Words by Justin Turford
Sometimes a record appears that either by accident or by design, captures the moment that we are living in. The eponymously titled debut album by this young seven piece Danish experimental jazz outfit seems to have done just that. As war rages in Ukraine (and of course, in many other places) and the collective nerves of Europe tighten to distressing levels, Alawari may have just created a soundtrack befitting the times. Astutely described as a ‘21st Century Liberation Orchestra’, this album shares a similar DNA to Charlie Haden’s 1970 album ‘Liberation Music Orchestra’, which in the depths of the Vietnam War, was a monument of avant-garde ensemble playing with conflict in its belly and heart. Like Haden’s record (Carla Bley needs a mention here for her amazing arrangements on the LMO album), past wars reflect dissonantly on contemporary political and human impulses.
Their press release informs us that Alawari are “Inspired by the spirit of revolution and ancient war, the ensemble aims to challenge the listener’s expectations through chaotic, free-improvised sections of burning expression juxtaposed with passages of functional harmony and composition.” A strong starting point but there’s definitely more going on here. The band won Denmark’s Young Jazz competition in 2017, only a year after they formed, so expectations must have been high. As far as I’m concerned, their debut album couldn’t have been better.
Three horns and the classic rhythm section of piano, bass and drums are joined by Eigil Pock Steen on live processing and sampling, bringing a well-balanced textural interference to the music. It’s not all rage and relentless improvisation though, there are many moments of beautiful classical composition with stories told through strong melodic structure and tense musical interludes which inhabit the far edges of jazz. Repetition is a key construct with huge hooks throughout; the circular expanding riff on ‘Hvalen’ and the Sons Of Kemet-like ‘Etude’ being mesmerising examples. ‘Stone’ is another that grabs the loop and heads upwards and outwards. It begins gently but once the walking piano and bass line steps in, the free jazz sensibilities of the band release around the tough, brooding riff with wild horns and processed samples fracturing the calm. When they want to, the band can really write a tune. Standout song ‘Sunes Hit’ is an absolute stunner. Sitting somewhere between the Sun Ra Arkestra, Dollar Brand and The Lyman Woodard Organisation, it contains an instantly memorable melody line and a low slung swinging groove that just takes off as the song progresses. A modern standard is born.
The drones and squalling horns of the hauntingly distorted ‘Elegi’ once again reminds us of the tension of our times, the simple finger click percussion adding to the restrained rage. ‘Sorg Pt. 1’ is a another melancholic slow-burner; flugelhorns and crashing cymbals, dark forests and long nights. Alawari definitely and unsurprisingly have that Northern European feel and sound, the music sounds both modern and fresh yet also old as in decay. That particular European decay, of uneasy history embedded in the soil and fields. ‘Sorg Pt. 2’ in fact sounds like a gentle dirge for the dead, a lovely short piece actually but in the context of the album as a whole it feels like a moment to celebrate the lost. The final track on the album is the suitably titled ‘Revolution’ and over its eight and a half minutes, it delivers (to my mind) a devastating soundtrack to a black and white silent movie about the course of a real revolution. Elegiac at times, the piece moves through separate emotional stages with bursts of thunderous anthemic energy, massive orchestral horns, wordless chanting and ends with the sound of pealing church bells. Truly epic.
A remarkable record for our times and I can’t find a fault anywhere. 10/10
Alawari is released on April 29 2022 on April Records