Deliverance from the Humdrum... (with Apologies to Fans of Madonna)

I am still in "Wow" mode, having just arrived home after seeing Paul Metzger live in concert at Cafe Oto in East London. Oto, which regularly for several years has featured the likes of Joe McPhee, John Tchicai, and The Sun Ra Arkestra, has surely by now earned the title of London's Premier Venue for Experimental Music. Tonight's concert, featuring an obscure but brilliant musician, has certainly confirmed that for me.

Metzger uses a modified banjo, strummed, picked with a plectrum or fingers, and bowed(!), to produce improvisational, trance-like, altered ragas. Tension and release are deployed via dynamics, rhythmic excitement, cleverly developed repetition, and subtle fills. He is a masterful musician who absorbs the listener through his own absorption in the music, and control of musical narrative. I recommend his album Deliverance, which can be sampled at Amazon UK. It is improvised and thus rough-edged as one might expect, but the lengthy tracks demonstrate the communication of musical ecstasy of which Metzger is capable.


I had the slightly surreal experience during the post-concert taxi ride home of hearing Madonna on the radio. It was as if the curtain had been replaced, obscuring a world of wonder and leaving me stranded in a blandly humdrum, colourless world. Viva Paul Metzger and those few like him, who can draw back that curtain for us, for a fleeting moment.

Byungki Hwang - Musical Dynamo from South Korea

Underlying the rich variety of traditional musics worldwide is a variety of aesthetics and of purpose. Stylistic factors can have cultural, even philosophical roots and, although understanding this web of cause and effect is primarily the job of the musicologist, the amateur music-lover's experience of listening to music can surely be enhanced by some well-chosen contextual information. I'm grateful therefore to the issuers of the five book-and-CD volumes of Byungki Hwang - Kayagum Masterpieces, which document the work of an important South Korean composer and musician. Each of the sets combines fascinating music with beautiful B&W photography and an unusually rich and thoughtful set of notes (be aware, though, that all the sets have most of their notes in common).


The kayagum is an indigenous Korean zither, with close relatives in other Asian countries (e.g. Japan's koto, with which it shares a Chinese ancestor, the zheng). The accompanying notes refer to yet another zither, China's qin, with its playing tradition, dating back to Confucius, encouraging of introspection - to "please the mind, not the ear". There's certainly an introspective quality to much of this music, which may strike unfamiliar ears as stark minimalism. A meditative approach to listening is richly repaid, however. Hwang writes about the importance of the decay of a single plucked note, and how this arises from the Oriental philosophical aesthetic of man acting in accordance with nature ("The philosophy of the Orient is predominantly mystic."). Parallels are drawn with the spaces left in traditional Oriental paintings. Plenty of food for thought then, but the music is of course paramount...

Hwang is an accomplished musician who has been highly influential in the resurgence of the kayagum since the post-war emergence of South Korea, from the shadow of Japanese imperialism. He offers a great variety of sounds and styles across, and within each of, the five volumes. Both folk- and court-music traditions are drawn upon in his compositions. Strings are plucked, strummed, arpeggiated, lengthened for tonal variation and vibrato, and the body of the kayagum is used for percussive effects. The instrument is played solo, in combination with other Korean traditional instruments, and with voice. The results range from the traditional-sounding, meditative music described above, to an occasional verging on the avant-garde, with much in between.

This series is a feast for music-lovers, and should not be missed by anyone with an interest in Oriental music. Sound samples are available from Byungki Hwang's site. The discs are available, along with many other great South Korean cultural products, from the Seoul Selection bookstore.

Jazz Meets... Gently Radical Theology?

Elise, by Norwegians Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Håkon Kornstad, is a celebration of a religiously inspired folk music tradition, and of family. That family is the eponymous Elise Flaten, whose vintage, unaccompanied recording of a simple hymn is heard on track 1 and sets the tone for what follows. The hymn, set to a folk melody, is one of a body associated with a bygone breakaway religous movement in Norway, whose philosophy of simplicity rebelled against the mainstream middle-class church. The remaining tracks are a minimalist Jazz interpretation of that hymn tradition, and by extension that philosophy and way of life. The music is heartfelt and gently radical, like the tradition that inspired it.



This is lovely stuff, slightly challenging at times, but well leavened with beauty and simple, genuine expression. Sound samples are available at Amazon.

Folk Music for the Ages

Folk Roots, New Routes is a meeting of two consummate artists who came out of the English folk tradition. Davy Graham was a highly eclectic and original guitarist, drawn to Jazz, US folk and Eastern music. Shirley Collins had quite simply one of the most beautiful, crystalline voices ever recorded (and it's interesting to note that prior to making this recording she accompanied Alan Lomax on a folk song collecting trip to the Southern United States). This mid-60's collaboration, rooted in the English folk ballad tradition, but taking in the influences mentioned above, is one for the ages.


Everything here is excellent, but some special moments for me are "Love is Pleasin'", which will move anyone who has ever lost a love; "Rif Mountain", an Eastern-flavored solo feature for Graham; and last but not least "Bad Girl", in which the words "cold as the clay" (when we realise that the protagonist is dead) never fail to send a shiver down my spine.

One of the highlights of recorded music, full stop.

EDIT: Sound samples from Amazon.com.

Blue Note Obscurities Part 1: Some Other Avant-Cool Stuff

Blue Note is an iconic record label, like Motown or Sun, and people who get into Jazz can hardly fail to discover it. The label in its lengthy heyday featured a phenomenal and stylistically varied roster of talent, but runs of albums in the Hard Bop style by the likes of Grant Green, Horace Silver, Donald Byrd, Jimmy Smith and Lee Morgan have come to define its signature sound for many. There is plenty of relatively obscure, but hardly less brilliant, music waiting for those curious enough to dig a little deeper into the catalog.



Some Other Stuff by composer and trombonist Grachan Moncur III is one such gem. Featuring a superb roster of Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, Wayne Shorter, and Cecil McBee, it is part of a series of 1960's albums on Blue Note that explored what was known then as the New Thing: the Avant Garde Jazz style godfathered by Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor. The record contains four lengthy renditions of Moncur originals, which are explored in an unhurried, cool-toned yet exciting manner. It's highly original, with plenty of great moments, and it still sounds incredibly fresh and vivid.

Highly recommended for adventurous listeners.

A Tragic, Noirish Korean Whodunnit, for Mothers Everywhere

Bong Joon Hoo's Mother is a superb new film that scratches at the dark underbelly of South Korean society. The story centers around the titular mother and her mildly retarded son (there's a suggestion that her attempt years earlier at double suicide caused the retardation). A young girl is murdered after he is seen following her - he is arrested and, infinitely suggestible, he confesses. Cue mother's determined attempts to prove his innocence, which take us on a twisty, unpredictable path through some dark territory as we learn about the girl's life and the field of suspects grows.



Mother is currently available only in Korean DVD and Blu Ray editions. The (Region 3) Special Edition DVD, available here, has a top-notch print of the film and I recommend it to those DVD buyers who would prefer not to wait for a local edition (which will surely happen, given the quality of the film).

Those who have seen this director's Memories of Murder, a similarly dark opus, will know this film is not to be missed!

EDIT: This film is now available in various BD and DVD editions around the world, which may be cheaper than the Korean edition referred to above.

The Life of Chikuzan

Masahiro Shinoda is one of Japan's heavyweight film directors - I've recommended his films in this blog before. I recently enjoyed his film Chikuzan, about Chikuzan Takahashi, one of Japan's most renowned folk musicians. Chikuzan was blind from the age of two, and the film documents with pathos and humor his hardscrabble existence as a traveling musician. It features many strong female characters, and plenty of louche males - the women in Chikuzan's life are shown ultimately to be his salvation. There's plenty of gorgeous cinematography and fascinating music, and lovers of Asian traditional music or art-house cinema will not be disappointed.



Asmik's Japanese Region 2 DVD has an excellent visual presentation of the film, as is typical of Japanese DVDs. English sub-titles are available. Note that Chikuzan is presented in 4:3 aspect ratio, which means you may need to adjust a widescreen television (by selecting size 4:3) in order to view it correctly at home. The DVD is available from HMV Japan.

Steely Dan Presents...

Tenor saxophonist Pete Christlieb's 1978 album Apogee is an unusual Jazz album. Firstly, it's a great, mainstream acoustic Jazz record from a time not exactly associated with that kind of music - loud Jazz-Rock fusion, stuffed with electric instruments, and not always especially tasteful, was more the norm - and it was released on a major label no less. Secondly, it was produced by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen of Steely Dan fame, Jazz-lovers both. The fact that Becker and Fagen got this released by Warner Brothers in 1978 had a lot to do, no doubt, with their clout at the label then. It's worth noting that Christlieb had previously played on Steely Dan's Aja - just one feature of his successful career as a studio musician (with James Brown, Tom Waits, Bobby "Blue" Bland, etc. and also as a longstanding fixture of the Saturday Night Live band).


Christlieb's co-leader on the set was Warne Marsh, a tenor-playing veteran of the Lennie Tristano cool school (Tristano was a remarkable musician, and is very much worth checking out in his own right), which makes this album something of a "two-tenor battle" in the grand tradition.

Two brilliant, under-acknowledged saxophonists with complementary styles, spurring each other on to marvelous heights of invention; some great, distinctive arrangements; a wide range of material, including a Kern/Mercer show-tune, plus material from Charlie Parker, Lennie Tristano, and Becker/Fagen; a very supportive band featuring Lou Levy on piano... Apogee is a winner, and well worth picking up.

Kaurismäki's Finnish Magic

Recommending a film that has recently won the Cannes Grand Prix (the annual festival's second most prestigious prize, behind the Palme d'Or) seems rather like blowing in the direction of a hurricane. I so much enjoyed "The Man Without a Past" from Finland's Aki Kaurismäki, however, that I can't resist adding my 2 pence worth of cheerleading. Centered amongst a lovable community of Helsinki's less fortunate denizens, it's tremendous fun, and full of bone dry humour plus infectious warmth and humanism. Darkness is not far away, however - in fact, it's instrumental to the plot - which adds depth to the film.



ICA/Optimum's R2 UK DVD is as every bit as good as this film deserves: a stable, well-defined picture with minimal artefacting.

Meditative Mountain Music

"Music of Central Asia is a co-production of the Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia, a program of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, and the Smithsonian Institution Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. The aim of the series is to present leading exponents of Central Asia's rich and diverse musical heritage to listeners outside the region."


So says the blurb on the back cover of the CD/DVD set "Tengir Too - Mountain Music of Kyrgyzstan", which is Volume One of the series.

Tengir Too is an ensemble formed to modernise Kyrgyzstan's folk music tradition, which historically was played solo by shepherds on a range of wind and string instruments as well as the so-called Jew's Harp*. The ensemble music is true to the roots of the music, and represents a gentle experimentalism. A wide range of exotic and beautiful sounds is on offer here, and the accompanying DVD contains some intimate performances and interviews, plus spectacular scenery.

A lovely package, highly recommended. Sound samples are here.

* Having heard both instruments, I wonder whether this colloquial name is due to the tiny instrument's sonic resemblance to the ancient Begenna, or Harp of David, still played in Ethiopia. See here for a sample of that tradition of spiritual music.

A Bad Trip

Japanese Director Sion Sono's Strange Circus is an appropriately shocking and disturbing film about childhood sexual abuse. Nothing is what it seems, as we witness events on screen through the lens of the disintegrated mental state of one of the characters, but it's safe to say that the various possible interpretations of the disjointed story are horrendous. I haven't painted a pretty picture, yet this is a remarkable, visually striking, and highly original film, full of twists and turns, that takes a hard-hitting approach to its subject matter. It ought be appreciated by those with a taste for challenging cinema, but its extreme approach will alienate more than a few.


Masumi Miyazaki gives an excellent triple performance as writer Taeko, the older Mitsuko, and her mother Sayuri.

The US Region 1 DVD from TLA Releasing (in their Danger After Dark series) makes for top quality viewing.

Kind of blue? Perhaps you need a new Jazz album..

Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus is aptly named - Rollins assumed the mantle during the 1950's of pre-eminent saxophonist in Jazz, and this album shows why. The leader's tenor is not the only marvel on display here, since we are treated also to a tremendous display of Max Roach's god-like talent on drums.


The 1950's was a stabilising period in Jazz. The thrusting, determined modernity of Bebop became integrated into a more lyrical, accessible conception (although hot, tough music persisted in the hard-bop style, the jam session phenomenon, etc.), and Saxophone Colossus is a key work in that development. Jazz history aside, it is quite simply an amazing album of music.

First up is St Thomas, a calypso which Rollins turns into a swaggering display of rhythmic mastery and easy-going improvisational invention. Next, You Don't Know what Love is is a superb ballad showcase - Rollins plays a magnificently querulous extended solo that never runs out of great ideas. Moritat (a.k.a. Mack the Knife) is warm and lyrical (perhaps a tribute to Louis Armstrong, who revived the tune in 1954?). Blue Seven is a brilliant extended track on which Rollins and Roach both shine.

Superlatives don't do this one justice. Every music-lover deserves it.

They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To...

Hugo (eyeing Yan's apartment): "You've got everything..."
Yan: "You can't have everything. Good thing, too..."

Here's a very nice, moody crime flick from 1970's France, a slice-of-underworld-life if you will. Alain Delon puts in a great titular performance as "Le Gitan" ("The Gypsy"), a melancholy thief with a deep love of his dispossessed people. Delon is reunited with Renato Salvatori, with whom he starred in Visconti's "Rocco and His Brothers" plus several other films, although a bigger part (that of the well-off jewel-thief Yan) is played here very well by another top actor, Paul Meurisse.


"Le Gitan" contains plenty of action and suspense, but what's memorable here is the gritty tableau, a dark vision of the lives of two extraordinary men, the little touches that reveal character, the philosophical asides, and not least the lovely soundtrack which features Django Reinhardt's peerless guitar.

"Le Gitan" is available to English speakers as part of the Region 1 "Alain Delon - Five Film Collection", and the Region 4 "Best French Crime Flicks" box from Australia's Madman Studios. The latter features only dubbed English audio for this film, but I can recommend the result (also the video transfer to DVD).