llama

Performance = 5
Sonics = 5

You can always count of Todd Garfinkle of MA Recordings to track down unusual, extremely creative musicians whom he captures in extraordinary sound. His latest coup, recorded in the remarkably spacious, clear acoustic of Capella de la Mare de Déu de l’Esperanca in Barcelona, pairs Hang player Ravid Goldschmidt with the curious vocalism of Sílvia Pérez Cruz.

The Hang is a large, resonant stainless steel pie which Garfinkle describes as UFO-like. Designed and manufactured by Felix Rohner and Sabina Schärer of Bern, Switzerland, and inspired by the steel pan drums of Trinidad and Topago, it sounds like a far mellower cousin, with an ability to both mimic the bongos lower in the register and ring like a cross between a steel drum and a finger piano. The only way to understand its range and versatility is to hear it in the hands of a master such as Ravid Goldschmidt.

Goldschmidt, 25, who divides his time between concerts in Spain and Europe and street performances that allow him direct contact with his audiences, was born and raised on an Israeli kibbutz. Originally a drummer, he converted to Hang after hearing it played it at a music festival in Israel.

Pérez Cruz, who is both a vocalist and jazz saxophone player, has a unique voice with more than a hint of the spoiled child in it. Her improvisations are one-of-a-kind, fusing everything from fado and African styles with jazz. (She currently performs in an all-female flamenco quartet). Together, the two create less a fusion of styles than a music all its own. Their sole jazz-tinged excursion into English, “I’m All Smiles,” featuring arresting Hang accompaniment, could become a major hit if it falls into the right hands.

Thanks to Garfinkle, Goldschmidt gives us an Aeolian Hang Suite interlude of five song-like compositions. His contemplative music, abetted by the acoustic of the small church, is tinged with sadness and nostalgia, as though it were a longing for another time and place. Frankly, I can’t get enough of it. This wonderful recording deserves the widest possible audience.

Jason Victor Serinus
Music Reviews
No. 56 - March, 2006