Photograph by Matthew Johnson
Please can you tell us about your new album and UK album launch?
My new album “Effra” is my 4th as a bassist, composer and bandleader and it’s being released on my 34th birthday on the last day of this month, Friday 31st January. It’s a collection of all the music I’ve written in the last four years for my band which I’ve been running for over a decade now. The word is often associated with the area of Brixton in South London which has been my home for 10 years. It began as the name of a now-underground river that runs through the area and has more recently been used as the name of a main road and two rival pubs, as well as a smaller road which one of the tracks “The Effra Parade” is named after. The album is an expression of my love for both my home and for playing jazz after a difficult period in previous years, and these pieces reflect all the personal journeys in that time. It’s the first album of mine I’ve produced myself, and we recorded it in Livingston Studios in North London in February last year. It is also the first album of mine I am releasing on vinyl.
The launch gig for this album is taking place at Kings Place Hall One on Saturday 22nd February. I have a good relationship with the venue, having played in Hall One with many groups over the years including a recent big album launch of another band (see below) and launched my first two albums in Hall Two. I love the intimate atmosphere and clear acoustics in Hall One and am really looking forward to bringing my band there. We will be playing mostly pieces from the new album with some favourites from the previous 3 thrown in there too.
What other projects are you currently involved in?
I like to make music with many different people and crossing many genres so there are many projects I am involved in at the moment, but the main one that has been very active recently is a trio with vocalist & violinist Alice Zawadzki and multi-instrumentalist Fred Thomas. Originally formed by Alice, the trio recently released an album of folk songs on ECM Records called Za Górami. It was in The Guardian’s top 10 jazz albums of 2024.
What are you currently listening to and what was the last CD or download you bought?
At the time of writing on 2nd Jan, my wife gave birth to our daughter 4 days ago after 2 weeks of early labour so we’ve mostly been listening to calming and soothing music for both the labour and time with our baby since the birth. And specifically, music we know well rather than looking for new things, so Ella Fitzgerald, Nils Frahm, the Danish String Quartet, Laura Marling, Astrud Gilberto, John Metcalfe, and some classical music by Beethoven, Rachmaninov and Ravel. The only exception has been Christmas, and while “A Very Swingin’ Basie Christmas” is my favourite to go to every year someone recently recommended Bobby Timmons’ “Holiday Soul”, which is the last album I bought as since then everything has been focussed on the birth. I love the Bobby Timmons record as it doesn’t try and be festive in a commercial sort of way but just features some really tight jazz trio playing of well-known Christmas songs as if they were any standards.
What is your all-time favourite album and why?
That is honestly impossible to answer as I like so much music from different genres. If I were to not think about it too much, right now my choices would be: –
In the classical world I would choose Beethoven’s Symphonies with John Eliot Gardiner, since they’re some of my favourite orchestral pieces ever and I have a great love for the sound of period instruments and how well they blend together. I also love the simplicity and rawness of how the instruments are played without a lot of the modern “shiny” elements of classical playing such as excessive vibrato.
In the jazz world I would choose Oscar Peterson’s “A Jazz Portrait of Frank Sinatra” since for me it represents what I love about jazz most which is that really joyful and playful side of playing swing. The playing of the trio on this album is exceptional – everything sounds so playful and joyful and easy and always lifts my mood.
In the pop world I would choose Stevie Wonder’s “Original Musiquarium”, which is mostly a compilation but I used to listen to it on repeat as a kid so all the songs on it (which include a few standout tracks which were recorded especially for it) have been with me my entire life. The combination of really singable melodies, simple but tight grooves, and some of my favourite harmony in the world makes his songs some of my favourite in the world. Not the most original answer but I couldn’t not include.
In the folk world I would choose the folk band Kan’s “Sleeper” which was the only album they released before disbanding. Whilst not the most authentic type of folk playing as they have elements from other genres thrown in there, the melodies they play are just brilliant and they know how to build things up slowly and how to groove.
Who has caught your attention recently that we should be listening out for?
The young and brilliant saxophonist Tom Smith is someone I’m lucky to collaborate with from time to time, and he’s in the process of releasing an album with his big band, which I got to hear most of at a gig recently. It’s top-quality big band writing and doesn’t hold back, so do check it out – the album is called “A Year In The Life”.
Effra by Misha Mullov-Abbado is released by Ubuntu Music on CD, vinyl & digital on Friday 31January 2025
Album launch at King’s Place, London on Saturday 22 February 2025
For more information visit Misha’s website at mishamullovabbado.com
