Displaced Diaspora

Displaced Diaspora is a collection of tracks that jazz drummer, producer and composer Boyd either played on or produced in 2014. It’s a marvellously varied album where you find hip hop and cutting-edge tuba-bottomed street jazz next to hectic improvisational jams like “Frontline” and early ’70s Prestige funky jazz-style grooves like “Axis Blue.” Boyd is adept, expert even, at incorporating non-jazz like grime and afrobeats into his musical world, easily blurring musical genres with productions that reference the past while carving out a fresh approach. 

Plenty of top-level London players appear including sax/percussionist Kevin Haynes, Ezra Collective’s Joe Armon-Jones, Sons of Kemet tuba player Theon Cross and saxophonist Nubya Garcia, and while the no-holds-barred dancefloor destroyer “Rye Lane Shuffle” is the most well-known track here, it’s the splendidly buoyant, retro-yet-contemporary swing of “Marooned in SE6” that gets my vote for album standout.