Search - Justin Adams :: Desert Road

A spine of Wobble

Mr. Richard K. Weems | Fair Lawn, NJ USA | 06/13/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Justin Adams is a longtime member of Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart, so his work may have a Wobblish spine, but it would seem that while Wobble is the musical director and philosopher, Adams may be the heart and soul of the Wobblian diversity and lives the kind of diversity and border-busting that Wobble always hopes to do, but sometimes ends up being a little too white bread in the end.



The tracks on this disc fade in and out of familiarity, cutting and pasting music from all over within each track. Tracks like "Dark Sea" are rich and deep and airy as is its immediate followup "Dream of Flying." Later tracks like "Tafraoute" and "Wallahee" actually have more of a Deep Space feel, making it pretty clear that Wobble's musicians have as much to do with the sounds as the bass guru as well.



But forgive all of the Wobble references in this review, for Adams' disc here is strong enough to stand on its own. African rhythms, ambient, jazz--there's a little bit of each in every track. Definitely try playing this disc at dusk, and let the room get a little darker with each track until all you have to go by is the glow of the player. This is the Adams experience.

"

The Real Sound of the Desert

Zekeriyah | Chicago, IL | 07/08/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One could be forgiven for being shocked that a westerner managed to do this. After all, its very rare for outsiders to grasp a foreign culture so deftly, but Justin Adams does just that. He shows a real understanding and sensitivity to the cultures of Africa, but at the same time he's not afraid to improvise and throw in other influences. The result is magnificent. Long a fixture on the so-called 'world music' scene, this is Justin Adams first solo release, and if its any indication of his talents and leanings, then I eagerly await more.



The hypnotic, 'desert blues' sound will instantly be recognizable to fans of Tinariwen, the late Ali Farka Toure and other artists from the Sahara. Accompanied by a wide variety of strong, multi-cultural percussion instruments, Adams maintains skillful playing of his guitar throughout. Its the West African Tuareg sound meets rock'n'roll and Delta blues, with a bit of trance, bellydance and Middle Eastern music thrown in for good measure. And I'm not even sure THAT does an adequate job describing his music. Ultimately, if your a fan of the so-called 'African desert blues' coming out of Mali, Senegal, Algeria, Niger, northern Nigeria and that area, then you won't want to miss out on this CD. This is as good as anything to come out of the Sahara, and Adams clearly has a grasp on the cultures of the region."