Gilfema – + 2 – ObliqSound

by | Nov 24, 2008 | Pop/Rock/World CD Reviews | 0 comments

Gilfema – + 2 – ObliqSound OS 512, 52:34 ****1/2:

(Lionel Loueke – vocals, guitar; Ferenc Nemeth – drums; Massimo Biolcati – bass; Anat Cohen – clarinet; John Ellis – bass clarinet, ocarina)

Gilfema, a world jazz trio featuring members from Benin (Loueke), Hungary (Nemeth), and Sweden via Italy (Bilocati), here adds two North Americans, Anat Cohen and John Ellis.  The results are pretty spectacular.  Clarinetist Cohen, who has made her own excursions into world jazz on the label she founded, Anzic, fits in perfectly.  John Ellis, a former member of Charlie Hunter’s band with roots in New Orleans and New York, also shines. 

As with other ObliqSound releases, quite diverse musical elements combine in striking ways.  The dominant mood is West African, a kind of joyous, lilting, guitar-driven sound with Loueke’s mainly acoustic guitar pushing things forward.  Nemeth’s very world-jazzy drumming and Biolcati’s bubbling bass mesh seamlessly even as they add striking colors and rhythms.  Mix in sophisticated splashes from Cohen and Ellis, a touch of European chamber jazz (“One’s Mind’s Eye”), Swedish folk/funk (“Salomé”), a wistful ballad (“Morning Dew”), and a spritely Hungarian dance number (“Festa”), and you have a varied and immensely pleasing program. 

Special mention should be made of Loueke.  Having played and toured with legends Herbie Hancock and Terence Blanchard, Loueke has developed a highly individualized guitar sound, propelled by rhythmically challenging and extremely sophisticated single-note runs, often accompanied by unison wordless vocals, brilliantly displayed on “LonLon” and “Cove.”

Exciting, listenable, pathos-filled, this is world jazz for the new century.

Tracklist:
Twins
Question of Perspective
Your World
Salomé
LonLon
Morning Dew
Festa
Cove
One’s Mind’s Eye
Master of the Obvious

– Jan P. Dennis
 

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