Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Banco de Gaia: Igizeh

189

Banco de Gaia: Igizeh

By

View read count
Banco de Gaia: Igizeh
At times, I’m quite calculated when it comes to turning people onto new music, though I do it in such a subtle way as to appear coincidental. Such is the case with this CD as an unsuspecting long time music enthusiast unknowingly was being set up to becomeBanco de Gaia’s newest devotee. People often ask what I’m listening to and I rarely answer because I would rather let the music do the speaking. So I went by my friend’s house to pick her up and had the Banco CD cued up to the two-minute mark of track 2 entitled“Obsidian”. After little more than a hello, she immediately quipped, “What are you listening to?” “It has a vibe I really like”.

With a sly grin I offer up, “Banco de Gaia and their new CD Igizeh ”. “Huh?” Whether it was my mispronunciation or the mere fact of the name and the title, it piques peoples’ minds, which is a friendly introduction to what is in store when you listen for the first time. I first got turned on to Banco when their last release The Magical Sounds of Banco de Gaia came out. In conjunction with the full length was a remix EP for the single “I Love Baby Cheesy” that really floored me, so I was anxiously awaiting their new release.

Well, Igizeh picks up where its precursor leaves off and visits some new places (like inside the Great Pyramid at Giza) along the way. The mostly instrumental mix is a combination of new world disco, Asian and middle eastern flair,psychedelic nuancesto please even the hardened headphone theater nut and swirling soundscapes that let your mind wander through an encompassing stereophonic excursion such as evidenced on the nine minute “Gizeh”. This song is representative of the entire album, as the songs on Igizeh are lengthy, beginning with a simple direction and then adding layer upon layer until it’s ameditative cacophony lacquering your sensesin primordial joy.

An ingenious example occurs on the nearly twelve-minute “Fake It Till You Make It”. The song echoes a melding ofPink Floyd’s The Wall with “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” which is further enhanced by a futuristic orchestra that beckons the seldom re-created majesty before it suddenly steps onto a pulsating sheet of beats that lifts you from your armchair and onto your feet before reprising into a sliver of aural ecstasy, the kind once heard on side two of “Dark Side of the Moon”.

But as with Pink Floyd, Banco de Gaia really reaches that euphoric next level during the vocal coloring process of which “Obsidian” is my favorite. This track will appeal to anyone who fell in lust with theDelerium “Silence” track featuring Sarah McLachlan. Lending her vocals to this track and also “Glove Puppet” isJennifer Folkeswho with delicate ease strides above the upper registers of the human voice.

So, if you’re looking for an otherwordly experience that will take you inside your mind AND make you get up off of your behind, then take a trip to Igizeh, just don’t ask where it is you’re headed cause that will dilute the passage in time.

Visit www.bancodegaia.net

Track Listing

Seti I / Obsidian / Creme Egg / Glove Puppet (vocal version) / Gizeh / How Much Reality Can You Take / B2 / Fake It Till You Make It / Sixty Sixteen (for Karina)

Personnel

Toby Marks (producer) / Jennifer Folkes (vocals - tracks 2 & 4) / Ted Duggan (some drums on tracks 3, 8 & 9)

Album information

Title: Igizeh | Year Released: 2001

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.