Is it classical? Is it jazz? Is it audio Jackson Pollock? Here are a few recent releases that will at least get you thinking about the future of music.
Composer David Kechley doesn’t perform on this disc of his compositions here. The five suites of 1, 3 or 5 movements are minimalist pieces performed by five percussionists (on the “Dancing” suite), Tom Bergeron/tp, Steven Bodner/sax and Matthew Gold/perc (on the “Design and Construction” suite), Bergeron again with Candy Chu/marimba (“Untimely Passages”), Linda Chatterton/fl and Ina Zdorovetchi/harp (the “Available Light” suite) and Doris Stevenson/p and Matthew Gold (on the suite of the title track). The music can sound like modern classical as on the “Dancing” and “Design” suites, or some lovely mood music that borders on ambient, as on “Untimely” and “Light” or some exciting percussive interplay as on “Colliding Objects.” Defintely worth a listen or two. Worth 20 repeated ones? Hmmm…
Kalle Kalima is a guitarist who fronts an unorthodox band with Mikko Innanen/woodwinds, Veli Kujala/acc, a Teppo Hauta-aho/b. The fact that the last musician also includes as one of his performing instruments the term “Percussion and Doors” should tell you almost all you need to know here. Lots of fuzz-toned or edgy sounding electric guitar along with repetitive percussive riffs, ambient loops (“Laura Palmer”), cuboidal bop (“Eraserhead”) or agitated angst (“BOB”) which make for an evening of conversation stoppers.
Why is it that although trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith plays in such unconventional settings, such as this one with drummer/percussionist Louis Moholo-Moholo, he still wins me over? Well, first of all, he’s got an incessant sense of melody, and even when he goes a bit out there, like a cat he always lands on his feet. Here, you’ve got 4 tunes that clock in around 8-9 minutes, all of them exciting, with some charging rhythms that rumble like old man river on “Siholaro” and “Golden Spirit.” The 5 part and 25 minute “Ancestors” Suite keeps your interest, and makes you come back for more as the mix of energy, enthusiasm and…yes…restraint and subtlety combined with a wondrous sense of musicality makes the time pass by quickly. Get them on stage in LA!
Innova Music
TUM Records