On his fourth full-length, 2021's genre-melding Bring Backs, British pianist and rapper Alfa Mist showcases his vivid, enveloping mix of jazz, R&B, classical, and hip-hop. The album follows 2019's Structuralism, which appeared on Mist's own Sekito label. For Bring Backs, Mist moved to the Anti- label, a shift that finds him further expanding his evocative brand of organic, hip-hop jazz. A largely self-taught pianist, the East London-reared Mist plays in a laid-back, harmonically nuanced style informed by '70s jazz and fusion, '90s hip-hop, and modern electronic production. Mist brings this cross-pollinated aesthetic to Bring Backs, crafting tracks that feel inspired by vintage Lonnie Liston-Smith or George Duke recordings, but with a keen, contemporary ear. Helping him achieve this vibrant, earthy sound are his bandmates, including Jamie Leeming (guitar), Kaya Thomas-Dyke (bass and vocals), Jamie Houghton (drums), and Johnny Woodham (trumpet). The opening "Teki" is a languid fusion number built around a sparkling guitar arpeggio that Leeming expands with a knotty, Pat Metheny-esque solo. Equally compelling is "Run Outs," a dreamy, trap beat groover punctuated by Mist's astral keyboard flourishes and space alien sax and trumpet lines. No less expansive is the otherworldly "Mind the Gap," a woozy slow-jam rap duet between Mist and Lex Amor that brings to mind '90s, "Rebirth of the Slick"-era Digable Planets. More grounded is "People," a lyrical and folky R&B ballad in which Thomas-Dyke's yearning vocals are framed by woody guitar, percussion, and orchestral accents. Strings, flutes, and other classical sounds pop-up throughout the album, as on "Last Card (Bumper Cars)," a lush, midtempo number whose reedy, trumpet and sax harmonies recall Gil Evans' work with Miles Davis. Mist's classical inclinations take full form on "Once a Year," a brief, yet languorous chamber piece that, as with all of Bring Backs, underlines his wide-ranging taste. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi

1		Teki
2		People (feat. Kaya Thomas-Dyke)
3		Mind the Gap (feat. Lex Amor)
4		Run Outs
5		Last Card (Bumper Cars)
6		Coasting
7		Attune
8		Once a Year
9		Organic Rust

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