Otherworld Ensemble

More allegorical than anthropological, Soul Bird is the most recent variation on reconciling with Jazz myths associated with his Finnish roots by Bay area saxophonist Rent Romus. Building on the tales, tones and timbres attributed to birds in Finno-Ugric culture Romus and the Otherworld Ensemble have come up with an eight-part suite that converts ornithology into orchestration. Critical to the adaptation is the group’s co-composer and co-leader, Fin Heikki Koskinen, who plays e-trumpet, piano, tenor recorder, ocarina and birch bark horn here alongside Romus’ alto, soprano saxophones and c-flute.

Also on hand are bassist Safa Shokrai and Elihu Knowles playing drums, frame drum and, piano; Joshua Marshall on tenor and soprano saxophones, c-flute, melodica and bird calls; plus Joseph Noble and Vinny Golia on a variety of flutes. While everyone exhibits an intensification of fowl lore on the concluding “We All Sing” with an interchange of bird calls before reaching an elongated crescendo of layered group instrumental textures, the long-held thesis linking flute trills and bird calls is also upfront.

Faint Asian texture creep into some of the tunes since traditional Finno-Ugric linguistic groups also include Eurasians. Thus these unexpected timbral echoes, are perhaps unknowingly incorporated in the themes composed to reflect the real and mythical attributes of Nordic fowl. The most discernable instance of this is on “Curious Hooded Crow (Utelias Varis)”. Here those inflections are mixed with a processional exposition  characterized by Shokrai’s ambulating multi-string bass pops, Knowles drum rumbles and rolls, Koskinen’s brassy triplets, all of which evolved  beneath massed flute flutters which eventually speed up to reconnected with the Asian-like sonic particles.

More generic to Soul Bird’s progress is how deftly the characteristic timbres of the alto, bass, c- and contrabass flutes are used in varied contexts. The expected harmonized lyricism is often freed from excessive peeping by antiphony and tonal cross pollination, especially when the warbling and pumping transverse lines connect two flutists. Additionally the larger flute’s lower pitches emphasize toughness, especially when coupled with a bass and drum groove as on “Sotka (Creation of the World)”.

Still the most notable POMO variation of this Jazz/Improv/Myth/Language admixture occurs on the title tune. Musically interpreting both meanings of soul, thick double bass thumps initially bring out the funk as do later drum backbeats. Yet the spiritual reference is subsequently underlined when the intertwined breaths, sniffs, huffs and trills from Golia’s and Noble’s flutes introduce then decorate Romus’ harsh saxophone split tones and cawing crying.

Soul Bird should be of interest to bird-fanciers, Uralic languages speakers and more crucially those who appreciate well-playing and novel creative music.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. Black Swan 2. Vaakalintu (Bird’s Eye View) 3. Soul Bird (Sielunlintu) 4. Bird Awakening Song (Lindude äratamine) 5. Curious Hooded Crow (Utelias Varis) 6. Raven Speak 7. Sotka (Creation of the World) 8. We All Sing

Personnel: Heikki Koskinen (e-trumpet, piano, tenor recorder, ocarina, birch bark horn, bird calls); Rent Romus (alto, soprano saxophones, c-flute, bird calls); Joshua Marshall (tenor, soprano saxophones, c-flute, melodica, bird calls); Joseph Noble (alto, bass, c-flutes, bird calls): Vinny Golia (alto, bass, contrabass flutes); Safa Shokrai (bass, bird calls); Elihu Knowles (drums, frame drum, piano, bird calls)