Shima

Pink Hawks feel a little out of place in Denver’s music scene. At the very least, the band feels out of place in 2011. The 12-piece Afrobeat ensemble led by alto saxophonist Yuzo Nieto sounds like it would be more at home amid the Afrobeat explosion of the ’70s and ’80s rather than tucked away in Denver, hidden behind bands like Snake Rattle Rattle Snake and Force Publique.

The group’s most recent release, Shima, is only five tracks—but they are five epic tracks, with the shortest among them clocking in at just under 10 minutes. Filled with jazzy horns, bluesy organ, funk-tastic bass lines, and some furious bongo drums, there’s a lot to listen to in a Pink Hawks song, so the fact that the fact that these songs venture beyond the 10-minute mark is actually a positive.

The opener, “Everything Is Poetry,” builds on a solid, horn-based hook and a warbly vocal refrain before dissolving into an all-out jam session, as most of these songs are bound to do. “Addicted To Pain” takes a darker turn with female-fronted vocals—and lyrics about destroying your body with cheeseburgers—set among drum solos and tension-filled horns. “Misery In Threes” sounds like it could have come out of a cabaret, with its slinky rhythms and violin highlights giving it a distinctly Middle Eastern vibe.

Taken as a whole, Shima is filled with intriguing instrumentation and worldly sounds. Pink Hawks may not get as much attention as some of the other bands in the Denver, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t. This is music that would make Afrobeat forefather Fela Kuti proud.