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Surya Botofasina: Ashram Sun review – Alice Coltrane-inspired expression of nature’s glory
Sat between jazz, ambient and devotional music, the California artist evokes a pastoral wonderland – but disrupts it with surprising, volatile bursts of sound
When Surya Botofasina was growing up on an ashram in California, he had no idea that his mentor, a woman he knew as Swamini Turiyasangitananda, was also known by millions around the world as Alice Coltrane. There Will Be Brighter Days starts as a gentle, amniotic throb that slowly mutates into something tempestuous, with Botofasina hollering in tongues while clarinet player Angel Bat Dawid and guitarist Nate Mercereau spray out free improv. Hawksmoor is the nom du band of Bristolian multi-instrumentalist James McKeown, whose second LP, Oneironautics (Soul Jazz), uses vintage analogue synths to draw from a specific era of 1970s electronica and krautrock, but often strays into pleasingly alien territory.
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