Randy Weston has been mining the rich vein of African music since the
1950s, making him one of the most forward-looking of his
contemporaries, as African music has become a wellspring of inspiration
for a lot of new directions in jazz and other musical forms. The music on
this disc show Weston at his most African, a feat accomplished with the
presence of African musicians of the highest order. What we get is
authentic North African Soul-melismatic, ululating, a great range of
expressiveness of the voice and the varied sounds and timbres that
singing in another tongue (in this case Arabic) provides. The music is
rhythmic, modal, with spiraling forms and labyrinths of sound that recall
the equally melismatic and equally soulful music of the unorthodox 12th
century mystic Hildegarde Von Bingen.
The six pieces here (seven with the reprise of "Lalla Mira" at the end of
the disc) provide a moving experience. The evening was conceived
around a spiritual theme and the venue, the Lafayette Presbyterian
Church in Brooklyn on the 24th of September 1999, ensured that the
mood was properly set. The results are definitely uplifting.
"Receiving the Spirit," the first piece, serves as an introitus, with a
Western, (i.e. American) sound conception, featuring Weston's quintet,
made up of Weston on piano, Alex Blake on bass, Benny Powell on
trombone, Talib Kibwe on alto sax and flute, and Neil Clarke on African
percussion. While the instrumental conception is American-jazz-based,
it is tinged, indeed, impregnated by African yearning.
In the "Introduction to Hag' Houge and String Bass," featuring Abdula El
Gourd and Alex Blake, the bass takes the melody over an eighth-note
atomic rhythm set by the Hag' Houge, a kind of percussive stringed
instrument. The effect is reminiscent of Terry Riley and other minimalist
composers, looping patterns colored by subtle changes in accent, pitch,
and rhythmic displacement.
In "Chalabati," the prominent vocals deliver music as prayer, or "African
spirituality through music" as the liner notes declare. But the piece also
has a Mississippi blues feel, a deep, deep groove, as does "Who Know
Them?" which is developed around the call-and-response of a chanter
and a choral reply. All the vocal pieces on the program highlight the
significance of language (in this case Arabic) to rhythm and tonal
inflection.
The microtonal vocal texture in "El Wali Sidi Mimoun," a strophic tribute
to Allah, creates a ululating energy, with dynamic, delicate changes - the
simplicity in complexity that is one of the appealing features of African
music. Bass, percussion, and string instruments move along with the
voices that at first sound out-of-tune to Western ears, but wherein lies
the mystery and exotic appeal of the melodic line.
The disc ends with a statement and restatement (probably as encore) of
"Lalla Mira," a very hypnotic, rhythmic tune that builds in a circular,
spiraling fashion. Its pentatonic theme, stated by all the melodic
instruments, has, again, a bluesy quality, this time recalling the minor
mode of Dizzy's "Night in Tunisia." Religious, yes, but there is also an
atmosphere of revelry created with chanting over the alto statement that
resembles the celebratory, euphoric forays of John Coltrane. As the tune
climaxes, the alto gives way to a trombone solo over the intense
rhythms created by the percussionists of the Gnawa musicians of
Marrakech and Tanger (M'Barek Ben Othman, Ahmed Ben Othman,
Addenebi Oubella and Mostafa Oubella).
In Weston's one composition ("Receiving the Spirit") and in his
arrangements of the other tunes (traditional or composed by the
Moroccan guests) we find evidence of an intimate knowledge and
profound respect for African music, as well as an obvious commitment
to sharing the same. As Weston states in his notes on the concert: "The
concept underneath it all was to show the spirituality of our people, how
we Africanise everything we touch, how it's really spirituality before
actual religion." The results are convincing and authentic, regardless of
your belief's evidence that music does, in fact, allow us to transcend
cultural and linguistic differences.
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