Charming eccentric, experimental debut by the Leeds-raised Berlin-based composer, percussionist, producer and instrument maker whose LP conjures up delicate, rhythmic African-inflected jazz-folk-traditional magic with variety of acoustic-instrument collaborators alongside her very own handmade xylophone. These include Ben LaMar Gay, Macie Stewart, Anna Butterss, Mikel Patrick Avery, and Dan Bitney. Bex is very much influenced by spending three years in Ghana under the apprenticeship of master Dagaare xylophonist Thomas Sekgura. The album was variously recorded in Chicago and Los Angeles, and often feels freely improvised and vibrantly fresh. On Falling, a haunting trio ballad, for example came about when Beth was asked to hold a bird bath which started leaking, so she mimicked the rhythm of falling droplets. Some tracks are inflused the field recordings of bird song, including opener Dawn Blessings and elsewhere, rain, street sounds and more can be heard. A quiet, delicate listen, standouts also include the palpably joyous momentum Pardieu, the cross-rhythmic twitterings of flute and percussion on Fruit Smoothie and Peanut Butter, Don’t Go Back To Sleep, You Thought You Were Free?, Follow Me I Make You Happy, and When Love Begins. A short documentary about Bex’s work is also below. Out on International Anthem.
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