Rainbow Revisited

南アフリカのピアニストタンディ・ントゥリが、カリフォルニアを拠点に活動するミュージシャンカルロス・ニーニョとのタッグ作品「Rainbow Revisited」をInternational Anthemからリリース!

現代ジャズシーンのピアニストとして世界各地で活躍するタンディ・ントゥリがカリフォルニアでカルロス・ニーニョ&フレンズとして活躍するカルロス・ニーニョとのタッグ作品「Rainbow Revisited」をシカゴのInternational Anthemからリリース!今作はタンディ・ントゥリが2019年にロサンゼルスを訪れ、カルロス・ニーニョをプロデューサーに迎え、ヴェニスビーチのスタジオで収録している。ほとんどの曲がピアノと声のみの作品で中にはシンセサイザーやパーカッションを使った時折の実験における彼女の大胆不敵さ、脆弱さ、冒険心と同様に、ピアニストとしてのントゥリの腕前とヴォーカリストとしての特異性が鮮やかに発揮されている。カルロスが彩るミニマルなサウンドスケープも聞き逃し厳禁。

The encounter between jazz vocalist, pianist, and composer Thandi Ntuli and multi-instrumentalist, producer, and conceptualist Carlos Nino was a long time coming. The latter caught a soundcheck performance by South African pianist Ntuli on Instagram. Ntuli is a seasoned jazz veteran whose debut, The Offering, appeared in 2014, followed by several other acclaimed though self-issued titles including Exiled (2018) and 2022s glorious Blk Elijah & the Children of Meroe. Nino -- a musical polymath, culture worker, and collaborator with a formidable discography -- contacted her in 2018 wanting to remix and/or re-record "Rainbow" from her live gig Thandi Ntuli Live at Jazzwerkstatt. They tried to meet but were thwarted until 2019 when Ntuli played Jazz at Lincoln Center and L.A.s Ford Theater. They spent two days in a Venice Beach recording studio and cut Rainbow Revisited. International Anthem released it. Ntuli sings, plays piano, synthesizer, and the Tongo, a percussion instrument. Nino produced and mixed the sessions and appears on percussion, cymbals, and "plants" (this is no joke, the natural world is central to his abundant creativity). Shabaka Hutchings contributed the album art. These ten tunes feature Ntuli playing and singing. Nino added his treatments and parts later. That said, it sounds live: it is playful but continually seeks to touch the realm of the sacred. Opener "Sunrise (In California)," an instrumental, wanders between James Francies and Robert Glaspers open, winding chord progressions, while its counterpart, "Sunset (In California)," references the glorious phrasing and harmonies of the plaintive South African father of piano jazz Abdullah Ibrahim. The title track offers a shining example of Ntulis scat-like vocal approach. She claims that, in contrast to "sung singing," scat is direct, a free conveyance of emotion to get a message through. The original version was an indictment of South Africas betrayed promises of inclusion and racial and economic equality. With Ninos unintrusive, natural-sounding embellishments, Ntuli allows her righteous, circular pianism to enter an improvisational space, and her voice underscores the pianos assertions though they are more existentially inquisitive than sacred. "Breath and Synth Experiment" is wildly unencumbered yet intimate. The producers layered ambient sounds find Ntulis synths offering various flute voicings and soothing unidentifiable sounds as she whisper/scats into the mysterious sounds. "Nomayoyo" was written by her late grandfather. Its a wake-up call to a subject who delivers it as a folk song, elegantly and with tenderness. On the two-part "One," Ntulis wordless vocal conveys longing and heartbreak, emotional devastation, serenity, and spiritual ecstasy buoyed by intricate, circular piano chords and a gentle ambience from Nino. Rainbow Revisited is quite different in creative vibe, scope, and emotion than her earlier recordings. While producer Nino can be credited with creating the vibe on this recording, it would be inaccurate. This glorious, vulnerable set offers pure collaborative inspiration at once strident and vulnerable, minimal, and aesthetically expansive. ~ Thom Jurek

ほとんどが「ピアノ」と「声」というシンプルな編成で綴られるサウンドスケープ。その表現力の繊細さと奥深さで一気に引き込まれていく。南アフリカ出身のピアニスト/シンガー/作曲家と、奇才カルロス・ニーニョがタッグを組んだ本作は、トータル・プロデュースされたアルバム全体に漂う神秘的な雰囲気の中に、多彩なピアノアプローチも楽しめる一枚。特にM8《The One(first part)》、M9《The One(second part)》のダイナミックなピアノからM10《Lihlanzekile》のメロディアスな主旋律へと畳み掛けるような後半の流れは聴き応え充分。
intoxicate (C)栗原隆行