Lost in the profusion of gigs in last year's London jazz festival, the single performance of the Italian pianist Rita Marcotulli with UK saxophonist Andy Sheppard was an overlooked gem. Marcotulli's piano playing displays strong hints of Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett, but her colourful background dramatically informs her own projects. Marcotulli has played American jazz and fusion with Dewey Redman and Billy Cobham, north-Euroland musicin Sweden, live accompaniment to François Truffaut movies, and a lot more besides.
This set is about as wide a sweep across the Marcotulli horizons as could be, with Scandinavian pop-jazz cool (Anja Garbarek's ethereal vocals) alongside technology-assisted African vocal chanting and intricateimprovisation duos. At the centre is that fruitful connection with Sheppard, and many of the music's quietly developed, sometimes halting dialogues centre on the expressive interplay between Marcotulli's spare melodies and Sheppard's loose and fluent horn lines.
Marcotulli's Swedish experience is reflected in the presence of Jan Garbarek's daughter Anja on vocals - a minimalist, pop-tinged vocal equivalent to Jan's soprano sax sound - and ECM rhythm-section stalwarts Palle Danielsson, Jon Christensen and Anders Jormin. Marcotulli then moves further east for a partnership with the remarkable Armenian percussionist Arto Tunçboyaciyan.
This could easily be a flicker-book of contemporary ethnicisms, with little to focus it but world-music marketing hooks - and on a first casual listen, that's exactly what it sounds like. But Marcotulli's thoughtful intelligence as a leader, and her take on diverse musics as lived experiences rather than souvenirs, repay closer attention. At first the pianist and Sheppard softly intertwine over a throbbing electronic groove. Then, on Interference, Garbarek's vocal emerges as an eerie pop-hymn, both vaporous and pin-sharp at once. Tunçboyaciyan's Afromenia moves from sonorous vocal chanting to a Latin feel with the return of Sheppard's dancing soprano saxophone. And Lena Willemark's extraordinary falsetto on Lena's Story completes the sweeping cultural and musical span of the set. It remains fragmentary, and at times a little tentative, but some of the sounds on Koine echo in your head for a long time afterwards. - John Fordham
Tracks
01. G Continuo
02. Fragment/1
03. Interference
04. Afromenia
05. Fragment/2
06. Il Richiamo
07. Numeri
08. Koinè
09. Just Feel
10. E Per Non Farela Fine Di Quella Talpa
11. Fuori Dal Tempo
RITA MARCOTULLI piano, harmonium, voice
ANDERS JORMIN double bass
PALLE DANIELSSON double bass
LUCA BULGARELLI double bass
AUDUN KLEIVEdrums
JON CHRISTENSEN drums
ROBERTO GATTO drums
ARTO TUNÇBOYACIYAN percussion, voice
ANDY SHEPPARD saxophone
JAVIER GIROTTO flute, saxophone
STANLEY RAY ADAMS trombone
ANJA GARBAREK voice
GIAMMARIA TESTA voice, guitar
MICHELE ASCOLESE acoustic guitar
JOACHIM MILDER saxophon
LENA WILLEMARK violin, voice
PASQUALE MINIERI electronics
RODOLFO CALANDRELLI electronics
Recorded at "Studio Elettra" de Calvi Dell'Umbria
Le Chant Du Monde - 274 1166