Jazz is constantly reinventing itself, though many jazz musicians seem bound by a strong commitment to Bebop from which they cannot escape. Bebop, which emerged as a liberation—both musically and socially—has become a creative curse, much like Bach remains the unmissable blanket for the Western musical picnic.

However, emerging talents and brilliant minds like Arooj Aftab have found a way to reconcile Bebop’s liberation and spontaneity with the painful yet beautiful technique of defining and limiting, of sculpting a world, giving it a finite shape and name.

In this review, we get into the “Night Reign” Arooj presents. The name is quite fitting: like light filtered through obsidian crystals, her songs are opaque. The woody tones of the double bass, the dance that always occurs in the lower registers, and the absence of strong percussion create a sense of underwater depth. It feels as though everything is happening beneath the sea, where we perceive the force of the void and where light distorts into chaotic undulations. In “Last Night reprise,” light occasionally appears as harps, with beautifully reverberant structures sometimes breaking into echoes, while dark marine currents of the bass dance in the background. Then, Arooj Aftab's voice brings a balance between light and darkness, but only briefly, before transitioning into “Raat Kit Rani.” In this piece, the drone of the piano anchors us; the music is no longer an ephemeral place of clouds but a nocturnal palace of strings.

All the songs alternate between ethereal dark places and high places of dim light. However, nothing feels too solid; there is a sense of lightness in all the songs. Still, we have light. I don’t believe in those shallow interpretations of hope when we see a little light in nocturnal scenarios. Rather, it raises other questions in me. Maybe it’s because the nocturnal realm she describes takes place in the soul? It’s not that light doesn’t exist in the night’s realm, but as Jung once spoke of his own interior, there is a black sun within all of us, and we should embrace the vitalizing rays of darkness. Considering this, it’s fascinating how a well-worn, melancholic, and brilliant piece like “Autumn Leaves” shines anew under this black sun.

It's fantastic to encounter artists who are geniuses in composition, spectacular instrumentalists, and highly competent in production. These strengths are evident from the very first moment.

For anyone needing to immerse themselves in their own being, reconnect with the darker aspects of their soul, and simply sing, I wholeheartedly recommend Arooj Aftab.

Author: Martín Cacho

Martín is a video game composer, producer and writer from Sonora, México.