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April 6, 2012
Worldly and cosmic sounds
Two new CDs offer high-quality musicianship and much novelty.
CYNTHIA RAMSAY
Inspired to find out more about the titles of some of the songs on Gypsophilia’s newest CD, Constellation, a quote attributed to 19th-century French writer Edmond Goncourt came up: “A poet is a man who puts up a ladder to a star and climbs it while playing a violin.” The image is an apt description of both artists being reviewed in the Independent this week – Gypsophilia and Aaron Novik – though neither use words for their poetry and, for both, you’d have to add a whole host of instruments to that violin, including such unique choices as a duck call, triangle, glockenspiel and gong.
These two very different artists have at least one other thing in common: John Zorn.
In an interview with the Jewish Independent in July 2011, Gypsophilia’s Adam Fine said that it was his trumpet-playing Zaide Itz who got him interested in Jewish music and, at about the same time, Fine discovered Zorn’s music. Said Fine, “Zorn married a Jewish sound with avant-garde music – something I was really into back then and still am – it was exciting and fresh, and maybe the first Jewish cultural thing which seemed hip to me as a young person.”
Novik – whose The Samuel Suite, by the way, was a tribute to his grandfather – takes 13th-century Rabbi Eleazer Rokeach’s kabbalistic text and interprets it instrumentally. Novik’s latest CD, Secrets of Secrets, is nothing short of an investigation of God and the universe via an eclectic mix of musical styles, composed and improvised, which have found an ideal home on Zorn’s Tzadik label.
The multiple-award-winning Halifax-based Gypsophilia features seven very talented artists: Fine on double bass; Alec Frith, Nick Wilkinson and Ross Burns on guitars; Sageev Oore on piano, accordion and keyboards; Matt Myer on trumpet; and Gina Burgess on violin. Their compositions have their origins in eastern Europe, as the band’s name would suggest, but their sound is contemporary, diverse, rousing, fun – and welcome surprises lie within every single song.
Constellation was recorded “live off the floor” at hotel2tango studio in Montreal over four days in December 2010. It features 11 original songs, with almost every band member contributing a composition. It starts with Burgess’ “Zachary’s Czardas” (csárda is Hungarian for tavern, or roadside inn) and ends with Fine and Meyer’s energetic interpretation of the traditional drinking song “Vino Griego,” which was popularized in the 1970s by Spanish singer José Vélez. While it could all be called simply jazz, listeners are treated to Dixieland, French pop, rock ’n’ roll (one that evokes a rough-and-tumble 1950s, one that pays tribute to Queen’s “We are the Champions”), Western swing (as in cowboy movie music), a bit of classical and more. And such descriptions don’t even suffice, really, as midway through a song – Fine’s “Goncourt,” for example – a duck call or some other unexpected riff or instrument will sound. Experimentation is a big part of Gypsophilia’s modus operandi, and it makes every new CD a completely new experience more pleasurable than the last.
Novik is also not afraid to experiment. On his website, the San Francisco-based clarinetist and composer writes, “I use music to convey ideas beyond merely collecting a group of sounds together. I compose music that addresses thoughts and emotions and abstractions.
“I enjoy playing with genre and have a hard time defining/confining myself. In the past few years, I have written music for different projects that could be defined as pop songs, chamber classical, psychedelic jazz, gypsy folk, and even heavy metal. Within these obviously disparate stylistic choices are a unifying compositional esthetic that slowly reveals itself the more projects you hear of mine. This esthetic relies heavily on rhythm, harmony, melody, order and sound. Personally, I find it is more interesting to experiment within these confines to push each to new and exciting places.”
Novik describes Secrets of Secrets as “a darkly epic exploration into the roots of Jewish mysticism through the writings of Eleazar of Worms [Rokeach]. He was a mystic, scholar and rabbi who explored hidden meanings in the sacred Jewish texts using gematria [Jewish numerology]. His five-book series Secrets of Secrets delves into these hidden worlds, divulging the true names of God, the secrets of the divine chariot, angels and even how to make a golem.”
The Secrets of Secrets CD is divided into the same five sections as Rokeach’s text, starting with “Secrets of Creation (Khoisdl),” followed by “Secrets of the Divine World (Terkish),” “Secrets of the Divine Chariot (Hora),” “Secrets of the Holy Name (Doina)” and “Secrets of Formation (Bulgar).” According to the CD’s promotional material, “Much like medieval kabbalah scholars assigned a numeric value to each Hebrew letter to unlock the hidden codes of the Torah and other sacred texts, Novik has created musical codes that contain actual excerpts from Secrets of Secrets and other sources. For instance, ‘Secrets of Formation’ includes a fragment from Sefer Yetzirah, the book containing the ritual required to create a golem.”
The impressive list of players on the CD includes Novik (electric clarinet, percussion, programming), Matthias Bossi (batterie), Cornelius Boots (robot bass clarinet), Carla Kihlstedt (electric violin), Willie Winant (tympani, vibraphone, glockenspiel, gong, tubular bells) and Fred Frith (guitar), with special guests Ben Goldberg (contra-alto clarinet, clarinet), Lisa Mezzacappa (bass), Aaron Kierbel (dumbek), the Real Vocal String Quartet and, last but not least, Jazz Mafia Horns.
In 1196, Rokeach witnessed his wife and three children murdered by Crusaders who were on their way to Jerusalem, yet – despite or because of this tragedy – spent most of his life contemplating the Divine, and writing about ethics and kabbalah. Given the ambitious nature of the project, it is remarkable that Novik and his fellow musicians succeed in evoking the range of emotional, physical, intellectual and spiritual sensations that likely permeated Rokeach’s mystical pursuits and his attempt to understand and accept the loss of his family.
Secrets of Secrets comprises almost every genre of music, from klezmer to heavy metal to electonica to world music, with dynamics and tempos that vary dramatically, adding layers and texture to the sounds and their meaning. It is a recording that will offer new insight upon every hearing.
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