onsdag 12 Nov 2014, 6:31
Authentic Light Orchestra & pommelHORSE at GG Jazz III, Krasnodar, November 7, 2014
Second day of GG Jazz III international festival with all the evidence should have been good. Both listed bands, as I was sorting through their YouTube occurrences and audio streaming sources, had their strengths, had unique sound, and importantly were jazz-fusion bands, not a rather frequent occasion on the festival of “classical jazz” act, delivering mostly a sort of museum exhibition, but a compelling music per se. It was promising, but, in fact, I didn’t have a clue what kind of scale of event I will be exposed to.
Authentic Light Orchestra
http://www.setlist.fm/widgets/setlist-image-v1?id=73cc6e51
https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0Bzg2_YLF9e2bcVpwZHZkTUV5RW8
Valeri Tolstov – flutes, piano, ethnic instruments
Asiya Abdrakhmanova – violin
Franz Hellmüller – guitar
German "Jeramiah" Mamaev – bass
David Sagamonyants – drums
Veronika Stalder – vocal
Gennady Lavrentiev – tabla, violin
At first there, of course, was a little giggling, like “Swiss jazz, oh really?” with most members carrying russian names and playing armenian folk. Some first songs on YouTube didn’t touch me being mostly ethnical or some chamber videos that had flat mixing. Then I’ve found video for Feather on the Wind which blended ethnical pipe and modern instruments, producing well textured, jazzy feeling chilling tune. And then there was Day Light video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc98PhBtS6c
Not to say it is very impressive thing throughout, but it is listenable, well-composed, world music. But the vocal improvisation part is indeed impressive. It showed that they have capable and very talented vocalist. So after a few other videos, where another interesting point was effected flute, I decided they are fine to be seen live, but all I expected was mostly calm, symphonic, ethno-jazz world music. And that expectation was badly wrong!
With half band replaced, having new drummer, bass player, guitar player, adding tabla they changed significantly. The drummer was well-versed, and was able to catch me with tasty little polyrhythmic breaks. The bass player, German Mamaev, is a member of jazz-rock band, Project Combo. Funny thing, compère told that German came from Uganda where he lives and teaches jazz! Not sure about the latter, but his YouTube channel show of some of his jazz activity there ;-) I noticed that German and David didn’t function as a single unit, because they probably didn’t have time to feel each other, and even though lack of coordination in rhythm section usually has bad consequence, it somehow didn’t or they caught each other on really odd beats I didn’t hear. Can’t say about other new members, but with some new material, long song arrangements, and all their current qualities at hands, all I can conclude is that this was the best jazz-fusion or even jazz-rock concert I have ever been to!
They drew me a smile out of rhythmic and harmonic tensions, I even caught myself unintentionally laughing out of it couple of times :-) They rode me though all calm lows and intense highs of their sun-lit folk land. They painted a mysterious eastern picture, with a lot of colours provided by Valeri’s playing. They, with Veronika’s leading role, wet my eyes with Kele Kele, so much it was touching and making you compassion to something you have no idea about. And hey, I’m not into armenian or whatever folk at all. What is it then? That is just true music, comprehensible without knowing a language, the lingua franca of a man! The major intention of an musician – to carry over her feelings and emotions to a listener. And with my noncognitive human senses I don’t think there can be a better delivery of music, as I have felt most of music can do to me.
Yes, I was overwhelmed. And after the last song I went out on the break. Compère told they will be out for a little talk, giving signatures and so. Actually, there is a whole lot of things to talk to a developed musician about, but in the condition I was, asking meaningful questions was a big deal. When I get to the first floor mr. Tolstov was already there in his default attire of the cap and eyeglasses. With his emotionless manner of conversation he was talking to a woman about inspiration. I wondered, as he didn’t change in face even when a guy told him he felt like they exorcised a demon from him with the drum solo (I guess he meant the Konnakol piece) :-D In my turn I just asked about his influences in music, which Valeri with the same unwavering face told he’s wholly into folk, but also classical music and jazz influence him. And then she has appeared…
What confuses me is that there was no evidence it will turn out this great. And the only Forgotten Runes is still a world music record. It is good, but doesn’t give me much of what I’ve faced live. There’s only Country of Eternal Sun on YouTube which feels like an excerpt from a high-context thing, but it still holds a lot of good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6m8VK5tAYcA
Two days before the date, they had a performance in Kozlov Club in Moscow, which has complete video on YouTube. The same songs were performed with same lineup, except Veronika had a cold, which actually was true and on 7th, and she skipped some songs, so it should give hints what was it about in general. Though, sound quality is poor, but it can tell more about current state of Authentic Light Orchestra.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR9gvv9R29o
Veronika Stalder
https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0Bzg2_YLF9e2bZlVsNnktQ0JKbEU
…she appeared in the same attire Indian attire and makeup she was performing. And that performance was truly amazing, ranging from soothing and compassionate singing to wild and passionate scat of jazz vocal. She were bending her parts rapidly far and away from the flow of harmony and rhythm, catching her perks, and seamlessly reverting it back to the flow, leaving only listeners’ wows. Really, a wow!
Veronika Stalder is a swiss musician, who started with violin in her 6. She plays violin and acoustic guitar, does common and jazz singing, composes music with her Veronika's Ndiigo band, having already two longplays. There’s nothing to do but to admit her talent, that can only be challenged by the beauty of her smiling face :-)
https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0Bzg2_YLF9e2bNy0tUi1nWm9NdTQ
Genre-wise Veronika's Ndiigo is a mix of soft rock and world music. Production is flawless, rhythm section is groovy, instrumentations are interesting, and of course vocals are beautiful. It’s an positive, easy listening music, and usually I prefer more challenging stuff, but for in some moods I can definitely enjoy it. I would describe it as a music of open-minded talented girl who wants to embrace the whole world.
However I can not stop watching the video for In Your Eyes where Veronika sings accompanying herself with acoustic guitar and help of sudden birds in a park. I didn’t try dig the peculiarities, the medium which is affecting me more, but when the smile escapes her lips, it pull the string inside me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsPjl-ki4Gg
The only certain thing that was running in my head was a tumultuous river and the dam as metaphor for her and her singing. As it was enough to open a gate and raging torrents stream down chaining you to the back of listener’s seat. Likely I’ve failed to explain the metaphor, but at least the following is a memorable thing to me.
https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0Bzg2_YLF9e2bR2VXVE5wTGozUEk
pommelHORSE
http://www.setlist.fm/widgets/setlist-image-v1?id=3bcc7004
These guys are a completely different story. Ha-ha, when Weather Report seeks metal aesthetics ;-) After a couple of their videos, I was pretty clear that “it is my thing”. And since a week before the festival I was already spinning their two records.
https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0Bzg2_YLF9e2bdFNIQXE2cGtzQ3c
Lukas Roos – clarinets
Joel Graf – alto sax
Jeremias Keller – bass
Olivier Zurkirchen – rhodes, keyboards
Gregor Lisser – drums
I think this photo may not properly represent the band, let’s try a better one.
https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0Bzg2_YLF9e2baUp6WDBXTXNoVWM
That’s better :-D Let’s see what pommelHORSE website tells us.
The word pommelHORSE recalls memories of sadistic gym teachers. Yet thanks to five musicians from Bern, it now takes on a new meaning. Obviously enjoying the sport, they create fresh compositions and music that lingers in the mind.This is funny. But the compère told us alternative version, talking to the guys. Like it was 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and they somehow ended up with a pommel horse on a TV screen from gymnastic competition. And they thought it could be a good name. Also funny how very cautious was he in describing the kind of music the audience should expect. Telling that a pommel horse is a hard apparatus and it needs attention and patience, preparing people who put a jazz event in line with opera or classical music one, and don’t expect any significant deviation. Anyways, for some of them the preparation notice didn’t work, and the outflow of them was going through the performance as it was too hard to bear ;-) Here follows a part of The Painful Process of Falling Asleep At 5:30am.
The pommelHORSE is back – but this time it‘s for pleasure.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcz2yIZlOxs
It is not easy to describe the sound of the band. First, of course it is a jazz-fusion. jazz-rock is also applies because rhythm section is clearly of progressive rock or even progressive metal at times. On top of rhythm section, clarinet, sax and keys create ample variation from calm jazzy ambient pieces to songs with intense climaxes which it is easy to headband to. And the bassist usually doesn’t lose the chance to while performing with distorted bass. They employ some polyrhythms, songs have good dynamics, and in general composition is intricate, yet comprehensible and frequently pleasing.
Another thing I have found about them is their videos. They do kind of theatrical, where things that happen have strong alignment to the song timing. As with many aspects of the band, video for Hirsch makes me smile.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIy1mkkdxAw
They even have one grant winning video, which, I guess, was shot separately from them. I’m talking about the video for When It Started to Snow for which Sarah Hugentobler has been awarded the Aeschlimann Corti Grant. The examination committee described it as a multi-layered video combining dance, drama and performance. Recent video for Winter Madness is basically another in the row of timing alignment.
With this being said, I had only good expectation and my interest lied in quality of live representation. And here again, I have probably forgotten how good can good music sound live in a place with apt acoustics! It gradually takes you up, envelopes and captivates. You lose sense of time and just sonically contemplate the charming medium. And that was the case :-) Rhythm section was explicit and groovy, instruments were bright, and even though they played close to the records, there were many live aspect of the sound, like when they all slided to into an intense transition or the live sound of clarinet and its effected sound.
To supplement understanding of the band and their music here’s the transcript of what Lukas was telling between songs ;-)
1. Winter MadnessPriviet Krasnodar. (applause) I’m really sorry because these are the only two russian words I can speak and read, sorry. (applause) It’s ??? asking for your ??? and thanks that we have a chance to play here, it’s great joy for us. And this first song was called Winter Madness, it was about first new freezing-the-ass-off of dying. Now we’ll play the song Do You.
2. Southern Cross
3. Chasing the White Rabbit (speaks above synth) For all the people, we all know that everybody of us was once in a hospital. But not all of us had good experiences in the hospital. For all the people under us which had maybe a M.R.A. computed tomography. It’s on ???. We helped and computed please ??? ip-ip into these persons… which had ??? computed tomography and had all ??? make them happy forever.
4. The Intergalactic Spaceforum In the hope that all these people feel better now… that they survived ???. So, I have heard in Russia you know the animal deer. Is this correct? (yeahs) Yes! Now we play a song which is called Deer. (okay) And it’s about the inner life of a deer.
5. Hirsch
6. Important Movie Scene Thank you so much. Now we’ll play a serious song. Eh, do you know smarties? (silence) From Nestlé? (silence) Smarties?! (sings) pile-pile-pum-te smarties, no? Nobody knows? Smarties?! Eh, do you know M&Ms? (yeahs) A-aa, okay. You know M&Ms, alright. This song is about some pink coloured M&Ms. (laughs) Eh, it’s about a love story between the beauty and beast. And they liked to eat many pink coloured M&Ms and then they had like a trip, in the galaxy. And they meet, peace there.
7. Pink Tights
8. Moving Sidewalk Thank you so much. You all know christmas. And I make it very quick now. This song is called Drunk on Christmas Eve.
9. Drunk on Christmas Eve
10. Last Curse Thank you, thank you so much. Do you want to have one more song? (yeahs) This song we play now had a little story about, because it’s a song which we all know. And, you finished your work, and you come home. You take a shower, and… you meet some good friends and go out. You go to the disco, and you go to many bars, you drink many vodkas, and you’re totally gone and drunk, you come home. And, you lie down in the bed, and you want to sleep! But you can not. Do you know this? (yeahs) Because this mood is the song and it has very very long name. The name is The Painful Process of Falling Asleep at 5:30am. Thank you!
11. The Painful Process of Falling Asleep at 5:30am
Yes! Yes, it was plain hilarious :-DD And it is a storytelling! Instrumental musical storytelling. Hirsch bothered my in that sense, like what it all about? What the heck its end is about? And I didn’t think it’s a german word. But it’s perfectly clear now, and definitely a deer, as it’s stands and seeks berries, then it’s anxious and starts to run — well done ;-) In in other annotated songs I hear the suggested picture. When it’s a psychedelic galaxy tripping, from the world segregated by M&Ms and Smarties, it has the required scenes ;-) When it’s about trying to fall asleep drunk and it has it. By the way in our youth we called it “choppers”. When, in turn, it’s about alco-rush in cold weather, again they are painting exactly the picture. So I think it’s a very cool imaginative quality of music.
After the performance, there was enough time for signing, talking, and having fun. The guys turned out to be open and talkative. Lukas told about band's influences which draw from classical, electronic, and rock music, to reggae, post-hardcore, and avant-garde. Each member carries his own background into the table. I thanked for watering down the “jazz” with “fusion”, and translated some whispers of people who were leaving the auditorium ;-) There was a lot of laughs, people were making photos like this, and really both sides were having fun. Then I talked to Jeremias, who told me that his musical influence started with At the Drive-In, and now he likes to listen some trip-hop and expands to avant-garde, like György Ligeti. So in the end this was my bonus.
https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0Bzg2_YLF9e2bZFB5R2hQYWlpUUU
Epligue
As usually at the venue, which unsurprisingly is a musical theater, it was practically perfect. Instruments were readable, sound surrounded, but the pressure was not excessive. I can only recall to one trifle, that there almost wasn’t tabla in the mix, in most intense parts.
It was such a wonderful musical feast! And when I was going back to the apartment I was happy and a little high :-) Third GG turned out to be quite prolific with openings, where the prior two leaved my at most a band, this leaves my Reijseger Fraanje Sylla, Authentic Light Orchestra and pommelHORSE. Great!
References
1. https://ru-ru.facebook.com/events/1519616741615840/permalink/1529360430641471/
2. https://ru-ru.facebook.com/world.jam.austria/posts/667174383396657
