Twenty years ago, In Between sat neatly in the lineage of downtempo electronica - a lush, sampledelic breakbeat record that blurred the lines between machine and man. It felt live and vintage, but wasn’t. It was a collection of expertly woven loops, borrowed fragments, and studio recordings, all stitched together into something that pulsed like a band but was built inside a computer. With In Between Revisited, Jazzanova takes those ideas full circle, reinterpreting their debut record as a live band, and the result is even more smoky.

Musically, this sits less in a jazz framework than in a deeply jazz-inflected world of funk, Afrobeat, and breakbeat. A lo-fi vocal snippet, a rhythmic filter sweep, elements no traditional jazz band would touch add the sense of something dreamlike. Clara Hill’s performance on No Use is achingly tender, the ensemble playing on Mwela, Mwela (Here I Am) conjures a rolling afro-funk groove full of charm and sophistication, and Days To Come lands somewhere close to euphoric deep house. The clinical precision of the original In Between’s sampling has given way to warmth, feel, and movement. It’s a record made by musicians who love these songs not because they’re clever construction, but because they’re good songs, full stop. Jazzanova may have started out as studio wizards with a deep love of jazz and soul, but here they’ve become something closer to a classic funk band. The shift from sequenced samples to live musicians brings the performances into focus. You feel the presence of each guest in a way that’s intrinsic to jazz, whilst the band’s heart beats in funk. It’s romantic, intimate, and far more emotive. Jazzanova have stepped out from behind the laptop and onto the stage with grace and warmth.