeut sings of redemption on “Here to Learn,” his voice pleads in the upper register: “Now you take me to the moon, I’ve got to prove that I won’t let my world be fading.”
The brighter production here gives the piece a modern disco feel, seemingly built for dancing.
Footshooter brings production into the spotlight on “The Loop,” a reworked older piece that’s also made for the dancefloor. The bubbling synthesizers and woozy effects on the rhythm are accented by sampled vocal drops and an uplifting central melody.
The Oasis may lack the human imperfection in the rhythm section that brings a deeper listener connection, but the living and breathing artists Footshooter brings into his world make this a particularly exciting release.
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