Many things impress me about Dominique "Domu" Stanton, but the thing that gets me most is how he manages to make exceptionally good and stylistically varied music both as a solo artist and with all of his collaborators. One minute he's making drum and bass music as Sonar Circle; the next, he's teamed up with Enrico Volcov for some nu-jazz/house business as Rima. On his latest project, Stanton joins bassist/producer Robert Marin as Bakura, reflecting an organic, instrumental jazz-influenced angle. "Reach the Sky," the new long-player from Bakura, fuses live instrumentation, courtesy of Stanton and Marin's own musical talents and Australian flutist Graeme Blevins, beautifully constructed songs, and Domu's syncopated beat structures, to create a unique spin on soulful nu-jazz music.
"Reach the Sky" includes several tunes Bakura fans will already know; "Veya Veya," "Razzmatazz," "Thinking About," "Bada" and the title cut that were previously released on singles. To Stanton and Marin's credit, those songs are so solid that they still sound just as fresh. I was pleasantly surprised to find a well-done version of Erykah Badu's "Clevah" featuring Nicola Kramer (who never disappoints) on vocals.
The CD is a Japan-only release for now—there's always something, isn't there? But, it's well worth the extra pennies and shipping to have all these tunes together on one CD, and to have the 2 or 3 that haven't been previously released.