Jairus Sharif - Water & Tools [Telephone Explosion Records 093]

Put out on the circuit via the Toronto-based imprint Telephone Explosion Records on October 21st, 2k22 is "Water & Tools", the latest longplay outing by Calgary's Jarius Sharif who, prior to ending up with buying an alto saxophone shortly before the pandemic hit, has been touching base with various musical approaches on explorative stints including HipHop x DJ'ing, Punk as well as Spiritual Jazz throughout his life. Now invested in the art of Free Jazz and Improvisation and recording in his makeshift home studio without undergoing any formal sax lessons Sharif laid down his nine tracks and 42 minutes spanning album throughout a period of reflection and increased self-awareness, guiding the listener through an intense listening experience starting from a point of spine-tingling, almost klaxon'esque electronic signals paired with quasi-oriental melodic meanderings bringing forth a brooding desert feel before drifting into hopeful, expanding FutureJazz territories, incorporating elements of fever'ish, primeval DopeBeats and hefty, bass-heavy, dancefloor stirring beats for Illbient crowds as well slugg'ish, grinding FreeJazz x Electronics fusions for highly advanced dancefloors and screaming sax eruptions on the brink of madness and before even adding some muscular DarkJazz to the mix just to provide a rough layout of what is to be found on this highly interesting and recommended album. Nothing but excellence in this one. Get.