Zoh Amba - Sun

On Sun, Amba introduces a newly assembled group with a set of compositions that blur the line between performance and process – where both the music and the act of capturing it unfold in real time, guided in part by improvisational recording techniques. As a bandleader, Amba navigates the edges of an improvisational delta, where spiritual jazz and free folk emerge not as separate genres, but as tributaries of the same current, each flowing from a shared belief in music as a sacred force.  

The decision to release Sun on Smalltown Supersound was born from a common connection to the late German saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, who was both a spiritual mentor to Amba and released several records on the label. And while the album is rooted in American folk traditions, it’s Brötzmann’s fearless spirit – itself an immense historical catalyst for European free jazz – that runs like a current through the ensemble’s musical collaboration and its experimental recording techniques