One of the most infectious Jazz based debut records of the year, ‘Yellow’ introduces itself with ever increasing waves of cosmic vibrations on opening track ‘Mercury.’ As a scene setter, this sort of tells the listener all and nothing simultaneously. Yes, you may well deduce that what will follow is going to be something of a spiritual journey, but no way in hell could you be anticipating the explosion of styles, tempos, moods and explorative diversions that are about to unfold. For that reason alone, Emma-Jean Thackray’s debut album deservedly caught lots of attention in 2021; it was a unique calling card, a showcase even, for a jazz artist with no respect for genre and a singular approach that placed her in a scene all her own.

As with so many releases in 2021, the gestation period for the album had occurred around the 2020 lockdown, you remember the one where people really could not go out? Emma-Jean had caught Covid in the summer of 2020 and found that this had negatively impacted her trumpet playing. It left her briefly having to alter her approach, blowing shorter phrases, something that can be heard on the album within some of the modalism and moments of Bop style experimentation. That though is far from the over-riding mood that pumps out of these grooves, there are a myriad of elements here such as the progression in her music displayed in the singing. This is an area in which Emma-Jean admits she had to overcome some hesitancy, eventually rationalizing that Chet Baker had done it so why shouldn’t she? It was a strong move, for the singing here shows a range of modes that you would not expect from one with such initial reticence.

It is in taking these instinctive strides forward musically that Thackray displays a sure footedness and independence. While she does acknowledge her association with the big names of the London Jazz Scene, she does not necessarily belong at around the center of it. She is originally from Yorkshire and in fact grew up playing marching music in a brass band. To this day there remains something of the outsider to Emma-Jean Thackray, a level head and a lack of showboating in her approach to music that sets her apart from the crowd. At the same time however, it cannot be ignored that the sounds she creates and the range of ideas incorporated are truly remarkable. Anyone who has seen her band live has witnessed the astonishing telepathy between her and her bandmates. This has found a way onto the record, released on Emma-Jean’s own label Movementt, by way of live samples woven into the mix. At this stage, those early outsider years around Yorkshire, when her interest in Jazz cast her into a solitary vein, are starting to pay dividends in the shape of a singular talent; time inside your own head can indeed brew an inner determination to follow your own path.

So, the highlights on this LP are many and the opportunities for comparison are plentiful too but Emma-Jean never allows them to submerge her own sound and vision. There is a hint of Alice Coltrane on the track ‘Yellow,’ which begins with an organ sound that is so fruity you can practically taste the juices squeezing out of it. ‘Rahu & Ketu’ is one of several celebratory numbers in tone, a strong element that gives the album its undeniable addictiveness. The out-and-out Funk sections take ‘Yellow’ into delightfully seventies sounding conscious Soul territories. At times, the album is so firmly focused on groove and movement that it crash-lands directly into a distinct house music and modern club feel. Now there is an area of music that so often leaves me disinterested, sounding too much like a genre that has hard locked into formula and abandoned any ambitions to creativity. It is so refreshing to hear new artists, primarily in the jazz world it has to be said, still determined to find ways of injecting these styles with forward momentum.

Emma-Jean Thackray’s net casts wider than most. One of the tracks at the dramatic heart of this LP is ‘Spectre,’ the way it pulls in strands of cinematic tension and teases the listener with mind-bending sci-fi style lyrics is captivating. Therefore, it is unsurprising that Thackray has confessed to being a fan of dystopian science fiction. The video for ‘Say Something’ was based on Logans Run and earlier in 2021 she had explained to Bandcamp about the accompanying video and song that “it starts off quite housey, then there’s a bridge to a different section where the time signature’s different and it’s a lot more raucous”. But having indulged the interviewer with a little insight into one of her passions, she reeled the topic back to the essential detail, the message of the song. “The message is really don’t say things for the sake of it, be real.” You could wholesale lift those sentiments and apply them to Emma-Jean Thackray and this swirling, head-spinning wonder of a debut album. If ever a jazz artist stood tall and firmly, independently, announced that they are the real deal it surely happened here. Setting genre aside because you simply must, ‘Yellow’ is simply one of the finest journeys in music heard in 2021.

Find a vinyl copy Emma-Jean Thackray’s Yellow here: https://www.discogs.com/release/19437127-Emma-Jean-Thackray-Yellow-