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Angles + Elle-Kari With Strings: The Death Of Kalypso
ByThe Death Of Kalypso joins this distinguished company. It is performed by Sweden's eight-piece band Angles augmented by singer Elle-Kari Sander and a string quartet. Music and libretto were written by Angles' tenor saxophonist Martin Kuchen. Instrumental soloists include Küchen, trumpeter Magnus Broo, trombonist Mats Aleklint, baritone saxophonist Fredrik Ljungkvist and vibraphonist Mattias Ståhl. Heavyweights all. Double bassist Johan Berthling is a sure anchor, as always. Angles defines itself as a groove-based free-jazz ensemble. On this album, there is relatively little free jazz, though what there is is fierce, but there are plenty of engaging motor rhythms.
The 65-minute album is a fundamentally positive one, despite the subject matter: the ancient Greek myth of the nymph Kalypso, which involves human hubris, war and family feuds. Despite, too, the gloomy cover artsomething the Thanatosis label (logo: a dead fly) seems to specialise in (see also Vilhelm Bromander's 2023 album, In This Forever Unfolding Moment, reviewed here). Some of the music is dark and creepy, certainly, but some is lively and lush"A Campaign Of Tragedy," for instance, is, unexpectedly, swing based and buoyant. Even the darker tracks, such as "Kalypso In Karlsbad, Haunted By Dreams" (check the YouTube below), have extended passages that are pretty and carefree.
Perhaps the best single word to describe the album is: complexcomplicated enough for one to have to meet the music halfway. The effort is worth it. There are riches aplenty to be found.
Track Listing
Messieurs-dames (Stuck In The Arching Caverns Of Hermes’ Court); Une Certaine Paix; A Campaign Of Tragedy (string quartet); Fetus Of Dawn (Kalypso Talks To Her Son Nausithous And Sings To The Gods); A Campaign Of Tragedy (aria); Cutting The Woods; The Caves Of Ogygia l; The Caves Of Ogygia ll; Kalypso In Karlsbad, Haunted By Dreams; A Campaign Of Tragedy; Outro And Overture; The Death Of Kalypso.
Personnel
Magnus Broo
trumpetMats Aleklint
tromboneJohan Berthling
bass, acousticKonrad Agnas
drumsMattias Ståhl
vibraphoneAlex Zethson
pianoFredrik Ljungkvist
saxophone, tenorMartin Kuchen
saxophoneAdditional Instrumentation
Elle-Kari Sanders: vocals, backing vocals, additional trumpet, synth, glockenspiel; Raed Yassin: reading voice (4); Mattias Stahl: vibraphone, glockenspiel; Alex Zethson: piano, synth, Hammond organ; Fredrik Ljungkvist: baritone saxphone, clarinet; Martin Kuchen: tenor and soprano saxophones; Anna Lindal: violin, octave violin; Eva Lindal: violin, viola; My Hellgren: cello; Brusk Zanganeh: violin.
Album information
Title: The Death Of Kalypso | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: Thanatosis Produktion
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