Afloat - The NJE review: Experience is paramount

Having managed to establish a cult following for their longstanding monthly residency in the East End, freethinking trio The NJE — short for near jazz experience — bring their fluid experimental stylings to CD.

Experience is paramount here: bassist Mark Bedford and drummer Simon Charterton are seasoned veterans of the UK’s pop and rock circuit, while multi-instrumentalist Terry Edwards has gigged with everyone from P J Harvey to St Vincent.

Edwards’s knack for playing alto and tenor sax simultaneously, à la the great Rahsaan Roland Kirk, brings a winding melodicism to tracks that evolved on the fly, unfettered by rehearsals.

Featuring an electronic intro from guest Alex “Hot Chip” Taylor and a surging take on Jimi Hendrix’s Voodoo Chile, the only cover, Afloat, is the sound of three musicians delighting in their synergy, and relishing the unknown.