Reviewed: 2018-07-24
Genre: Jazz (X)
FCCs: none
Review: This is the revelatory new album from guitarist Henry Kaiser, who uses the musical practices and magic of Korean Shamanism as the bedrock for an extraordinary voyage into improvisation and collaboration that reaches far beyond boundaries of genre. It is also the most profound document of Kaiser’s decades-long quest to fuse Korean traditions with his myriad interests in art and music. Joining the guitarist are three of the most compelling figures in creative music today; electric bassist Bill Laswell, whose credits extend from the boldest names in the avant-garde to pop and rock stars, Simon Barker, a fiercely gifted drummer and educator working in jazz and experimental music, & Rudresh Mahanthappa, among the most decorated saxophonists in current jazz and a revered composer and bandleader of rare cross-cultural insights. The ensemble’s singular chemistry results in an ecstatic and surprising kaleidoscope of sonics and improvisation, interweaving Korean shamanism with the cellular structural approach of Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman’s Harmolodics, the Carnatic tradition of South India, the Afrocentric expressionism of Miles Davis’ Agharta/Pangaeaperiod, and much more. “One very special thing about Mudang Rock is that it combines more elements than are generally put together in any sort of fusion,” Kaiser says, before naming further influences like Stockhausen, Captain Beefheart, British free improvisation from the 1970s, Albert Ayler, late-period John Coltrane, and in addition to the Korean rhythms, drumming traditions from Polynesia and Melanesia.
If You Like: Fred Frith, Pharoah Sanders, Bill Bruford, Terje Rypdal, Roscoe Mitchell, William Parker
Track Review (favorites denoted by *):
*1/ Orange Kut (11:46) – drums start> midtempo jam> off kilter sax solo> wild guitar solo> uptempo space jam with intersecting solos> sax solo slows to midtempo, then swings out into interlocking space jam> quick fade
2/ Loparhythm (6:55) – drum starts with quick rolls> fast jam with repetitive riff & psychedelic jam underneath> pause> vibrant uptempo sax solo> uptempo jam morphs into slow jam & fade
3/ Emphyrio Salpuri (8:42) – sax starts in upper registers> slow jam slows to plodding meditative jam> wild slow guitar solo> slow jam builds in volume, intensity, & frenzy> slows to fade
***4/ The Story Changes (8:31) – piano starts> slow jam builds to uptempo> with sonic guitar overlay> cello solo> uptempo jam slows to midtempo> slows to slow jam> slow fade
*5/ Silappadikaram Pacifica (8:04) – fast percussion solo starts> slows to midtempo duet with sax> morphs into wild uptempo off-kilter jam> slows to slow jam & fade
6/ Yongari Vs Bulgasari (19:18) – wild but slow guitar improv starts> wild slow jam> pause> melody shift to long slow meditative jam> slow build to wild midtempo space jam> crescendo & fade
**7/ The Final Ritual (11:11) – percussion solo starts> uptempo space jam builds in intensity, volume, & frenzy> slows to stop