NO(w) Beauty weave modern jazz, strings, electronica on (un)Seen, with guest vocal from Vermont folk singer Sam Amidon (Bon Iver, Nonesuch)

Named French Group of the Year 2023 by Jazz News and Jazz Magazine and honoured by the Académie Charles Cros, NO(w) Beauty is a leaderless French-American quartet whose debut landed as a revelation. Trumpeter Hermon Mehari, born in Kansas City and a Carmine Caruso competition laureate, sits at its heart alongside pianist Enzo Carniel, double bassist Damien Varaillon and drummer Stéphane Adsuar, the three Frenchmen schooled at the Paris Conservatoire. Critics have placed them in the lineage of Ambrose Akinmusire, yet their voice is unmistakably their own.
(un)Seen, their second album, is a sensitive exploration of what escapes the first glance: a hidden beauty. Loosely built around the image of birds in flight as a metaphor for the inner paths we travel, its eleven tracks fold new electronic textures and a string quartet into a bold blend of modern jazz, European classical writing and hip-hop. The four members write in equal parts, each piece holding its own identity while interlocking within a single narrative where collective force takes precedence over the individual.
At its centre is an exceptional collaboration with American folk singer Sam Amidon, the Vermont-born, London-based artist known for his work with Nonesuch and Rough Trade and his collaborations with Bon Iver, Bill Frisell, The National and the Kronos Quartet. His voice links the imagery of flight, childhood and illumination.
The album also carries a remarkable backstory: a first set of sessions was lost to a technical accident, and the music had to be recorded a second time. Every note now seems to hold the memory of its disappearance, a beauty made fragile, then strengthened by the ordeal. Every album has its story. This one has two.

Bonus Materials

• 17 October : Vancouver, Canada
• 20 Octobre : New York, Dizzy’s, Jazz at Linclon Center
• 22/23/24/25 octobre : San Francico, Black Cat
• 28 octobre : Santa Maria, Hancock College.
• 29 octobre : Los Angeles, Théâtre Raymond Kabbaz

Track Listing

• Sira Lontana
• Interlude (The Calling)
• Don't Judge by the Feathers
• The Birds' Enlightened Path
• Inner Spaces
• Zones de l'oublie
• Zone 11 - Territoire(s)
• Atlantic Currents
• Second Glance
• Gentlemen's Agreement
• Intemporelle

Additional Details

Label: hOms

Genre: Jazz

Language: English

Run Time: 48 mins

Region: 0

Release Date: 10/09/26

UPC: 3521381604146