Volume 24 Issue 7 - April 2019

in their respective solos. Gross’ solo, which
begins as a duet with Poole, is a highlight, as
is Poole’s own brief solo over the vamp that
precedes the melody.
In Pacific’s liner notes, Phil Dwyer
writes that the album is, perhaps, evocative
of the Larry Young album Unity, and
the comparison is apt. But the album is
made special by the band’s commitment to
its constituent voices, to Turner’s compositions,
and to honouring the unique musical
moments found throughout this compelling
album.
Colin Story
No Hay Banda
The Counterfictionals
Good Music GMCD006
(counterfictionals.dk)
!!
Rarely, if at
all, do industrial
and fine art
come together in
a package so well
thought out (from
concept and presentation
to imaginative
musical
execution, and in
the sheer invention
and hyper
virtuosity of the
performing Danish musicians) than on the
Counterfictionals production entitled No
Hay Banda.
No Hay Banda has been conceived of and
directed by Kristoffer Rosing-Schow, a multiinstrumentalist
who plays everything from
bass clarinet to invented instruments such as
the hydrofonium, described here complete
with diagram, how it works and, best of all,
how ethereally beautiful it sounds. Speaking
of which there is the not-so-small matter of
the music itself. The ten songs, bring back to
life key scenes in famously well-made and
notoriously badly made films from David
Lynch’s Mulholland Drive (Counterfictionals’
song: Club Silencio), Sergio Leone’s For a
Few Dollars More (song: Lee Van Cleef) to
Alan Parker’s Angel Heart (song: Looking
for Johnny Favorite) and Lars von Trier’s
Antichrist (song: The Three Beggars).
In each case, brilliant musicians get closer
to the chilling, sardonic heart of the film –
scenes depicted in the songs with immensely
powerful performances combining cast-iron
virtuoso discipline with heady imagination
and sheer fantasy, all of which matches the
originality of Rosing-Schow’s artistry and
vision. Let neither the ironic band name nor
the album title be lost in this magnificent
mêlée of music either, for what could a name
such as Counterfictionals suggest but No Hay
Banda (There’s no band)?
Raul da Gama
Rosa Parks: Pure Love
Wadada Leo Smith
Tum CD 057 (tumrecords.com)
!!
Since 2012,
trumpeter Wadada
Leo Smith has
created several
powerfully elegiac
suites: Ten Freedom
Summers, Occupy
the World, The
Great Lakes and
America’s National Parks. With Rosa Parks:
Pure Love, he returns explicitly to the theme
of the first, the African-American civil rights
movement. Rosa Parks is an oratorio, with
music and songs by Smith, employing his
distinctive compositional method that focuses
on contrasting durations and textures. Smith’s
heterodox ensemble includes a string quartet,
a trumpet quartet, drums, electronics, pipa
and three singers.
From the dissonant fanfare, Smith has
compounded his own idiom, at once intimate
and multi-dimensional, in which strongly
lyrical passages alternate with moody, atonal
strings and sometimes harsh, flaring brass.
Strong individual voices emerge out of the
fissures opening in the collective sound:
violinist Mona Tian, cellist Ashley Walters,
drummer Pheeroan akLaff and Smith himself,
soloing only in the penultimate movement.
Smith has matched each song’s character, as
well as range, to each singer’s voice: Karen
Parks’ touch of gospel; Carmina Escobar’s
hard-edged precision; and Min Xiao-Fen’s
soaring command of microtones. Each brings
a special presence to Smith’s multicultural
palette.
Embedded in the oratorio are excerpts of
early recordings by Smith and close associates
Anthony Braxton, Leroy Jenkins and Steve
McCall, musicians who first played free music
together 50 years ago, and who are, by extension,
partners in Smith’s ongoing commemorations
of the necessary struggles for
freedom, reinforced in his concluding quotation
from Martin Luther King.
Stuart Broomer
Moya
Ivan Mazuze
Losen Records LOS 209-2
(losenrecords.no/release/moya)
!!
With his
fourth album,
Mozambiqueborn
saxophonist
and composer
Ivan Mazuze, now
based in Norway,
continues his
exploration of interrelations
between
traditional and contemporary music. The
result is Moya, an elegant synthesis of the
melodies and rhythms of African and Indian
music with contemporary jazz elements.
Mazuze is a polished and particularly sensitive
saxophone player. His musical language
is both delicate and passionate, his expression
clear and meaningful. This album also
features a wonderful crew of musicians from
around the globe, including Olga Konkova (on
piano), who has a great synergy with Mazuze,
and Bjørn Vidar Solli (on guitar), who delivers
some truly impressive solos.
Moya opens with contemplative Rohingya.
Inspired by the Rohingya people of Myanmar
who were recently displaced from their
homeland, this piece has a melancholy feel
driven by a rhythmical tabla pulse. It flows
naturally into Mantra, a lively tune featuring
an alluring combo of vocal chanting and
instrumental discourse. The most interesting
track on the album for me is Lunde,
inspired by Norwegian folk music and highlighting
cool vocals by Hanne Tveter. And
there is Moya, the focal point of the album.
It’s meaning in the Mozambican language is
spirit/soul and it is immediately apparent that
it holds special significance for Mazuze. The
interplay between sax and piano captivates
the listener with changing colours and meaningful
dialogue.
This album has funky grooves, soulful
melodies and, most importantly, a distinct
and catchy sound. Highly recommended.
Ivana Popovic
POT POURRI
Vanishing
Fides Krucker; Tim Motzer
1k recordings 1K043 (1krecordings.com)
! ! For 35 years
Toronto-based classically
trained
vocalist Fides
Krucker has
explored contemporary
vocal practice
on the highest
level as a singer in
contemporary opera, interdisciplinary and
electroacoustic works, as well as in chamber
music and orchestral settings. Her career has
taken her to numerous international stages.
She’s appeared on diverse albums and film
and video productions.
The phrase I found on my search engine
while looking for Krucker’s website is,
“emotionally integrated voice.” And her
performance on the six Vanishing tracks
powerfully delivers just that. She projects a
wide palette of emotions through her voice
alone, employing vocal techniques that move
comfortably between classical Western and
extended voices, often without lyrics.
Krucker is superbly supported on
Vanishing by Tim Motzer a veteran
Philadelphia jazz/improvising guitarist with
80 albums to his credit. He is best known for
his textural acoustic-electro guitar playing
80 | April 2019 thewholenote.com