ESSIA

Essia, the new album from Wajdi Riahi Trio, is a delicate weave of light, suppleyet dense textures: craftsmanship that is both subtle and robust. Wajdi revealshis lyricism throughout the songs, each of which stands alone but, like acollection of short stories, ultimately form a cohesive whole. 

Where the first album Mhamdeya was steeped in nostalgia, this second opustells of a journey between the pianist’s two horizons: Tunis and Brussels.

Stambeli and Gnawa music are an integral part of the album. The organicarchitecture of these (North) African rhythms blends with the complexity ofjazz. 

Virtuosic yet poetic, the trio touches the ground and the sky. Hurty’s drumsstand out for their precision and dynamics, navigating the music withdetermination and serenity. Rahola’s double bass brings a reassuring soundreminiscent of Charlie Heiden, surprising us with soaring moments in hischosen silences. 

Riahi, in addition to the delightful, controlled progression of his hands from thepiano to the Rhodes, brings us his whistling and his voice. Moving between freemelodies and Arabic songs, he thus reveals a more vulnerable and fragile partof his artistic personality. This envelops the repertoire in a warm, gentle fuzzthat contrasts remarkably with the sound of the Krakebs, who reverberate atother times