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GLOBE UNITY: SCOTLAND
GIO poetics
Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra (Creative Sources)
Zuppa Inglese Lapslap (Leo)
Entre Nous Aporias Trio (Iorram)
by Gordon Marshall
Scotland, a bleak, dark land of heaths and
highlands and islands, is also one of the primordial
victims of colonization, whether you start with the
Romans, the Danes or the British themselves.
Fitting, then, that the Scottish would have a
fascination with the exotic: as antidote to the
remoteness and insularity of their climate and as a
form of identification with other world subjects of
colonial burden. Three recent electro-acoustic
releases bring this to light, from their titles to their
instrumentation, to their modes and moods.
The Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra’s GIO
poetics first hints at its aims in the play of the title: a
warp or variation of ‘geopolitics’. The long list of
instruments played includes the Japanese
shakuhachi and the Greek bouzouki. Attentiveness
to environment and to subjective and objective
nuance is key and crucial here. Like the lighthouse
that graces the CD’s cover, the sounds herein serve
not so much to bring attention to themselves as to
what surrounds them - or the more pastoral or
maritime ambiences the music evokes in the long
run. On the other hand, the GIO seek out the
instrument’s very soul, letting it blossom forth like a
flower. It is not too difficult to extrapolate from that
a wish to heal or rehabilitate the loci of a world gone
askew and awry.
The quartet Lapslap’s Zuppa Inglese likewise
plays with cultural mixing and matching. Of the
musicians, Michael Edwards focuses on saxes while
Martin Parker plays flugelhorn - but also picks up
the ocarina, an egg-shaped wind instrument with a
uniquely convoluted international history. Karin
Schistek plays piano while Mark Summers performs
exclusively on the viola da gamba. The music is
rhythmic and animated. Scratches on the strings of
the viola educe the quality of the copper coating the
gut. Piano is broken down into its component
elements of steel, wood and ivory. The ocarina,
which started its evolution as a child’s toy, is eerily
innocent. This is a balanced and well-rounded
endeavor that still veers and sways with risk.
Aporias Trio’s multiculturalism is elicited in
the makeup of its artists, which includes the
Japanese-born percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani
along with saxist Raymond MacDonald and
guitarist Neil Davidson on Entre Nous. At the same
time, Nakatani is ubiquitous in contemporary
improvised music and American, so there is nothing
political about his presence here. In addition, titles
such as “Elements and Things, Implements”, “Worn
and Hung” and “Mythical Format of the Elements”
suggest the quotidian. This is simply polished music
that fosters abstract thought that in turn blends into
the music, like another instrument.
For more information, visit creativesourcesrec.com,
leorecords.com and iorram.blogspot.com
16 November 2010 | ALLABOUTJAZZ-NEW YORK
Taboo
Sunny Jain
(BJU Records)
by Matthew Miller
Eponymous
Asphalt Orchestra
(Cantaloupe Music)
Percussionist Sunny Jain has always had a knack for
incorporating elements of his Punjabi heritage into the
framework of his modern, melodically-driven
compositions. Jain, along with Rudresh Mahanthappa
and Vijay Iyer, has helped to codify Indo-Jazz into a
recognized - and rigorously compelling - genre
through his work as a musical ambassador.
On Taboo, Jain embraces both roles, shedding light
on issues of religion, violence and gender through the
prism of Indian classical music and centuries-old
poetic forms, challenging musical taboos by blending
ancient forms together with jazz, Bollywood and rock
with postmodern abandon. That he pulls off such an
ambitious concept is a testament to his skills as a
bandleader and to his equally talented bandmates.
Pianist Marc Cary, guitarist Nir Felder and bassist
Gary Wang round out a quartet that effortlessly
performs Jain’s propulsive, polyrhythmic
compositions. Joining them are six vocalists of South
Asian decent whose contributions figure prominently.
“Jack And Jill” opens the album with a
syncopated melodic fragment that bounces between
instruments, delineating the meter and acting as a foil
to the lilting spoken-word part performed by Sri
Lankan interdisciplinary artist Yalindream. The lyric is
a tongue-in-cheek meditation on sexual identity, an
issue Jain highlights in the liner notes as particularly
pressing in the South Asian community. “In the strict
ranks of gay and straight,” Yalindream opens, before a
weighty pause, “what is my status?” Throughout
Taboo, Jain confronts politically fraught issues through
the lens of his globally-informed, yet joyous music.
From the shuffling, odd meter blues of “Two Ladies”
to the emotionally complex and episodic “We Sinful
Women”, the leader seems confident that music can
transcend the taboos that hold us back.
Similarly ebullient is Asphalt Orchestra, the 12piece,
NYC-based marching band that bears little
resemblance to the halftime entertainment from high
school. On their eponymous release, the ensemble
tackles a repertoire of skillfully arranged covers,
ranging from Björk to Zappa to Mingus, as well as a
pair of commissioned originals that cover vast stylistic
ground, from Balkan wedding music to Sousa and the
newest sounds of contemporary classical music.
The Orchestra caused more than a few stirs this
summer, performing at Lincoln Center Out of Doors
and were able to bring the same energy and
immediacy to this studio recording. Tenor saxophonist
Peter Hess’ arrangement of Frank Zappa’s “Zomby
Woof” is a fitting opener and polyrhythmic tour de
force. Equally arresting is the arrangement of Mingus’
“The Shoes Of The Fisherman’s Wife Are Some Jive
Ass Slippers”, which hews closely to the lushly
impressionistic arrangement of the original, but adds
extra elements of rhythmic and harmonic intrigue. The
commissioned piece “Pulse March”, with Jain and
Company, ends the album with a perfect blend of
marching band bravado, precise classical technique
and an open invitation to genre obliteration.
For more information, visit bjurecords.com and
cantaloupemusic.com. Jain’s Taboo is at Cornelia Street
Café Nov. 3rd. See Calendar.
Prayer for Peace
Billy Bang (TUM)
by Ken Waxman
Prayer for Peace may be violinist Billy Bang’s most
fully realized session, balancing his influences with his
present-day concerns. With the nearly 20-minute title
track a major anti-war statement, others pay homage
to his childhood in Spanish Harlem, ‘30s jazz fiddler
Stuff Smith and Bang’s erstwhile employer Sun Ra.
With trumpeter James Zollar channeling Jonah
Jones’ mellow, muted tone, pianist Andy Bemkey key
clipping, a Major Holley-like rhythmic bass break from
Todd Nicholson and Bang’s curlicue stops and melodic
extensions, the Smith tribute “Only Time Will Tell”
reaches the same level of enjoyable swing in which
Smith specialized. And like the work of the older
violinist, it entertains without pandering.
Additionally, a number such as “Chan Chan”, adding
the vibrating friction promulgated by percussionists
Milton Cardona and Joe Gonzalez, dazzles with
shuffle bowing and spiccato runs from Bang plus
brassy, plunger work from the trumpeter.
Meanwhile “Jupiter’s Future”, honoring Sun Ra,
mashes up different styles as Ra himself favored, with
drummer Newman Taylor Baker beating snares and
vibrating cymbals as Bemkey channels Bill Evans and
Zollar’s shaking glisses and freak notes contribute to
this multiphonic time dislocation. Bang’s slippery
flying staccato and triple-stopping bow pressure not
only allows him to suggest an entire string section by
himself, but also to output a flowing moderato ending.
But these tunes are ancillary to the significance of
the title track. Initially composed as part of a Peace
Day remembrance of the Hiroshima bombing, the
multi-part suite rests on irregular drags and cymbal
splatters, thumping bassline and vaguely orientalized
piano chords. Zollar initially elaborates the theme with
bent tonguing and emphasized grace notes, with
another variant showcasing sharp triple-stopping and
shamisen-like plucks from the fiddler. A final thematic
recap is more Europeanized, somberly dependent on
descending, slurred piano fingering.
For more information, visit tumrecords.com. Bang is at
Rubin Museum Nov. 5th and Roulette Nov. 14th. See
Calendar.