Zoh Amba

Zoh Amba is an American saxophonist and composer known for emerging from New York’s avant-garde jazz scene with an intensely expressive and uncompromising sound. 

Eyes Full marks a striking shift in Zoh Amba’s work, returning them, both musically and emotionally, to their roots and to their first instrument, the guitar. For years, Amba tried to find an identity outside of where they came from. Raised in the mountain towns of Tennessee, they left at seventeen for San Francisco, then moved to New York City soon after. Yet no matter how far they traveled, home always wrapped itself around their ankle. 

Amba is always striving for greater proximity to the divine. On Eyes Full, they’ve never come closer. Every song circles the idea of seeing and being seen. Songs about damnation never made sense to them; what interested them instead was mercy, and the possibility of redemption. The record looks closely at the lives of working-class folk in small towns who bust their asses off while trying to find any salvation they can.  

The music itself sounds moonshine-drunk, Amba’s voice snarling and fiery, their guitar slowing then gathering speed like a steam train edging off the tracks. They veer suddenly between abrasion and gentleness. One moment they’re all teeth, the next, they go soft and still. 

Amba sings for people who rarely see themselves reflected back with tenderness. The music carries an ache for communities pushed to the margins, for those growing numb or losing touch with their innermost sense of self. These songs insist on sustained attention: on looking closely, meeting another person’s gaze, and refusing to look away.