Originally from New Zealand, Myele Manzanza moved to London in 2019 during one of London jazz’s many zeniths. From there came the inspiration and creation of the first instalment of the Crisis & Opportunity series, which invited praise from the likes of Mary Anne Hobbs, Jamie Cullum, The Guardian and Jazz FM.

Peaks carries on where London left off: thrilling jazz that glistens in and out of new and exciting grooves.

The second record sees Myele Manzanza join forces with Andre Marmot, Jay Phelps and Lewis Moody alongside New Zealand’s own Aron Ottignon, Matt Dal Din and Ashton Sellars.

It opens with ‘Peaks & Ferns’, which is possibly an ode to Manzanza’s own land-of-the-long-white-cloud of New Zealand/Aotearoa. It’s a track with bags of energy and a rhythm section anchored by the stabbing chords of the keys and repetitive bass remarks, while the horns and guitar flicker along.

‘Sit in Your Discomfort’ moves the rhythm to a more fragmentary structure, in a reference to the song title, until the drums come in full force and hurry the groove along in a head-nodding frenzy. The piano solo is a bolt of musical genius.

Leaving the frenzy comes ‘The People’s Changes’, which slows down the pace to a neo-soul strut. It’s a tune that I could imagine Nai Palm singing over, leaving no surprise as to why Myele Manzanza has shared stages with the likes of Hiatus Kaiyote.

Peaks feels like its more New Zealand-inspired than the previous record and its art of creation comes from its spontaneity rather than over-focus on composition.

“This process was also something that I used to do all the time back in my home city of Wellington, New Zealand in clubs like Havana, The Matterhorn or The Rogue and Vagabond in a style affectionately known as the ‘Welli Jam,'” says Manzanza.

“Just get a groove going with a few basic chords and let the music go wherever it goes. As I had been bashing my head into a brick wall trying to ‘compose’ music, I realised that I could just say, ‘fuck it. I trust these musicians’. If I give them the space, then they’ll be able to fill it with good ideas”.