Ramon Lopez. Jazz Drumer & Artist

Eleven Drums Songs (1999), solo du batteur Ramon Lopez, avait été une belle étude des timbres de l´instrument et d´une relation pertinente avec le jeu des tablas indiennes. Dans Songs Of The Spanish Civil War (2001), Ramon Lopez avait arrangé avec sensibilité pour un quartet, un répertoire de chants historiques sur le mode de l´improvisation libre. Nouvelle réussite - décidement - avec ce projet autour du grand oublié qu´est Rahsaan Roland Kirk, souffleur multi-instrumentiste, explorateur des musiques afro-américaines. Neuf duos, dont huit compositions de Rahsaan Roland Kirk et un titre en hommage. Un ensemble varié, ludique, mené avec a-propos et connaissance du sujet, en compagnie d´habitués de Ramon Lopez (le tromboniste Thierry Madiot, le chanteur Benat Achiary) comme avec des solistes avec qui on ne l´attendait pas a priori (l´organiste Emmanuel Bex). On notera en particulier l´attention faite à la part vocale de l´oeuvre de Kirk.

Voilà sans nul doute l´un des disques les plus étonnants entendus depuis longtemps dans le champ jazzistique!Ramon Lopez, percussionniste espagnol vivant en France et enregistrant sur un label anglais connu pour son rôle majeur en faveur de la création, a convié neuf musiciens de cultures et d´approches complètement différentes à dialoguer avec lui sur un thème de Roland Kirk. Une idée merveilleuse mais risqué et dont le résultat laisse le chroniqueur pantois! Défilent ainsi un incroyable patchwork de personnalités (Thierry Madiot, Emmanuel Bex, Chim Nwabueze, Beñat Achiary, Noël Akchoté, Harry Beckett, Joëlle Léandre, Andrea Neuman, et Majid Bekkas) et d´instruments (du trombone au guembri, de la scie musicale aux sons électroniques – pas de saxes ni de flûtes!), associations bizarres et déroutantes et pourtant, n´est-ce pas l´esprit même de ce personnage incroyable qu´était Kirk qui, tout en s´immergeant constamment dans le bain musical de sa communauté, mélangeait tout et envoyait ses pétards chargés de poudre et ses fusées lumineuses dans tous les coins? Lopez a fait de même, son disque a l´air hétéroclite et pourtant tout se tient: rythmes irrésistibles, profondeur churchy, voix et rire sardonique, éclats de cuivres, atmosphères étranges, méditation orientale... tout y est, même si l´amateur “orthodoxe’ aura du mal à y retrouver ses thèmes! Rarement on aura entendu un “hommage’ à la fois aussi iconoclaste et autant amoureux. Décidément, chaque nouveauté signée Ramon Lopez apparaît comme un véritable événement musical – ne pas confondre avec médiatique. Allez Rahsaan Ramon, une autre!

Percussionist Ramon Lopez understands that if you tap the spirit of Rahsaan Roland Kirk´s music, it doesn´t matter what liberties you take with it. Many of these nine duets run far afield from Kirk´s originals while retaining a viable connection to the multi-instrumentalist´s legacy. The rants and scats by Chim Nwabueze (who plays a delirium-inducing saw), Benat Achiary and Joelle Léandre (who also contributes a fevered arco bass version of “The Inflated Tear’), and the uncorked exuberance of instrumentalists like tromboniste Thierry Madiot and trumpeter Harry Beckett, exemplify Kirk´s unhinged rapture. Concluding on a slow-burning exchange with Maroccan vocalist and guembri player Majid Bekkas is a masterful stroke, as it adresses Kirk´s underlying spiritual gravity without diminishing it to repertory.

Spanish percussionist Ramon Lopez's fifth album for Leo (and the fourth under his own name) pays homage to a saxophonist often excluded from the list of 1960s titans, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, with a set of nine duets (eight Kirk covers and one original), and intriguingly, there's not a saxophonist in sight. Instead, Theirry Madiot converts his trombone into a plumber's nightmare, Emmanuel Bex gets sleazy on the Hammond organ, Chim Nwobueze waxes lyrical on the musical saw, Basque vocalist Benat Achiary burns with passion, and Noel Akchote lays down some haunted guitar. The great and all-too-often overlooked trumpeter Harry Beckett is magnificent on "Rip, Rig and Panic"; Joëlle Léandre provides some typically extroverted bass and vocals, perfectly in keeping with the spirit of the original "Inflated Tear"; and the usually austere inside piano of Berlin's Andrea Neumann (whose name is unfortunately spelled wrong in the booklet) is positively funky on "Slippery, Hippery, Flippery." Lopez, who is as well versed in Indian and African percussion (witness the final "Afroblues to Rahsaan" with Majid Bekkos) as he is in free jazz, is in superb form throughout, and this fine disc is as eclectic and enthusiastic as the groundbreaking Kirk albums that inspired it. Kirk turned in some deeply moving as well as gloriously wacky cover versions of other people's material during his career, and, if the hereafter exists, he's probably already digging his copy of Duets 2 Rahsaan Roland Kirk.

Percussionist Ramon Lopez has produced an intriguing series of albums for the Leo label, original in conception and challenging in execution. The new release reprises some well -and lesser- known Roland kirk compositions, with the percussionist in partnership with improvisers who, like him, have varyingly remote connections to jazz. Some of these partners are familiar, for instance bass trombonist Thierry Madiot and remarkable Basque vocalist Benat Achiary, who both appeared on Lopez´s earlier Songs Of The Spanish Civil War on Leo. “Why Don´t They Know’ features Madiot on trombone, and if he doesn´t display a lot of virtuosity on that instrument, there´s plenty on assorted horns, whistles and toys. The outstanding “Now Please Don´t You Cry, Beautiful Edith’ is a haunting interpretation with Hammond organist Emmanuel Bex -given that the instrument is almost an orchestra in itself, the duo format doesn´t seem incomplete. Together with Harry Beckett on “Rip, Rig And Panic’, these are the jazziest tracks, closest to Roland Kirk´s inspiration. “Gifts And Messages’ features Benat Achiary, troubadour from the Basque region in Spain who´s worked with a range of improvising musicians including Evan Parker. His keening, sometimes almost yodelling vocals can create an effect of extraordinary elemental power, and here he´s at his most exuberant and passionate. Though Achiary isn´t in any way a jazz player, his folk roots offer a parallel heritage. Lack of a comparable input is problematic on “The Inflated Tear’, where Joelle Leandre´s sumptuous classical tone and attempts at vocalising are less convincing. The album concludes with the very affecting “Afroblues To Rahsaan’ by Majid Bekkas on vocals and guembri -whose name suggests North Africa while the music sounds more Sub-Saharan. Lopez again shows that though the duo format is a demanding one, he can exploit and subvert it in cunning ways, making for one of Leo´s most compelling recent releases.

La sorpresa nunca termina. La emoción no acaba. La creación vuelve a surgir pareciendo olvidar lo que un día construyó. Se reinventa para buscar nuevos caminos en los que desarrollar su inventiva. Las sensaciones se sirven al fuego lento del paso pausado de las pistas sonoras que crean a cada instante, a cada número, nuevos paisajes en el inconsciente. Parecía imposible pero, en ocasiones, lo imposible sigue siendo labor terrenal.
Ha conseguido Ramón López con este trabajo un "Duets" nada al uso comercial (fórmula que en extravagancia mercantil ha despertado en ocasiones voces de la tumba). Ha conseguido que el cuarto lanzamiento discográfico a su nombre de sensación de paso hacia delante con la firmeza de quienes entienden su trabajo como una dedicación casi vacacional (¿acaso no ha sido aspiración humana vivir siempre en vacaciones?). Si escuchar un disco de un artista ya conocido supone dar por supuestos ciertos patrones sonoros, esto, en el caso de Ramón, es demasiada presunción. Porque cada nueva propuesta es eso... nueva. Es un nuevo universo sonoro que emociona y divierte, que provoca reacciones casi visuales. Y eso, hoy en día, es ciertamente infrecuente. Este particular "Duets" rinde tributo a uno de los geniales inspiradores de la vanguardia creativa. El saxo de Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Sus composiciones suenan aquí a través de la imaginación y las sensaciones de una batería que busca como compañeros de ensoñación instrumentos tan dispares como una trompeta o una sierra musical. Compañeros de viaje en anteriores proyectos (Beñat Achiary) o nuevos magos cuyo descubrimiento abre el camino de otros mil descubrimientos (el de las carreras particulares de cada uno de ellos). El "Kirk" de Ramón López ofrece sonidos estremecedores ("Clickely clack"), paisajes áridos (en la más pura percepción geográfica con "The haunted melody"), esencias ("Afroblues" o el blues desde la desnudez)... y (¿por qué no?) mucho sentido del humor.

Il percussionista spagnolo ha chiamato a raccolta uno stuolo di ilustri delle scene creative per rendere omaggio ad una figura forse poco frequentata ma cruciale del jazz degli anni 60-70, Rahsaan Roland Kirk (il piu eccitante sassofono solista nella storia del jazz Chris Kelsey - All Music Guide). Otto riletture in duo di composizioni del saxofonista americano piu un omaggio originale dove Lopez dialoga con la voce e il guembri (il c.d. basso africano) di Majid Bekkas, un vero et propio blues d´Africa. Operazione funambolica nella varieta delle atmosfere ma anche di straordinario rispetto (curiosamente, ma non troppo, tra i vari musicisti convocati non v´è un sassofonista). Dal tropicalismo sopra le righe di Why Don´t They Know (insieme al trombone di Thierry Madiot) si scivola, ad esempio, nei toni avvolgenti dell´hammond di Emmanuel Bex (Now Please Don´t You Cry Beautiful Edith), sgranato di bop su velluto notturno. Poi le meraviglie sono anche piu cangianti. La chitarra di Akchoté che diventa un drone fantasmatico (per l´appunto, in The Hunted Melody), la tromba di Harry Beckett che letteralmente si sgretola nella melodia di Rip, Rig and Panic. Istrionica la Leandre di Inflated Tear mentre Slippery, Hippery, Flippery è l´esatta onomatopea dell´incontro tra percussioni e gli electronics di Andrea Neumann. Come in tutti i grandi dischi, non c´è un passato da reinterpretare né un futuro da inseguire, ma solo il respiro di una gioia creativa “presente’.