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"Both Sides Now" |
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RJ Lannan And Bill Binkelman opine from "Both Sides Now" |
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| Beyond Words |
| By Gentle Thunder w/ Will Clipman & AmoChip Dabney |
| Label: Delvian Records |
| Released 4/2/2006 |
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| Beyond Words tracks |
1. Big Sky Sunrise 
2. Seven Twenty Twins
3. Feathered Pipe Portal
4. Beyond Words
5. Walk in Beauty
6. Glacier Tears
7. Karma Groove
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8. Woven Essence
9. Rooted Breath
10. Heartland
11. Renaissance Reunion
12. Luminosity
13. Pathfinders
14. Summer Soulstice
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Beyond Words |
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This is a case of west meets west. Sort of. For kindred spirits, the distance between the azure southwest U.S. and the sunny west coast is just a heartbeat away. I speak of the collaboration between composer/ musician and enchantress Gentle Thunder and of percussionist Will Clipman and multi-instrumentalist AmoChip Dabney, both of the R. Carlos Nakai Quartet. What happens when southwest jazz meets Pan-American native? Beyond Words happens and a thrilling album it is.
This album has so many genres covered that it is hard to describe. Jazz and Native American for sure, but then there is so much ad-libbing that the New Age sub-genres collide and condense into a musical art form. It is very difficult to believe that the recording consists mostly of improvisations and first takes. The whole recording is so cohesive you would think that it was years in the making.
The first cut Big Sky Sunrise is an exercise in which Gentle Thunder’s hammered dulcimer meets an energizing melody. It is very cheerful tune that celebrates. It celebrates the happy trio, their music and the earth that has supplied them with their talents. It is the greeting of a new day and the promise that something wonderful will be born from their collaborative efforts.
On the tile track, Beyond Words, the alto sax was so superlative that I thought they had called in Paul Winter. With apologies, my hat is off to the talents of AmoChip Dabney for his sprightly jazz rendering.
The tune is a non-verbal conversation if you will and the topic is harmony is in its truest form. Great tune.
Woven Essence is a wondrous native flute and dulcimer duet. The echoing flute, Father Sky sings and the dulcimer, Mother Earth, replies. Together they make up the song of the earth. Simple and heartfelt, the song is an acknowledgment to the balance that is found without ever looking.
From somewhere, perhaps Waterton Glacier International Peace Park comes my favorite cut on the album. It is something called Glacier Tears. Glorious piano, violin and haunting flute join together to make the sound of weeping waters and it is not impossible for your own tears to commingle with the melting waters and sad sweet flow of the glacier. It is a song of inevitable changes. Changes that we may not be able to impede, but it is possible to become part of.
It may have been happenstance that these three talented musicians got together, or perhaps it is because these spirits walk the same path for a purpose. Nevertheless the music is absolutely first rate as is the mix. This is a meeting between traditional and modern music and the union is a perfect one.
Rating: Excellent - RJ Lannan
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Multi-instrumentalist Gentle Thunder (Native American flute, grand hammer dulcimer, drum set) is joined by two members of the R. Carlos Nakai Quartet (Will Clipman on assorted ethnic drums and percussion and AmoChip Dabney on piano/keyboards, bass and soprano sax) on this enjoyable world fusion recording which varies from "kick up your heels" tunes to sedate and haunting tone poems. The trio's music reminded me of two other ensembles, the new age jazz fusion group Shadowfax, albeit with less of an electronic sound (Shadowfax featured lots of synths and electric guitar) or the ground-breaking jazz/world fusion band Oregon, fronted by Paul Winter (or its earlier incarnation, The Winter Consort). Beyond Words shares these two groups' characteristic broad variety of tempos and moods, as well their same "global citizen jazz" approach to instrumentation and flavor. However, the presence of Native American flute, whether solo (as on "Feathered Pipe Portal) or in an ensemble (e.g. on Glacier Tears where it is paired with piano) takes this CD’s music in different directions than either of the two comparisons I mentioned above.
The CD was an extemporaneous occurrence, propelled by Gentle Thunder's unexpected on-stage jamming with Dabney when she opened for the Nakai Quartet for one of their dates. The "simpatico" playing of these three artists is a testament to how aligned they were as musicians during the one week of recording which netted this solid and enjoyable album.
Gentle Thunder switches between her two main instruments throughout the album, opening with some rousing hammer dulcimer on Big Sky Sunrise, playing against Dabney's soulful sax and Clipman's always excellent hand drums and percussion. I personally enjoy the more rhythmic and cheerful tunes on Beyond Words, which I would describe as "driving up north" music which evokes images of pine forests, running brooks, birds in flight, and two-lane blacktops weaving up and down gently rolling hills. These upbeat numbers include the jaunty funk of the title track, the jazz-inflected Karma Groove, and the warm friendliness of Summer Solstice. Low-key tracks are exemplied by the somber and sad flute/piano duet Pathfinders, the gentle flute/dulcimer cut Woven Essence, and the rhythmic but dark (unlike its title) Luminosity.
This is a special album, celebrating the ability of music to unite us as one people, whether it to be to dance, laugh, reflect or cry. It bears repeating that I highly recommend this CD to all acoustic music lovers.
Rating: Very Good - Bill Binkelman |
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Combined Rating: Very Good +  |
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- reviewed by RJ Lannan / Bill Binkelman on 6/4/2006 |
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