Chad Wackerman - World Drummers Ensemble - A Coat of Many Colors
Hoodoo
World Drummers Ensemble | Summerfold Records
By John Kelman
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=21423
For those who think that percussion should be restricted to
timekeeping, A Coat of Many Colors may come as something of a
surprise. On the other hand, listeners familiar with Swiss
percussionist Pierre Favre’s Ensemble and his remarkable Singing Drums
(ECM, 1984) will find the idea of a full programme from four
percussionists much less of a shock. But what differentiates the World
Drummers Ensemble from Favre’s is its broader cultural spectrum.
Drummer Chad Wackerman, best known for his work with Frank Zappa and
Allan Holdsworth, has pursued a more fusion-centric direction in
recent years with albums like Scream (Favored Nations, 2000) and Legs
Eleven (Chad Wackerman, 2004). Afro-Cuban percussionist Luis Conte has
contributed across the musical continuum, working with artists like
Carlos Santana, James Taylor and Ray Charles. Master percussionist
Doudou N’Diaye Rose, who founded the Drummers of West Africa, is
considered to be Senegal's greatest griot drummer. Bill Bruford began
life as an art rocker with bands including Yes and King Crimson, but
in recent years has devoted himself more completely to his acoustic
Earthworks band, featuring woodwind multi-instrumentalist Tim Garland
in a jazz context that blends complex composition with open-ended
improvisation.
The spirit of Favre looms large over the World Drummers Ensemble,
which even delivers an extended version of “Prism” from Singing
Drums—though that won’t be any surprise to Bruford fans who are
familiar with the duet version he performed with drummer Pat
Mastelotto in the 1994-95 incarnation of King Crimson. But what makes
the World Drummers Ensemble unique is the group's cross-cultural
approach to the compositions—and they are compositions. While everyone
has an opportunity to stretch and improvise, these are not bombastic
free-for-alls, but organized and orchestrated percussion pieces that
range from being purely visceral to surprisingly melodic, in their own
way, despite being perpetually rhythm-happy. The fifteen-minute video
performance on the DVD side of this DualDisc release (which also has
two bonus audio tracks) allows one to see just how orchestrated the
music is, revealing the synchronicity that takes place between the
four players.
The mix perfectly mirrors the onstage image on the front
cover—Wackerman on the left, followed by Rose, Conte and, finally,
Bruford on the right—making it possible to not only absorb the music
as a whole, but also resolve and hear what each individual is
contributing to the blend. A little over a third of the CD is taken up
by compositions by Rose, which range from primitive simplicity to
complex interaction. But most strikingly, throughout all the music,
rhythm and melody intersect effectively on instruments that many have
come to think of in purely metric terms.
The biggest surprises of A Coat of Many Colors are how eminently
listenable it is and how captivating its diversity is from start to
finish. This album of percussion compositions, perhaps unexpectedly,
should attract a broad audience.
Visit Bill Bruford, Chad Wackerman, Luis Conte and Doudou N’Diaye Rose
on the web.
When not writing feverishly for AAJ, John Kelman contributes to the
Canadian magazines Muzik Etc. and The Jazz Report. More about John...
Album photo -
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/styles/worlddrummersensemble2006.jpg
Track Listing: CD Side: Conundrum; Majorette; Prism; Baye Kene
N'Diaye; Ritm Kompozisyon; A Coat of Many Colors; Self Portrait; Sa
N'Diaye. DVD Side: Programme from CD Side plus B'Boom; Encuentro
(Encounter); and fifteen-minute performance video.
Personnel: Doudou N’Diaye Rose: sabar, gorom babass; Chad Wackerman:
acoustic drums, pitched drums, pitched cymbals; Luis Conte: conga
drums, timbales, cajon, percussion; Bill Bruford: acoustic and
electronic drums.
Style: Modern Jazz/Free Improvisation
Review Published: April 19, 2006
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