Val Jeanty and Ravish Momin comprise the experimental duo Turning Jewels Into Water, a pair of New York-based electronic musicians and percussionists whose improvisation-driven approach merges fractured rhythms and turntable scratching into liquid, abstract sonic layers. Albums including the 2019 release Map of Absences draw upon the cultural lineages of the members—Jeanty of Haitian heritage and Momin born in India—while remaining attuned to worldwide dance traditions such as kuduro and footwork.
The partnership originated in 2017 when Jeanty joined a jam session at Brooklyn’s Pioneer Works during Momin’s artist residency there. Before this meeting, Jeanty had issued an album as Val-Inc and appeared in performances or exhibitions at museums and festivals across America and Europe. Momin, for his part, had drummed with multiple free jazz groups, directed the acclaimed Trio Tarana since 2004, and collaborated onstage with Shakira in 2009.
Turning Jewels Into Water appeared at several international festivals and venues throughout 2018, among them New York’s Bang on a Can Marathon and Italy’s Tarcento Jazz Festival. FPE Records issued the duo’s debut EP, Which Way Is Home?, that same year, with their first full-length, Map of Absences, arriving in 2019. The more club-oriented follow-up Our Reflection Adorned by Newly Formed Stars surfaced in 2020.
Crushed Petals and Stones Fall On My Drum (Laughing Ears Remix)Our Reflection Adorned By Newly Formed Stars · 2020Our Reflection Adorned By Newly Formed Stars6:41
Kerala In My HeartKerala In My Heart · 2020Kerala In My Heart4:28
A Fire Of FlowersMorning Birds and Distant Drums · 2026Morning Birds and Distant Drums5:47
Dark waters rushing inMap Of Absences · 2019Map Of Absences5:36
Which Way Is Home (Slikback Remix)Which Way Is Home? EP · 2018Which Way Is Home? EP3:18
