Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Stephan Micus: On the Wing

214

Stephan Micus: On the Wing

By

View read count
Stephan Micus: On the Wing
Stephan Micus is a German-born multi-instrumentalist and inveterate ethnic musicologist. He currently resides in Majorca where, aside from the splendid climate, the airport is well-equipped and prepared to take the adventuresome traveler almost anywhere at any time. Micus utilizes the latter frequently in planning his musical landscapes.

Micus has traveled extensively throughout Asia and Europe and, in doing so, has accumulated an arsenal of exotic instruments. He does not, however, seek to replicate the literal music tradition of a particular region. Rather, Micus absorbs the textures and ideas of the vernacular musical expression, and seeks to place the same within the context of his own unique improvising framework.

On the Wing is the first album in seventeen years where he does not utilize his voice. Micus' many instruments include, but are not limited to, the sattar (a long necked bowed instrument used by the Uigurs, a Turkman people from Western China), sho (a Japanese mouth organ consisting of seventeen reed pipes), suling (a hollow reed flute of the Balinese Gamelan orchestra), shakuhachi (a Japanese bamboo flute with five holes and no mouthpiece), classical and steel string guitars, sitar, and a bevy of Tibetan cymbals and gongs. That Micus is able to play each instrument is remarkable. That he successfully blends this panoply of diverse instruments into a series of multi-tracked coherent statements is, quite simply, stunning.

Where some selections are clearly informed by a far Eastern perspective, others contain a Middle Eastern sound. There is some Irish musical influence. The listener should not seek a clear musical foundation. Merely note the composition titles and, with your mind, imagine the tone poem that Micus has sketched for the audience.

The record is the type of production at which ECM excels, and which drives those listeners already critical of the label's aesthetic into fits. Is it jazz? Is it world music? Does it swing? Who knows and, quite frankly, who really cares. Micus' efforts of expressing himself within the vocabulary of an ethnic imperative are remarkable. Anouar Brahem, the Tunisian oud virtuoso, is another ECM stalwart who combines his instrument's eastern Middle Eastern textures and places them within the framework of his own extemporaneous exploration of improvisation. Brahem's ability to flirt with French Musette and Moorish influences, and back again, confounds some listeners, just as Micus' music almost surely will.

This record is, in short, a welcome addition to Micus' ECM discography. Those predisposed to think in terms of musical definitions and boundaries should listen attentively. One can learn how a musical mind travels, and is subsequently rewarded, when thoughts are not so limited.

Track Listing

Part 1: On the Wing; Part 2: Winterlight; Part 3: Gazelle; Part 4: Blossoms in the Wind; Part 5: The Bride; Part 6: Ancient Trees; Part 7: In the Dancing Snow; Part 8: The Gate; Part 9: Turquoise Fields; Part 10: Morning Sky.

Personnel

Stephan Micus
guitar, 12-string

Stephan Micus: sattar (1, 2, 4, 7, 9); mudbedsh (1, 5, 7); classical guitar (3); nay (3, 9); sho (4); hn

Album information

Title: On the Wing | Year Released: 2007 | Record Label: ECM Records

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.