Jasmine Myra with Strings at EFG London Jazz Festival
It was a Gondwana Records night on Tuesday at Hackney Church, the East London live venue which has hosted a lot of great artists in the past and which is one of the hosts of this year’s EFG London Jazz Festival. Gondwana Records, an independent label based in Manchester and founded by Matthew Halsall in 2008, is home to Leeds-based saxophonist, bandleader and composer Jasmine Myra who has two albums out on the label and who is preparing her third release to come out in 2026. But first, the night’s opening act was the Ancient Infinity Orchestra who also have released a couple of albums for the label: “River Of Light” (2023) and “It’s Always About Love” (2025). Their interesting and unique mixture of spiritual jazz and Pharoah Sanders meets Lonnie Liston Smith was in effect for a good 45 minutes when they played music from both albums plus a couple of new compositions. The eclectic variations of baritone sax, flute, and oboe made for a delightful, mesmerizing, sometimes mystical brew, spurred on by two bassists who cleary enhanced and ignited the sound.
Jasmine Myra, clearly the evening’s darling, played tunes from her two albums and also a few tracks from her upcoming release. It seemed as if those particular songs dig even deeper into her intensely spiritual world, with beautiful pieces such as “Some Rain Must Fall” making me really looking forward to hearing it on record. As a special treat, and for the first time ever, Jasmine was accompanied by a four-piece string section which enhanced, enriched, and sometimes just vaguely supported her compositions which could be centered around some sudden outbursts, but also had some very tender and soothing elements in them as well. Her delivery was always capturing the essence of her compositions – sometimes she even refrained from playing too much since the other group members let the music unfold. We were also treated to the beautiful “Words Left Unspoken”, her dedication to her mother from her first album “Horizons” (2022).
