|
TUM
KALLE KALIMA & K-18/Bunuel de Jour: The funny thing about
history is that younger people have less and less sense of it. Only in his
40s but looking more than every inch of it, the guitarist makes his third
foray into impressionistic film jazz, this time turning his sonic lens on
Luis Bunuel whose glory days are way earlier than previous subjects like
Kubrick and Lynch. Until focusing on whores quite a while back, Bunuel was a
first call surrealist/Dadaist and Kalima captures that kaleidoscopic world
with ease. Free jazz that might even be too wild for civil rights jazzbos,
this is close to invading Sun Ra territory. Which ever way your cookie
crumbles, you've been warned.
38 Midwest Records.com 8/14
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Kalle Kalima & K-18 Bunuel de Jour
Tum 2014
The cinematic fusion of the avant garde with prog rock, harmonic fury
at it's peak!
Bunuel de Jour is the cerebral and visceral deconstruction of the works
of Spanish director Luis Bunuel. Not to worry as one does not need to be an
aficionado of foreign film to appreciate the evocative exploratory performed
thanks to the inspiration of some of Bunnuel's finest work. Kalle Kalima
& K-18 are harmonic chameleons changing colors, textures and lyrical
direction at will to effectively captured the cinematic moods of the various
films while working strictly in the audio format, the visuals are left up to
the listener.
Kalle Kalima is a German based guitarist that has a most unique style
somewhere between Frank Zappa and Robert Fripp. This formidable 4tet is
rounded off with Mikko Innanen primarily on alto saxophone and Veli Kujala on
quarter tone accordion and Teppo Hauta-aho with each considered a master of
their weapon of choice. The cinematic style of Bunnuel is such that this
particular release can walk the harmonic tightrope of full contact prog rock
and immediately shift to a deceptively subtle textured approach allowing for
subtle nuances to creep into the aural plane of consciousness.
Their third release has the band coming full circle, a sonic
collective. Hints of European classic are felt and to pigeon hole this band
or their sound into a comfortable niche is a daunting task as they easily
transcend genre and more towards the level of a lyrical experience.
Stellar.
5 stars
die tageszeitung von heute
Hier können Sie durch die aktuelle Ausgabe der
Zeitung blättern:
• 09.10.2014
• drucken_icon.gif ¬
Palimpseste und Surreales
Einem spanischen, genauer: spanisch-mexikanischen,
Künstler widmet sich ebenfalls das Album "Bunuel De Jour" von Kalle
Kalima & K-18. Kalima ist ein finnischer Musiker, der frisurbedingt einige
Ähnlichkeit mit Helge Schneider aufweist, im Gegensatz zu diesem aber die Gitarre
zu seinem Hauptinstrument gemacht hat.
Zudem ist Kalima in den verschiedensten
Spielarten des Jazz zu Hause, für sein Tribut an den Filmemacher Luis Buñuel
wählte er jedoch ein eher avantgardistisches Vokabular, um den surrealistischen
Ansatz des Regisseurs angemessen in Musik zu übersetzen.
Jede Nummer ist nach einem Buñuel-Film benannt,
von "An Andalusian Dog" über "Belle de Jour" bis zu
"The Phantom of Liberty". Mal drückt sich das in verträumten Melodien
aus, öfter aber bestimmen Brüche und hektische Rhythmen das Geschehen. Eine
sperrig-schöne Hommage. TIM CASPAR BOEHME
Jazz mostly 16.10.14:
Kalle Kalima & K-18 Buñuel de Jour (TUM Records CD
038)
A leading figure on Finland’s contemporary improvised
music scene, Kalle Kalima is a guitar
virtuoso who plays here with his group K-18, the other members of which are
Mikko Innanen, Teppo Hauta, and Veli Kujala. This album’s title will indicate
to all the inspiration for the music heard here. The group’s name will need
some explanation for those outside Finland: K-18 is the rating for films not
suitable for persons under 18 years of age. A little while ago, Kalima was
inspired by the films of Stanley Kubrick; here he takes his cue from
revolutionary filmmaker Luis Buñuel, whose own career was rooted in the
avant-garde from where he developed into an outstanding international figure,
making films in many genres and languages.
Among his films are several that are frequently listed
among the best ever made. Eleven of the twelve tracks Kalima has composed for
this album are titled for Buñuel films, among them Belle de Jour, Diary of a
Chambermaid, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Un Chien Andalou.
Musically, this album is inventive and carries reflections of the intriguing
complexity that marked Buñuel’s work.
After albums devoted to original music inspired by the
films of Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch, the powerfully iconoclastic ensemble Kalle
Kalima & K-18 confronts the work of Surrealist master Luis Buñuel on the
engrossing Buñuel Du Jour. The unusual instrumentation of the ensemble,
with Kalima’s electric guitar, Mikko Innanen on reeds, Veli Kujala on
quarter-tone accordion, and Teppo Hauta-aho on bass, proves to be ideally
suited to Buñuel’s methodology of odd coincidences, unexplained circumstances,
and frequently shocking imagery. Each piece is inspired by a different film,
with one track (The Padre) dedicated to Buñuel himself, who appeared in several
of his films, sometimes as a priest. Kalima is responsible for most of the
compositions, along with a pair of collective improvisations on Simon of the
Desert and Viridiana. Brashly unpredictable and darkly mysterious, this music
inches forward with its own hidden logic and continually varied textures. The
absence of a drummer, by the way, is never a problem with this unit. Their
collective sense of tempo, anchored by the fleet bass work of the veteran
Hauta-aho, is powerful and substantial enough that a percussionist might only
clutter things up. Among the many pleasures of this date are the battling
melodies of The Phantom of Liberty with some impassioned alto sax playing,
Kalima’s provocative guitar textures on Los Olvidados, the simultaneously sweet
and sour melody of Belle du Jour, the refined interplay of Tristana, and the
lush textures of Simon of the Desert. The TUM label’s handsome packaging and
comprehensive liner notes, with superior craftsmanship on all levels, serve to
deepen the enjoyment of all their releases, and the enchanting Buñuel Du Jour
is no exception. Kalima writes of his hope that “this music makes people
interested in seeing these films…” As a long-time fan of Buñuel’s cinema, I can
say that this boldly successful collection makes me see the films from a new
perspective, and I look forward to revisiting both the movies and the music
again and again in the future. Warmly recommended.
Stuart Kremsky 10/14, http://skremsky.tumblr.com/
ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING
IN…Wadada Leo Smith: The Great Lakes Suites, Kalle Kalima & K-18: Bunuel De
Jour
by George W. Harris • November
26, 2014 • 0 Comments Jazz weekly
Experimentation and free thought is still
alive and well in jazz, as shown by a pair of new releases.
A little bit of geographic as well as
musical education is provided by trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, as he gives us a
tour of The Great Lakes on this 6 part suite with avant garde professors
Henry Threadgill/as-fl-bfl, Jack DeJohnette/dr and John Lindberg/b. I always
forget Lat St. Clair, but it gets over 13 minutes of attention, which is about
par here, as the tunes go from 9 to 21. Free form interaction rules the day
here, ranging from the mid tempo “Lake Michigan” with some flailing alto work
by Threadgill, to warm interplay between Smith and Threadgill that sounds like
it’s vintage Ornette Coleman on “Lake Huron.” A mix of bowed bass and flute on
the herky-jerky “Lake Ontario” sets the stage for some wild percussion by
DeJohnette on “Lake Huron.” With lots of time for each piece, moods sometimes
change as dramatically like a menopausal mama as on “Lake Erie,” keeping you on
your collective toes. A feast for Freedom Fighters.
Guitarist Kalle Kalima teams up with an
intriguing team on his release. Just what is a “quarter-tone” accordion is
going to be found out here, as Veli Kujala plays it throughout the collective
pieces along with Teppo Haura-aho/b-perc and Mikko Innanen, who would have
driven Roland Kirk jealous with instruments such as the zaphoon, contact mic
and hip whistle collection along with the “regular” alto sax. The songs
themselves are quite experimental, sometimes sounding like a trip with Robert
Fripp with saxes and guitars boxing it out on “El Padre,” or the accordion and
reeds making quasi klezmer sounds on the merry go round of “Diary of a
Chambermaid.” Edgy guitar sounds go from linear to fuzzy on various tunes, with
a frenetically fragrant “The Milky Way” and some bass and guitar going up and
down like a pinball game on “Tristana.” Going where few people have gone
before. KALLE KALIMA & K-18 Some Kubricks Of Blood TUM CD www.TUMrecords.com The Finnish guitarist-composer Kalle Kalima’s album “Some Kubricks of Blood” was inspired by the films of director Stanley Kubrick, sees Kalima and his K-18 ensemble scaling new cinematic heights by bringing together jazz improvisation and elements of modern classical music and even avant-garde rock. The legendary director Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999) ended up inspiring Kalima’s new music by chance. Kalima reports being on tour in Belgium when accidentally stumbling upon an exhibition extensively documenting the director’s career, including photos, drawings, furniture, films and clothing. An admirer of the late auteur’s work already prior to that occasion, Kalima found his imagination running wild after discovering the world of Kubrick’s movies opened up so thoroughly The collection has evolved into nine compositions characterised by the remarkable unity of Kalima and his K-18 cohorts (“K-18” is Finnish for “films forbidden to viewers under the age of 18”). The aforementioned group is a carefully planned entity unto itself. Saxophonist Mikko Innanen (b. 1978) is one of the most sought-after improvisers in his generation of jazz musicians in Finland, and a long-term colleague of Kalima’s. He is also the 2008 winner of the Finnish jazz Federation’s “Jazz Musician of the Year” award. Teppo Hauta-Aho (b. 1941) on bass on the other hand can draw on nearly five decades’ worth of experience playing improvised music in various guises. Finally, the role of accordion player Veli Kujala (b. 1976) is essential to the album’s sonic texture. His use of the quarter-tone accordion lends itself to building melodies around microintervals, a feature central to Kalima’s compositions here and also evocative of the music of György Ligeti that was sometimes used in the scores of Kubrick’s films. The debut Cd was a candidate for Finnish Jazz Emma Prize year 2009. "Realizing Kubrick’s frequent use of contemporary composers like Ligeti and Penderecki in his scores, the guitarist fused the two inspirations into one....Left Veli Kujala, Kalle Kalima, Teppo Hauta-aho and Mikko Innanen. Photo: Maarit Kytöharju Thus, 2001’s spaceport lounge is treated to an abstracted, antigravity blues on “Earth Light Room”; “Parris Island” (the site of boot camp in Full Metal Jacket) travels from the idyllic peace of its surroundings through the distorted violence of its military indoctrination…" (Shaun Brady, Downbeat 7/2010) |
KALLE
KALIMA & K-18 [With MIKKO INNANEN/VELI KUJALA/TEPPO HAUTA-AHO] - Bunuel De
Jour (TUM 38; Finland) Featuring Kalle Kalima on electric guitars, Mikko
Innanen on alto sax, xaphoon & hornpipe, Veli Kujala on quartet-tone
accordion and Teppo Hauta-Aho on double bass. This is the third disc from
Finnish guitarist Kalle Kalima and his band K-18. Each of his three discs have
been dedicated to and inspired by directors: Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch so
far and now to experimental film-maker Luis Bunuel. Each piece on this disc was
inspired by a different Bunuel film, except for one which is dedicated to
Bunuel himself. The members of K-18 feature saxist Mikko Innanen, an ambitious
Finnish reeds player who can be found on more than 20 discs and who lives in NYC
at times. Bassist Teppo Hauta-aho is the elder here (born 1941) and has been a
longtime member of the Finnish creative music scene, having played with Cecil
Taylor, George Russell and Anthony Braxton. I wasn't familiar with 1/4-tone
accordionist Veli Kujala before this band appeared but I must admit that 1/4
tone accordions are pretty rare. Not only is the instrumentation here unique:
el. guitar, alto sax, accordion and acoustic bass, but Mr. Kalima's writing is
also consistently unpredictable. The strange yet enchanting harmonies for the
accordion and guitar with bent sax lines intertwined makes the opening piece,
"The Phantom of Liberty" unlike anything I've heard. Much like the
way films work, Kalima's music is often thematic and develops over time with
contrasting parts assembled in different ways. These pieces often have a
chamber-like quality with three members playing the written parts and the last
member soloing or playing counterpoint parts on top. Mr. Kujala's unique
quarter-tone accordion certainly has an odd sound since it plays microtones. At
times his solos and playing sound like they are coming from a different
dimension adding those bent harmonies to the overall strange group sound. The
guitar, reeds, accordion and on occasion the acoustic bass all get their chance
to solo and stretch and sound consistently inspired. This disc is some seventy
minutes long so it does take time to appreciate the depth and hard work that
went into the making of the disc. Most impressive throughout. - Bruce Lee Gallanter,
DowntownMusicGallery 120914
CD $18
