Balanescu/Kaučič/Girotto : East West Daydreams

 IZK CD039 ( Klopotec) -april 2016

double CD

 

Alexander Balanescu violin

Zlatko Kaučič percussions

Javier Girotto reeds

 

Alexander Balanescu’s contemporary music credentials are extensive –  stints with Michael Nyman, Gavin Bryars and the Arditti Quartet, leading the Balanescu Quartet, and working with such theater and film luminaries as Pina Bausch and Peter Greenaway. The violinist has shone in encounters with improvisers for decades, his playing on the three Incus CDs documenting the 1991 Company Week being the case in point. On East West Daydreams (Sazas), a two-disc collection of improvisations with Kaučič and woodwinds player Javier Girotto, perhaps best known for his long membership in Aires Tango, Balanescu’s Romanian roots are in the foreground. With Kaučič’s “ground drums” (a more evocative name for hand drums, though it excludes his cymbals and other small instruments) supplying a mix of high-velocity and nimble rhythms. and Girotto’s soprano matching the violinist in zeal and chops, the music throughout has a baseline of brilliance that few ensembles sustain beyond several minutes. (Granted: the material was cherry-picked from five concerts.)  East West Daydreams brings renewed relevance to Europe’s articulation of world jazz during the 1970s. 

Bill Shoemaker

 

demo MIX

 

Review

"East West Daydreams is a feast for the ears, heart and mind. Not something to be missed."  AllAboutJazz

JazzTimes , JazzConvention