Emma-Jean Thackray - Yellow (Deluxe) (2022) [Hi-Res]

‘Yellow’ is the life-giving debut album opus from pivotal London jazz player and band leader Emma-Jean Thackray, channelling sacred strains of everyone from Sun Ra to Alice Coltrane and even Funkadelic Cementing a solid reputation as a catalyst of London’s jazzy groundswell in recent years, Thackray gathers a crack squad of the city’s finest for 14 variegated tracks deeply informed by ‘70s jazz fusion, but just as prone to veer off on cosmic or P-funk tangents. Recorded over the past 12 months of strife, ‘Yellow’ ultimately conveys a message of positivity thru classically schooled means, drawing upon examples of high black art, and effectively where they came from, to offer a whole vibe for those in need. Hailed by the label as “exactly like the sort of thing we’ve been longing for over the last 12 months: a transcendent, human, shared experience” we’re inclined to agree; ‘Yellow’ is just the ticket to clear the murk with its cloud busting bursts of harmonic colour, plush vocals and elastic bounce. We advise checking for the effervescent bustle of ‘Third Eye’ at its core for a proper spirit lifter, and looking out for Sun Ra-esque gems in the cosmic beauty of album opener ‘Mercury,’ while dancers will be charmed by the bubbling takers of ‘Venus’ and the swingeing rug-cutters ‘Rahu & Ketu’ or ‘Our People.’



1.01 - Emma-Jean Thackray - Mercury (5:44)
1.02 - Emma-Jean Thackray - Say Something (3:49)
1.03 - Emma-Jean Thackray - About That (2:16)
1.04 - Emma-Jean Thackray - Venus (6:34)
1.05 - Emma-Jean Thackray - Green Funk (2:01)
1.06 - Emma-Jean Thackray - Third Eye (2:49)
1.07 - Emma-Jean Thackray - May There Be Peace (1:24)
1.08 - Emma-Jean Thackray - Sun (3:07)
1.09 - Emma-Jean Thackray - Golden Green (4:05)
1.10 - Emma-Jean Thackray - Spectre (4:28)
1.11 - Emma-Jean Thackray - Rahu & Ketu (4:13)
1.12 - Emma-Jean Thackray - Yellow (2:02)
1.13 - Emma-Jean Thackray - Our People (4:46)
1.14 - Emma-Jean Thackray - Mercury (In Retrograde) (1:57)
2.01 - Emma-Jean Thackray - Sun (Live At The Church Studios) (3:26)
2.02 - Emma-Jean Thackray - Say Something (Instrumental) (3:28)
2.03 - Emma-Jean Thackray, Wiki - Golden Green feat Wiki (4:03)
2.04 - Emma-Jean Thackray - The Road Trip To Saturn (2:19)
2.05 - Emma-Jean Thackray - The Rings Of Saturn (3:23)
2.06 - Emma-Jean Thackray - Sun (Jitwam & EJT Remix) (4:37)
2.07 - Emma-Jean Thackray - Our People (Live At The Church Studios) (5:13)
2.08 - Emma-Jean Thackray - Venus (Black Science Orchestra Tough Love Vocal Mix) (7:41)
2.09 - Emma-Jean Thackray - Yellow (Live At EartH) (6:31)