Boi Akih: From And To Infinity

Singer Monica Akihary and guitarist Niels Brouwer, the beating heart of Boi Akih, have been finding the common ground in Indonesian, Indian, African and European music traditions since the late 1990s. Indonesia in particular is a constant source of inspiration—with Akihary often singing in her father's endangered Haraku language—and it proves so once again on their tenth album together.

The roots of this album go back to 2018 when Brouwer was invited to write music for the Molucca Bamboowind Orchestra, an all-flute orchestra (70-strong) from the Indonesian mountain town of Tuni on the Moluccan island of Ambon. A concert there followed in 2019, another in 2022. The music evolved anew when a commission from Amsterdam's Orgelpark—a unique concert space for organists—spurred Brouwer to write new arrangements for organs. This vibrant recording is the fruit of this long and colorful process.

The island of Ambon provides the inspiration for this four-part suite, with perspectives both literal and metaphorical on the sea, the land, the city and the sensation of joy guiding Boi Aki on its episodic journey. While the titles may seem self-explanatory, and at times the musical narratives are clearly signposted (the sound of the sea, the bustle of the city, etc.), for the most part the music is enigmatic and multi-layered: Acoustic instruments contrast with electric; organic textures rub shoulders with sequenced passages and an automated Balinese metallophone; the small though telling voices of recorder and tinkling chimes are juxtaposed against imposing organ swell and gritty electric guitar.

One of Brouwer's strengths as a composer, and a recurring facet of Boi Akih's albums, is the space he creates for guest musicians. Guinean kora player Sekou Dioubate and recorder player Dodó Kis, both of whom lit up Boi Akih's Storyteller (Bromo, 2020), inject their customary elegance and brio, with Dioubate and Brouwer enlacing fleet cascades, bright arpeggios and intricate improvised runs. Concert pianist and experimentalist Nora Mulder proves an inspired choice on organs large and small, conjuring bowels-of-the-earth drone at one extreme and ethereal soundscapes at the other. And who knew that organ and recorder, spiced by percussive rhythms, could summon such wicked grooves together?

As ever, Akihary's vocals leave a deep imprint on the music. Toggling between Haraku, non-syllabic improvisations and, on one track, English, her deft touches are as striking as her bold flights, particularly when harmonizing with organs. After decades making music together, Akihary and Brouwer exude deep levels of understanding, intuitively knowing when to hitch a ride on each other's lead, and equally, when to lay out. It is this musical enlightenment that enables them to "play" the mystery and beauty of sea and land, to evoke the rhythms and tensions of teeming urban spaces and to voice the most primal of emotions.

Ambition, endeavor, originality and fine musicianship combine to deliver something a bit special—a high point in Boi Akih's endlessly absorbing trajectory.