Dreaming Of Glenisla

In the '70s when the doors flew open for ethnic fusions of all kinds, drummer Ken Hyder decided it was about time to explore his Scottish roots within a contemporary jazz framework. His group Talisker pretty much achieved their vision of combining reels, march styles, and assimilated folkloric musics with an instrumental progressive jazz-oriented sound influenced by John Coltrane. With double bassists Lindsay Cooper (native of Glasgow, not to be mistaken for the bassoonist with the same name from the group Henry Cow) and Brit Marc Meggido, Hyder's concept has the wings to lift the music and soar it overhead. Fellow Scot and alto saxophonist Davie Webster alongside Anglo-Irishman John Rangecroft on tenor sax and clarinet provide the roughage and bulk necessary to ensure that the music is substantive and not fluffy. What makes this music most interesting are the contrasts it provides. "Heel an' Toe, Foot an' Moo," for instance, provides a hopping tartan sound juxtaposed against the spiky saxes, both dueling and cavorting. The two bass pizzicato forays during "Mingulay Boat Song" merge into a free improvisation, then an alto/drums bash. The group assimilates a digeridoo/bagpipes sonic wave with long, long tones, vocal whoops, and jamming from Webster on a surreal "Diddlin' for the Bairns & Lament for Darmid." At their most fervent, Hyder's marching rhythms aside Webster's pennywhistle merge into unabashed free discourse during "Mrs. Macleod Raasay & Soldier's Song." Even deeper in the Scottish pocket is the title track, a sweet and simple layered waltz for Glenisla, the Scottish Terrier on the cover of the CD. Rangecroft's clarinet playing is as serene as can be during his feature "Ca' the Yows" and the outstanding "Tha Cu Ban Againn," though broken up by Webster's thorny alto. "The Black Bear," a swinging modal head-nodding jazz tune, is the final track, taken from a recording done eight months after the original session, as was "Cu Ban" and "He Mandu," a romping, stomping African percussion jam. This recording is a great example how jazz has infiltrated every ethnic culture, where world music was born; how it relates to us all no matter our nationality; and how much we all have in common. Bravo Talisker! ~ Michael G. Nastos|