Tribute to Sitting Bull inspired jazz

Page 11

Review

An Evening With Sitting Bull

By Bob Conti Natural Visions/SOAR

A moody 15 track jazz CD from an Albuquerque-based Native American record label features inspired works produced and conceived by percussionist Bob Conti.

The concept album is based on the life and legend of the Hunkpapa visionary Tatanka Iyotaka (Sitting Bull). The opening tracks blend a musical interpretation of the beginning of his life as described in the song titles that embody a story-telling device throughout the liner notes: Wakan Tank's Gift to the Sioux Nation was Born of Thunder to a loving father and mother. This only son, who was a blessing to his people, came to be known as Tatanka Iyotaka. One of the biggest surprises on the CD is a special guest appearance by famed Puerto Rican guitarist, Jose Feliciano who composed a short track called Crazy Horse.

Feliciano was so moved by the story of Crazy Horse and by the struggle of the Lakota people, he was inspired to capture the mystery which surrounds the legend and life of the historic leader. The virtuosity for which Feliciano is legendary is presented in such a manner that it reflects a musical evolution to an experimental level. Feliciano utilizes the guitar's body in a percussive way to imitate horses galloping. He scrapes the sides of the strings with his fingernails to enhance synthesized and recorded sounds of nature as the piece closes.

The mood carries over into the next pieces, Sitting Bull, a song that suddenly crescendos into a highly charged musical celebration with a Latin fair. Another guest performer, traditional Lakota singer, Earl Bullhead, makes brief appearances in both the opening and closing tracks. The weakest segment of the album comes at the very end with an attempt to combine jazz and traditional chants. It is not an easy combination to achieve, and has been attempted by other artists. Such cross-over combinations have more often failed than succeeded. The band that accompanies Conti's wailing trumpet is the Starship BraveHeart Orchestra comprised of seven jazz musicians.

If you'd like to spend An Evening With Sitting Bull, contact Koch International: 1220 Ellesmere Road, Unit 8, Scarborough, Ont. M1P 2X5; or call (416)292-8111.

Brother

By Nadjiwan Morning Star/Heading North

After giving this an initial listen, I couldn't figure out who these guys sound like. To be fair, Nadjiwan is more than a generic rock band. It's three young Nishnawb artists out of Thunder Bay, Nawash and Cape Croker who are really trying to pull things together while presenting their own musical identity in a very commendable way. The blend of Native and contemporary flavors of music is presented quite beautifully in the first track Chasing The Westing Sun. What follows are 10 more pieces that are electric-based with the exception of the acoustic ballads Forever and In The Morning. The music is combined with lyrics that utilize a story-telling formula and relate cultural identity and love in an almost subliminal way.

Marc Nadjiwan's natural vocal style helps make the songs a pleasure. He doesn't strain or act his singing and sounds very comfortable with expressing himself. Nadjiwan's strengths could be improved with more vocal control on the a cappella segments and assistance from a seasoned and compassionate producer. The first cut and Negamo stand apart as exceptional pieces that cry out for the right producer's touch. The haunting quality of their playing and writing style is really likeable and after the second listen-through, Nadjiwan's music becomes even more interesting than before.

The big drawback is the demo quality of the recording where some of the bed tracks and percussion sound a bit thin, but as demo products go, a record producer or Native radio station would find that this one works very well. Another interesting twist to the album is the final track Red, that clocks in at more than 13 minutes. Most pieces of this length have a meandering tendecy and sound like several short songs strung together.

The combination of Nadjiwan's playing and songwriting abilities, as exemplified throughout the project, underlines their ability to hold an audience's attention for 14 minutes. For more information, contact Nadjiwan, 215 Pine Street, Thunder Bay, Ont. P7A 5X9; (807)345-5927.