Carlos Niño has been a team player since forever. He’s the kind of guy whose business card lists a good dozen job titles, all of which somehow have to do with art and especially with music and, above all, of course, people. His discography could accordingly be printed out as a small phone book of some of the best people around, with whom he has played in a variety of groups or in duo formation. For quite some time now he has been bringing exactly such people into the studio under the name Carlos Niño & Friends to make very different music with them in various constellations before then somehow bringing the whole thing into a meaningful flow. In the first Pandemic Summer he did this together with, among others, Sam Gendel, Jamael Dean, Jamire Williams and Iasos in the form of an album with the topical title »Actual Presence«, which is now being reissued in an expanded form as »Extra Presence« in the third Pandemic Summer. Shabazz Palaces jump on a previously instrumental-only track, guitarist Nate Mercereau and Laraaji as well as Iasos participate on new tracks—seven more in all, the longest of which clocks in at nearly 23 minutes of playing time. Extra, indeed! The musical range extends from esoteric free jazz to esoteric hip-hop and esoteric new age music. Radiant, bright music, which always manages to avoid all faux pas by never sticking to tried and tested formulas. »Extra Presence« offers not only a kaleidoscopic look at the untapped potential of diverse sounds and styles, but also a bit of consolation: Niño demonstrates that human collaboration will always be more productive than solipsism.
Extra Presence
