Brian Ritchie - Shakahachi Club NYC
(Weed)
Violent Femmes' bassist Ritchie gathered some of his musician friends (Television drummer Billy Ficca, banjo player extraordinaire, Tony Trischka, tubist Dan Nosheny and mandolinist John Kruth) for an evening of "collective improvisations," recorded live in NYC. Early in the set, Ritchie & company give the rock audience a familiar melody (the traditional "Motherless Children") to let the unusual instrumentation settle into their psyche, thus allowing them to hear the rest of the concert in its proper musical context. Once the sounds are no longer foreign to your ear, you can settle back, relax and enjoy the calming effect of this traditional Japanese wooden flute. Fans of multi-instrumental wyrdfolk artists such as Atman (and its Magic Carpathians offshoot), Stone Breath, In Gowan Ring, as well as the westernized traditional Oriental sounds of New Age maestro, Kitaro, will be familiar with the folky context in which we're used to hearing the instrument. Ritchie brings it into a new light, incorporating it into the jazz/rock idiom through this set of seven original compositions and inspired interpretations of two traditional tunes along with John Coltrane's "Living Space" and Albert Ayler's "Change Has Come."
Occasionally, as with Ficca's violently overactive drumming on "Have No Idea," the scales of this East-meets-West cross-genre pollination are tipped heavily in rock's favor, but such detours are few and far between. "Lament," for example, features Ritchie and Kruth dueting on a calm, yet tentatively anxious piece that feels curiously abbreviated, as if the tape was turned off prior to the song's end. The bossa nova cha-cha-cha arrangement of "Waltz of The Minotaur" is the most melodious piece in the set, where Ritchie again, perhaps to rein in his audience's wandering attention, returns to a more familiar Western sound. Fans of David Byrne's recent excursions into Brazilian lounge music and Bert Kaempfert's easy listening foxtrots will best appreciate this, although it will also appeal to fans of the soundtrack work of Mikis Theodorakis, particularly his score for State of Seige. In fact, I'd like to introduce Ritchie to that film's main theme, which would be an exciting addition to his setlist.
The remaining tracks, particularly "Lace Dress," are more nebulous and improvisational, as Ritchie serpentines his shakuhachi around his combo's accompanying mandolin, tuba, and Ficca's earthen percussives ("wood, skin, metal, stone," according to the credits) in a jazzy, non-linear direction. While his unexpected pants-shitting outburst on "Have No Idea" may result in more than a few skipped heartbeats, he quickly returns the listener to a Zen-like state of equilibrium with his calming, meditative interpretation of Ayler's "Change Has Come." So whether you're a fan of Oriental mystic music, improvisational jazz or simply an adventurous rocker, curious about the possibilities of integrating this uniquely eastern voice into the rock idiom, Shakuhachi Club NYC is a richly rewarding experience.
|
