Microtonal Magic
This is a superb album – best I have heard in a long time.
I was going to focus immediately on the slight dissonance of
its sound, ‘slight’ quite a crucial qualifier, and then doing some reading I
realised this is microtonal so
perhaps there are many out there who understand this well.
Well, for me this adds such a distinctive otherness to its
sound, other than Western, and it works beautifully throughout across all
instrumentation, though much of this is to do with the influence and playing of
guitarist David “Fuze” Fiuczynski. The beauty is in the nearness to what the
ear expects – perhaps of that conventional jazz fusion sound – and the fact it
is not in any way cacophonous for that dissension.
There are additional sounds in the vocals of Georgian choir
Ensemble Basiani, and singer Nana Valishvili contributes an extraordinary vocal
to Moaning which is otherwise a
punchy riff-driven number, her emotive elegy to soldiers who died in the Georgia
and Russia conflict of 2008 adding a layer to the empathetic discord of
Mikadze’s potent microtonal keyboard playing.
The Ensemble Basiani sings on five tracks, including
penultimate Lazhgvash which combines
their choric harmonising with guitar/keyboard microtonal competition in another
sweet confrontation. In closer Tseruli,
the staccato beats of Panagiotis Andreou on fretless bass and Sean Wright on
drums join Mikadze, Fiuczynski and the Ensemble for a rousing runaround of
sound.
A wonderful album. I can’t wait to listen again – tomorrow
now as I have written this late in the evening wanting to celebrate immediately
my thrill on hearing.
Get it here.
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