Ochion Jewell Quartet: Volk

Saxophonist Ochion Jewell melds folk influences from around the world into an intimately personal and globally resonant work with his second release Volk. Created in the aftermath of his traumatic experience with mistaken identity and brutal police treatment, Volk is a tribute to the integrality of musical expression

Jewell and his band interpret his own compositions together with tunes of various nationalities with the same unbridled passion and fiery, intelligent spontaneity. The Irish jig "Give Us a Drink of Water" opens with drummer Qasim Naqvi's thunderous gallop and bassist Sam Minaie's dark reverberations. Pianist Amino Belyamani enhances the dramatic atmosphere with his percussive keys. Gradually the mood shifts to languid and undulating with Minaie soloing with superb lyricism, an angular touch and a mordant edge. Jewell lets loose an expansive flood of warm, yearning notes with a deep vibrato and rich tonal hues. As his improvisation grows fiercer his band-mates' instruments percolate in the backdrop with energetic swing. Gradually the music transforms into a boppish free flowing ensemble play that coalesces around Belyamani's expressive phrases. Belyamani builds a provocative and complex harmonic structure that remains true to the essence of the traditional dance in its lively exuberance.

Elsewhere on the mystical West African "Gnawa Blues" guitarist Lionel Loueke engages Minaie in a hypnotic duet that echoes against Naqvi's rolling rumble. The individual musicians echo each other as they "chant" simultaneously earthy and spiritual refrains. Jewell, with his big tenor sound reminiscent of the mighty saxophonists of early rhythm and blues, blows with wild abandon acerbic lines over bubbling cauldron of rhythmic flourishes. Understated, intelligent and quite melodic Loueke's soliloquy successfully weaves elements of the original melody into a solidly jazz-based performance.

Jewell's own "Pathos Logos" features an expectant cinematic ambience that Belyamani's sparse chimes and cascades underscore. Jewell alternates between stating Levantine motifs with quiet poetry and blustering like a storm in a furious extemporization. Even though the traditional and the modern are inseparably fused throughout, it is, perhaps, this relatively short track that epitomizes the concept behind this stimulating record

An intriguing and thematically unified album Volk is exquisitely crafted and delivered. Its elegance tempered with thrillingly rough-hewn style, it cerebralism moderated by ardent emotion, this unique disc marks the ascent of Jewell's brilliant future career.

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