BRIGITTE BERAHA’S LUCID DREAMERS - Blink
Let Me Out Records – LMOCD003
Brigitte Beraha: voice, electronics, toys; George Crowley: tenor saxophone, clarinet, electronics; Alcyona Mick: piano, synths, noises in piano; Tim Giles: drums, percussion, electronics
Recorded 11th June 2021 by Simon Todkill and Tris Ellis at Livingstone Studios, London
I thoroughly enjoyed last year’s ‘Lucid Dreamers’ set and the tunes on this new release take the ideas from that set and build them much further. Each player fully embodies the musical ideas of Beraha’s compositions, finding meaning in both her lyrics and vocal utterances. She states on the first track, ‘Opening’, ‘As you start to understand the meaning of life / the more incomprehensible it becomes’, before her voice spins upwards and outwards. One of the instantly recognisable features of her vocal delivery is the way in which she allows her controlled, tuneful signing to fracture. 'Opening' is also one of three tunes that are credited to the group (the others being ‘Wait for me’, track 4 on the CD and ‘Remembering’, track 8) which builds from group improvisations. Certainly, the ways in which sax and piano work their parts feels as if these are being constructed in front of us – but the complexity of the solos also has a sense of legerdemain in that it is impossible to believe that such complete and well-built musical sequences couldn’t be composed beforehand. The beauty of the playing here is the ways in which each turn, each nook and cranny, each potential diversion, feels as if it has been considered well in advance and plotted for. So, as a listener, each bar contains something surprising, but you trust the band to navigate the paths they follow without slipping or tripping. Although this is clearly a group that has come together to celebrate and explore Beraha’s unique vocal gymnastics and the particular world-view that her lyrics express, she seems to exercise a light control over the music and enjoys giving absolute freedom to the members of the quartet. This is particularly apparent in the ways in which each player contributes to the ‘electronics’ (some of which are haunting, some discombobulating) that float around the music. There is a famous quotation that describes thinking as following a path laid down by walking (from Francisco Varela, if you’re keen to follow this up). And this is an aposite metaphor for the way this quartet operates.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Let Me Out Records – LMOCD003
Brigitte Beraha: voice, electronics, toys; George Crowley: tenor saxophone, clarinet, electronics; Alcyona Mick: piano, synths, noises in piano; Tim Giles: drums, percussion, electronics
Recorded 11th June 2021 by Simon Todkill and Tris Ellis at Livingstone Studios, London
I thoroughly enjoyed last year’s ‘Lucid Dreamers’ set and the tunes on this new release take the ideas from that set and build them much further. Each player fully embodies the musical ideas of Beraha’s compositions, finding meaning in both her lyrics and vocal utterances. She states on the first track, ‘Opening’, ‘As you start to understand the meaning of life / the more incomprehensible it becomes’, before her voice spins upwards and outwards. One of the instantly recognisable features of her vocal delivery is the way in which she allows her controlled, tuneful signing to fracture. 'Opening' is also one of three tunes that are credited to the group (the others being ‘Wait for me’, track 4 on the CD and ‘Remembering’, track 8) which builds from group improvisations. Certainly, the ways in which sax and piano work their parts feels as if these are being constructed in front of us – but the complexity of the solos also has a sense of legerdemain in that it is impossible to believe that such complete and well-built musical sequences couldn’t be composed beforehand. The beauty of the playing here is the ways in which each turn, each nook and cranny, each potential diversion, feels as if it has been considered well in advance and plotted for. So, as a listener, each bar contains something surprising, but you trust the band to navigate the paths they follow without slipping or tripping. Although this is clearly a group that has come together to celebrate and explore Beraha’s unique vocal gymnastics and the particular world-view that her lyrics express, she seems to exercise a light control over the music and enjoys giving absolute freedom to the members of the quartet. This is particularly apparent in the ways in which each player contributes to the ‘electronics’ (some of which are haunting, some discombobulating) that float around the music. There is a famous quotation that describes thinking as following a path laid down by walking (from Francisco Varela, if you’re keen to follow this up). And this is an aposite metaphor for the way this quartet operates.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
