With his debut solo album, ‘I Am Panda’, Tim Doyle aka Chiminyo joins the likes of Yussef Dayes and Moses Boyd as percussionist turned composer, a move that has become an exciting feature of London’s new generation jazz scene of the past decade.
After years of keeping rhythm for Nubya Garcia and Shabaka Hutchings, Doyle lets it all fly here, not only drumming, but taking on all electronic production and arrangement. It’s a tsunami of washing synths that ride across gut-busting beats and finely selected guest vocals. ‘See Me’ is bursting with energy from vocalist KOG, while ‘Sinkin’ drafts in south London wordsmith Brother Portrait to dodge between heady, electrified jazz. Before it’s all over, he even sneaks in a piano solo that could draw a bellow from Sun Ra somewhere upstairs.
For the album’s inspiration, Doyle cites Flying Lotus and Floating Points alongside Ravel and Debussy. A fitting roll call for an artist with enough tools in the shed to go places we haven’t heard before.
