Red Kite – Red Kite – [TrackList follows] – RareNoise RNR105, 42:00 [6/26/19] ****:
(Even Helte Hermansen – guitar; Trond Frønes – bass; Bernt André Moen – keyboards; Torstein Lofthus – drums)
Context is everything. For some listeners, Norwegian quartet Red Kite may seem like a prog rock jam-type band; for others, a loud, modern jazz fusion group. Really, Red Kite sits in both camps. Drummer Torstein Lofthus asserts, “We all grew up listening to rock and heavy music, but later discovered jazz, prog, and all kinds of other great stuff along the way. It’s all just music to us, to the point where it all just melts together into one big organic stew now.” That statement summarizes what happens on the foursome’s self-titled, 42-minute debut, available on the RareNoise imprint. The five-track album can be purchased as a gatefold 12-inch, heavyweight, black-vinyl LP which comes with a digital download; as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more; or as a four-panel CD digipack compact disc (CD). This review refers to the CD configuration.
Guitarist Even Helte Hermansen wrote four of the five extended pieces, which range from nearly 12-minutes to five minutes. The first composition is an ear-opening rendition of Alice Coltrane’s “Ptah, The El Daoud,” the 1970 title track from Coltrane’s third solo record. The tune is named for the Egyptian god Ptah while ‘The El Daoud’ roughly translates from Hebrew as “the beloved God.” Whereas Coltrane’s version was strictly acoustic and fronted by Pharoah Sanders’ and Joe Henderson’s doubled saxes, Red Kite’s adaptation is an electric excursion which features Hermansen, electric bassist Trond Frønes, electric keyboardist Bernt André Moen and Lofthus. The arrangement, while two minutes shorter than Coltrane’s, is heftier, a churning soundscape of groove, slightly psychedelic touches and a blend of prog rock and jazz fusion. It’s like experiencing Mars Volta and The Tony Williams Lifetime in the same space.
The group tends toward provocative and enigmatic titles. Hence, the ambiguous “13 Enemas for Good Luck.” Hermansen admits, “Naming such a thing as abstract instrumental music is, on its face, kind of an absurd notion to begin with. So, one might as well underscore the absurdity of it.” This 7:40 track has hard-rock riffs reminiscent of antecedents such as Mountain and an often edgy, stoner-rock stance akin to Kyuss or early Queens of the Stone Age. The fuzz-tone vibe is perfect for this crosshatching of hard rock and arduous jazz fusion. The stretched-out jam-like feel may be too much for the uninitiated but will be enjoyed by those who like a tougher timbre with their heady jazz. On the other hand, there is the relatively relaxed “Flew a Little Bullfinch through the Window”—at five minutes, the briefest cut—which uses an intangible groove foundation, while Hermansen and Moen offer latticed lines which swerve around and atop the revolving rhythm.
Red Kite return to incendiary instances on the 10:21 “Focus on Insanity” (the title is a wry reference to Ornette Coleman’s “Focus on Sanity,” from 1959’s The Shape of Jazz to Come). “Focus on Insanity” is an explosive jazz-rocker where the energy level is amped-up and in the red. Hermansen blasts away on electric guitar, gyrating from power rock riffs to a somewhat Middle Eastern tonality which occasionally evokes surf rock jam band The Mermen and intermittently echoes Hendrix. Moen’s distorted keyboards produce a sound analogous to early prog rock ensembles such as Emerson, Lake and Palmer or Uriah Heep. Meanwhile, Lofthus presents a thrashing percussive attack mirrored by Frønes’ relentless bass, while both manage to keep things swinging, albeit swinging in a challenging, harsh way. Again, this sort of prolonged rock/jazz improvisation might not be to everyone’s liking, but those who prefer prog-jazz will want to hear “Focus on Insanity.” Red Kite ebb and flow on album-closing “You Don’t Know, You Don’t Know,” a hypnotic seven-minute atmospheric selection where harmonics and groove interact on a mid-tempo, sometimes ambient landscape replete with Moen’s keyboard lines and Hermansen’s moody sounds which suggest Andy Summers’ treated-guitar style. Red Kite is in good company at RareNoise with corresponding acts such as Chat Noir, Free Nelson Mandoomjazz, Led Bib and others. If you know anything about those artists, then Red Kite is another one you should check out.
Red Kite on BandCamp
TrackList:
Ptah, The El Daoud
13 Enemas for Good Luck
Flew a Little Bullfinch through the Window
Focus on Insanity
You Don’t Know, You Don’t Know
—Doug Simpson
