Routes is Bamjimba's second album. Like their impressive debut CD I Love, Routes has the loose affable feel of a musician's collective, but now with an even more impressive roll call of musicians on the credits, two notable names being foundation UK reggae producer Dennis Bovell on bass and legendary Skatalites trombonist Rico Rodrigues on, naturally, trombone. All told, 29 musicians and vocalists are listed, twice as many as on Routes, and to organise such an array of musical talent, some tight orchestration clearly underpins Bamjimba's deceptively loose and experimental vibe.
The album begins with The Dedication, a spaghetti-western style tolling bell and medley of hymns while the closing track Deluge comes complete with pouring rain and thunderclaps, fading out wittily on the venerable hymn 'For Those In Peril On The Sea' and bringing the listener around full circle to a satisfying conclusion. Such attention to detail is characteristic of Bamjimba's high production standards.
The spirituality of Routes is often reminiscent of avant-garde jazz great John Coltrane and second track The Guide which kicks off the vocal contribution of singer El Fata has more than a touch of Coltrane's A Love Supreme with El Fata's haunting echoed voice in duet with flute and soprano sax. The Urban Voice quartet throughout gives a gospel feel to the musical proceedings while El Fata's vocals often have the anthemic feel of Bob Marley in his Seventies global pomp.
Train To Seven Sisters, another standout track, serves up a dark vision of North London urban paranoia with its opening police sirens and Victoria Line underground train, building through harmonica, gruff horn and wailing Arab pipes to a wider vision of the global urban souk. In contrast, Sail Away, featuring the great Rico Rodriguez, is an ethereal summery affair of steel pans and El Fata's wistful vocals.
Routes is an appropriate title for this album since reggae is the starting point here but definitely not the musical Highway Code. There is a questing feel to the whole Bamjimba enterprise, again reminiscent of the later John Coltrane, as though the torch lit by the first album has been carried further down the road but the destination has yet to be decided. Where are Bamjimba going next? Forward the third album!