Magnificent array travels well

Caravan – a company of travelers on a journey through desert or hostile region.

In this wide-ranging musical trek across the terrain of human experience, Kronos wisely invited several instrumental colleagues to join their train.  The result is a magnificent array of colour, ideas and feeling that can’t fail to find its way into the top-ten playlist of music lovers everywhere.

No better place to start than Vrebalov’s “Pannonia (once a Roman province) Boundless.”  Harrington’s affinity for Gypsy tone and technique is admirably complemented by Dutt’s earthy viola.  A punchy Czardas erupts, sending everyone to their feet dancing, the music teems with slinky slides.  Then one last gasp and away we go with vigour and aplomb.

Next, the sultry heat of Paredes’ “Song of the Green Years” (featuring a melodic line that teases the ear with its homage to “Summertime”) provides a deliciously relaxing mood created by a delicate pizzicato supporting the deceptively languorous bows.

At the next stop—Burman’s forward-moving “Tonight is the Night”—, the addition of Hussain’s driving tabla, woody percussion and all manner of slides, shifts the trip into high gear.  Kronos and Co. toss it off with knowing confidence and obvious love for this work and its wit.

The peril of navigating life’s challenges comes home with Rangel’s “The Little Death.”  Its Viennese waltz tone and Brahms-like melody are the perfect foil to the heavenly harmonics and shivering tremolos circling above, waiting to illuminate the fallen.  Culp’s solo style has just the right measure of presence and discretion, easing the phrases securely—and memorably—along the road.

Perapaskero’s “Turkish Song” explodes with a rhythmic joi de vivre that effectively dissolves its bar lines in favour of momentum and fun.  Sure, some of the passage work, like a musical five o’clock shadow, is a bit on the rough-and-ready side, but its high voltage will leave any nit pickers languishing along the side lines.  What a recipe:  Sticks on the bass, a wee bit of Bach-like counterpoint, followed by a cup of Bartók dissonance, Turturica’s heady cymbalum work, a pair of accordions—all zipping ahead as relentless as California’s 2005 winter rain.  Music doesn’t get much tastier than this!

“Gloomy Sunday” lives up to its name with its long history of association to suicide.  The pair of verses, each introduced by a “Song of the Volga Boatmen” reference, aurally sets the scene of dispatch on a riverbank in emotion-rich understatement before, finally, rising eerily to the afterlife.

Terry Riley’s “Funeral March on Mount Diablo” could only come next.  Kronos steps into a supportive role as the music shifts into electronically derived high art:  a March Macabre that any devil would adore.  The tolling cymbal and braying brass add huge contrast to everything that precedes or follows.

Troilo’s “Responsory” and Paredes “Romance No.1” combine to banish the air of death and destruction using totally different techniques.  The former comes across as mildly melodramatic, more conversational than tuneful in its religious fervor; following its multilayered introduction, the latter seems uncertain which way to turn until the warm octave writing finally wins the day before all disappear into the night.

Kalhor’s “Gallop of a Thousand Horses” comes just in time to reinvigorate the proceedings.  But, despite its pulsing rhythm, Hungarian riffs and rattling drums, seems too vertical, as if the steeds are perpetually rearing on their hind legs.

Culp distinguishes herself again with the beautifully shaped opening solo of Racy’s “Ecstasy,” which is more released than merely played and compellingly sets the stage for the dreamy lines and breathy colour of Racy’s nay (reed flute).  Aided by the seamless transition to the waltz variant and Dutt’s bending interventions that signal the final return and farewell, the music is as addictive as the title.

Incongruously, a snare stick count down swings the set into its final port.  Yet once launched, Roubanis’ “Misirlou Twist” is the perfect, infectious closer as its non-stop energy and swing celebrate the joy of arrival—all perils survived if not totally conquered. 

Take the voyage and see for yourself!

Pannonia Boundless, Aleksandra Vrebalov Canção Verdes Anos (Song of the Green Years)*, Carlos Paredes Aaj Ki Raat (Tonight is the Night)*, Rahul Dev Burman La Muerte Chiquita (The Little Death)*, Enrique Rangel Turceasca (Turkish Song)*, Sapo Perapaskero Szomurú Vasárnap (Gloomy Sunday)*, Rezsö Seress Cortejo Fúnebre en el Monte Diablo (Funeral March on Mount Diablo), Terry Riley Responso (Responsory)*, Anibal Troilo Romance No.1*, Carlos Paredes Gallop of a Thousand Horses, Kayhan Kalhor Ecstasy, Ali Jihad Racy Misirlou Twist, Nicholas Roubanis * Arranged by Osvaldo Golijov Kronos Quartet David Harrington, violin John Sherba, violin Hank Dutt, viola Jennifer Culp, cello Assisting Musicians Zakir Hussain, tabla; Anghel “Caliu” Gheorghe, violin; Constantin “Costică” Lautaru, violin; Ionel “Ionită” Manole, accordion; Marin “Marius” Manole, accordion; Cristinel Turturica, cymbalum; Viorel Vlad, double bass; Kayhan Kalhor, kamancheh; Ziya Tabassian, tombak NONESUCH 79490-2 Playing Time: 62’ 40”

Cross-references:  Kronos Quartet at Brock; Mary Jane Lamond; Kronos and Dracula