It sounds like a prayer. Or an uprising. Or both. Amirtha Kidambi’s Elder Ones merges the ecstatic fire of free jazz with electronic minimalism and the deep-rooted drone of South Indian raga. At the center is the voice, but it doesn’t rest. It chants, screams, pleads, resists. Every piece feels like a ritual carried out by more than the five musicians on stage, as if an ancestral force is pulsing through their instruments.
Their 2024 release New Monuments (We Jazz) was forged in the wake of the George Floyd protests – a sonic act of resistance and remembrance. “It’s a manifesto with universal application,” wrote NPR about the album’s powerful centrepiece, “Farmer’s Song.” If you’re drawn to Alice Coltrane, Mary Halvorson or Diamanda Galás, this is for you. Spiritual punk for a world in flux.
LINEUP
Amirtha Kidambi – vocals, keyboards, harmonium
Matt Nelson – saxophone
Alfredo Colón – saxophone
Lester St. Louis – bass
Jason Nazary – drums
