Words by Justin Turford
When my PR friend Arlette told me she was working with a Mongolian jazz outfit I was certainly intrigued. Based in Beijing, the quartet blend ancient Mongolian folk melodies with a muscular take on pan-global jazz idioms, their highly distinct sound powerful, contemporary and surprisingly broad in appeal.
Created after returning from a European tour, this excellent four track E.P. is named after the title song ‘Dab Hi’ which translates as “dash”, as in speed, movement, to propel. Inspired by the experience of performing their music to audiences that couldn’t understand the language they were singing in, NaraBara, led by vocalist and producer Yider, has kept the vocals relatively simple, the music complex and ever-shifting. A journey then, of communication, the mysticism of the steppes carried along by harmonies and rhythms that can be recognised across the world.
Suggesting that everyone will get it is probably not true actually. This isn’t ‘pop music’ but any band able to stitch together traditional throat singing, synthesisers, African-influenced guitars and intricate jazz-fusion drums into such a playful and melodically inspired sound, deserves a round of applause. Speaking of playfulness, check the brilliant video created by the visionary Teom Chen for ‘Dab Hi’ (above) to catch a glimpse of the band’s evident cool and charisma!
The catchy title track itself rolls along with thunderously funky drums supplied by Zhitong Xu, subsonic bass and layered harmonics by the exceptional keyboardist Asr, and the Malian sounding guitar subtlety of Suoty. Beautifully done but identifiable as much contemporary genre-blurring jazz-funk. The freshness comes from the wonderful tovshuur (a Mongolian stringed lute) playing in the second half of the song, and Yider’s vocal melodies (the celebratory refrain of “Oh yo” will worm itself into your cranium). Packed with confident dynamic changes and slick interplay, it’s clear that this song was written and performed off the back of a tour - these guys know how to play their instruments!
I also love that the song quotes the Mongolian proverb “Magpies that move in groups are more powerful than lions that walk alone”. Sage advice for an untethered world.
The short but deeply funky global fusion of ‘Mirage’ starts off sounding like it was made in Africa but then the Tuvan throat singing and huge synthesiser stabs blow that theory away. Epic stuff which I imagine will rip up a festival audience.
The calming and mysterious ‘Ghost Steps’ extracts the root of an ancient Inner Mongolian melody, adds a fascinating drum and string pattern, the forthright, circular vocals indicative of its source as a nursery rhyme for children. Never a band to stay in one place, the second half of the song transforms into a cool jazzy-blues with some delicious piano and guitar playing.
Inspired by the Biyelgee dance from the Gobi region of Mongolia, ‘Gobi Dance’ imaginatively harnesses the movements of the nomadic herdsmen into this synth-heavy dancing tune. The tovshuur returns in its expansive, haunting glory but it’s the frequency-quenching keyboards of Asr driving this instrumental. Funky, even a little proggy in parts, ‘Gobi Dance’ reveals a band happy to be bold. Rightfully self-assured in their rhythmic discipline, they can fly off on tangents without losing each other’s flow.
Impressive stuff from the Mongolian quartet. I hope to catch their peculiar Tuvan-Afro-jazz-funk concept live sometime in the not so distant future. 8.5/10