Myele Manzanza’s prowess as a drummer has earned him a reputation as a musician capable of seamlessly traversing jazz, hip-hop, r’n'b, electronica, broken-beat, soul and world music. For the past six years he has traveled the globe as part of New Zealand’s acclaimed modern soul group, Electric Wire Hustle and turned heads internationally with his charismatic live performance and technical skill. Now stepping forward with his solo debut Myele reveals another dimension of his musical persona...

One is Myele Manzanza's debut album... and it's pretty impressive, to say the least. We start of with a tongue-in-cheek introduction with, what appears to be, two of Manzanza's neighbours leaving messages on his answer machine complaining about his constant drumming. I'd love to know if this is real or just a joke, because the voices sound authentic.

'Big Space' is where the album begins proper and it's an impressive opening instrumental track where the drums, naturally, take centre stage.

'Elvin's Brew' manages to cross jazz with electronic pop, whist 'City Of Atlantis' fuses jazz with soul.

It's this mix and match approach of genres that give One its distinct flavour. The album contains 10 tracks, which last for 50 min, 28 sec. It's a solid debut album and I'm looking forward to Manzanza's output in the future.

7

Nick Smithson