Ari Joshua is a shamanistic jazz rock guitarist and composer born in South Africa and raised in Seattle. His passion for music has been evident from a young age and his study of it on scholarship in the East Coast helped him further his craft. He shows willingness to experiment and explore new genres with his improvisational and compositional skills and is the founder of the music education centre and record label Music Factory.

With only four instruments, “Rare Groove” starts off slow and sets the stage with simplicity for what is to come. The loop structure that is repeated seven times and forms what is the skeleton of the track is introduced to us in the first 40 seconds. The groovy guitar notes, smooth saxophone, hi-hat heavy percussion by Grant Schroff and atmosphere setting synth work by Delvon Lamarr set the base with the first two loops.

The track picks up pace as it progresses and gives an entire section to the saxophone, my personal favourite, played by Skerik where it is allowed to take its own journey and be the focal point while the rest of the ensemble remain relatively predictable. Ari Joshua follows the same with his guitar and this kind of solo work where other elements remain stable offer structure and predictability allowing the listener to pay closer attention to one instrument at a time.

It is evident that Ari Joshua is influenced by classic and alternative rock as well as psychedelic music and Jazz making his music a delicate balance of the old and new. “Rare Groove” lives up to its title and seamlessly blends genre to give us an engaging track!