Jaubi - Nafs at Peace review | Ammar Kalia's global album of the month

The Guardian 0

(Astigmatic Records)
Jaubi continue to stretch the boundaries of Indian classical music using guitars, synths and multi-genre guests

The Pakistani improvisational quartet Jaubi gained international recognition with 2020’s Ragas from Lahore LP, a collaboration with London-based jazz instrumentalist Tenderlonious that tapped into the spiritual jazz tradition of reworking Indian classical compositions to create a new improvisatory hybrid – a gesturing from the outside in, as the likes of Yusef Lateef and Don Cherry had previously explored. During the same improvised sessions in April 2019 that produced Ragas from Lahore, Jaubi recorded a separate, thematic suite, Nafs at Peace. Now released as their debut group album, Nafs at Peace starts in the Indian classical tradition and extends its tenets outwards to subtly incorporate atypical instrumentation such as the guitar, synths and drum kit.