London drummer Tom Skinner's work since coming onto the scene in the late 2000s has been continuous and wide-ranging, but the six exploratory tunes that make up Voices of Bishara are the first music released under his own name. Skinner's drumming résumé includes credits on songs by Floating Points, being one-third of Radiohead spinoff band the Smile, extensive work with Sons of Kemet, and more, but with Voices of Bishara, Skinner assumes a central role as he leads an incredible band through his emotionally vivid songs of hope, contemplation, and upheaval. Joined by bassist Tom Herbert, cellist Kareem Dayes, the always stunning Nubya Garcia on tenor sax and flute, and Sons of Kemet bandmate Shabaka Hutchings on tenor saxophone and bass clarinet, Skinner collages his songs into subtle little avalanches of expression. The album's editing process becomes an instrument of its own, with Skinner taking raw live-in-the-room recordings and looping certain sections, accentuating or deleting parts, bringing in touches of reverb or delay to create a haunted atmosphere, and otherwise rendering a fairly straightforward jazz session otherworldly and hypnotizing. The moments of free playing are controlled to begin with, and reined in further by the editing. Tracks like opener "Bishara" make ample space for simple string figures to dance around declarative horns and Skinner's rolling waves of percussion. Tunes like "The Journey" and the lightly skipping "Voices (Of the Past)" are anchored by tight grooves, with Skinner looping certain sections like a hip-hop producer selects the perfect sample from an old record when working on a new beat. Though he never showboats or pushes his drumming to the front of the mix, the songs are at their best when Skinner's drums are gently steering the ship. Every aspect of Voices of Bishara is understated, never hitting the listener over the head with garish editing choices, demanding performances, or obvious moves. Instead, the album drifts by beautifully and mysteriously, its swim of different sounds and executions quietly creating a world of its own. It joins a long line of inventive jazz records that goes from the groundbreaking studio practices of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew era and Wayne Shorter's transportive 1971 set Odyssey of Iska right up to International Anthem labelmate Makaya McCraven's experiments with creating new songs from chopping up studio sessions. Like these albums, Voices of Bishara never overtly announces its intentions or tells us where it's going, but when it's over we realize we've just been taken along on an incredible journey. ~ Fred Thomas, Rovi

1		Bishara
2		Red 2
3		The Journey
4		The Day After Tomorrow
5		Voices (Of the Past)
6		Quiet as It's Kept