Traveler 2011
Following in the wake of conquerors, Phoenix wayfarer sweeps ample areas for tuneful stimuli and triumphs on numerous fronts.
Mongol
Scott Jeffers has never been parochial in his approach to musical geography – over the years, the American artist’s records dipped into such different territories as Phoenicia and India and even attempted to link different cultures as works like "Onward Journey" showed in style – yet he rarely tried to cover pan-regional tracts of land. Still, possibly inspired by Genghis Khan, whose empire spanned more than two dozens of modern countries, the Arizonan decided to take “Mongol” across the borders and include as many ethnic motifs as possible into this album whose variety creates, rather than breaks, the spell which went beyond the domain its title may suggest. So while almost every track on display here could end up on his other platters, the voyage they offer is alluring, albeit uneven, and attributing every musical pattern the instrumentalists from all over the world weave into a single tapestry will make listening to them an adventurous trip.
There are two solo-flaunting medleys on the record that draw a diagonal from one angle of Europe to another and intersect more exotic vistas the rest of the cuts roll out. But though the three parts of “Celtica” pick up where the album of the same name left off and see Jeffers’ frantic violin spinning infectious reels and jigs around robust guitar riffs, the five pieces of “Hellas” up the emotional ante by pushing Scott’s succulent vocalese to the fore of an ever-shifting sirtaki-scented backdrop. Both these numbers share metal elements in their finely filigreed core, with Ken Mary’s heavy beats driving the melodic offensive, yet the epic “Roshani” sculpts a more spacious soundscape until sarode and tabla conspire to bring raga to the table and set the scene for the bandleader’s singing searing stanzas which the titular song would hypnotically elevate to the most celestial heights had it not been tethered to Asian steppes.
All these details are accounted for from the platter’s start and accumulated in “Higher Power” that whets the listener’s appetite from the first lick and keeps the audience arrested despite the sacrifice of a catchy line in favor of tightly wound, well-orchestrated momentum. However, if “Awaken The Light” briefly returns the focus to Hindustani panoramas, “Djunguritsa Bulgaria” finds its footing in a dramatic dance as the ensemble move from a slightly histrionic build-up to a stereo-busting sonic spectacle. A riveting river of tunes, the details of “Mongol” form an impressive lansdscape.
****1/4
