Torben Westergaard: The Gori Project II

Sometimes an experience is too special and rewarding to simply leave as a one-off. If it requires traveling 8,300 kilometers across the hemisphere, then maybe you cannot continue making it a habit as regular as popping off to the pub on weekends, but the right repeat can still be worth the effort, even if it takes a few years. Or such has been the experience of Torben Westergaard with the lingering euphoria from 2019's The Gori Project (self produced), which made an understatedly uplifting crossover of players from Denmark and South Korea.

The practicalities of a followup would have been quite a logistical task even without the unprecedented disruptions of pandemics and shutdowns. Nonetheless, even a few years later in a changed world, the spirit of unity is dimmed not at all. Rene Damsbak returns from the first Gori to contribute more amorphous trumpet and electronics in the sound-sculpting mold of Jon Hassell. With Westergaard's bass remaining as comfortably unobtrusive as ever, the newcomers build hypnotic circles of Eastern grooves around them. The birdlike tone of Hyelim Kim's daegeum (bamboo flute) provides airy swirls complemented by Marilyn Mazur's low percussion rooting everything straight to the earth.

The group wanders as a whole with no particular lead voice; "You Then Who" is lively enough for some kind of light step dance, the haunting "Meskel" and "Now Then When" float somewhere mysterious and unsettling, and spots like "Flute Me Up" turn the electricity up closer to dub levels instead. With the quartet improvising half the tracks, there is no sticking to a mold, but rather a reaching for whichever tones feel right at the moment. One late-set Danish folk tune gets garnished with enough light harmonies and floating chimes to sound just as much Asian as European. The dialogue is a slow and thoughtful one, all about togetherness and mutual respect, and the world-spanning sound is a beautiful experience to match. This is a kind of unity the world can always use more of.