«Meet the artist» Misha Mullov-Abbado

Veröffentlicht: 19/08/2026

Absolutely, it has developed hugely over the many years I have been playing with each musician, both individually and in the group. With some of the musicians (in particular my colleagues in the rhythm section), that shared language extends to being able to second guess what the other is going to do when improvising together (even when accompanying a sax solo, for instance), and in the horn section, the sound of the three of them improvising all together has matured as they leave just the right amount of space for one another.

It’s a good question. Generally the bass doesn’t influence the writing of the music that much. I tend to mostly write at the piano, and whatever the bass ends up doing is something that is a decision from me after (e.g., playing the melody alone or with someone else, or playing the roots of the chords, or playing walking bass in swing). 

There are some pieces over the years where I did write significant parts of the music at the bass; the best examples off the top of my head are the bass lines of «Circle Song» and «Nanban». In those cases, the bass lines are very much part of the composition rather than just an arrangement.

I don’t really know how to answer that in relation to musical direction, other than to say the music on «Effra» reflects where I’ve been at in terms of harmonic language and influences around that period of my music-making. So, rather than it being a conscious decision, there are some elements that feature in many tracks of the album that just happen to be what I was into at the time of writing.

One common thread I can think of is repeated notes and moving harmony underneath (in a minimalist way), which features on «Traintracker», «Rose» and «Nanban». Moving away from the music, though, there is a strong common theme, which is the subject matter of my hometown of Brixton in South London and also my family, featuring in many of the album’s track titles.