Noshir Mody - Stories from the Years of Living Passionately (2014)

Tracklist

01. The Next Chapter
02. Beckoned By Mercury
03. India
04. A Pearl Discovers the Oyster

Indian guitarist Noshir Modi left his native Mumbai (Bombay) and moved to New York in 1995. His guitar playing style was formed in his homeland, absorbing the meditative nature of Indian classical music, the energy of rock and the improvisation of jazz. Today, critics see something of Lee Ritanwer, something of Pat Metheny, something of John Abercrombie in his playing. I would venture to say that this self-taught guitarist is most like himself and, judging by the album Stories From The Years Of Living, has a distinctly individual playing style.

During the years spent in the US, Modi released two original albums (not counting the recordings with the EthniFusion Jazz Ensemble): In This World With You solo and Union Of Hearts in trio format. His new work is already made in a larger format, which is now defined as midsize in the States. In cosmopolitan New York, Indian Modi assembled a truly international quintet for this project. The recording of Stories From The Years Of Living featured saxophonist Tsuyoshi Niwa, pianist Carmen Staaf, bassist John Lenis and drummer Yutaka Uchida. And this album featured not just a lineup of five randomly assembled performers, but a quintet of musicians who interacted perfectly with each other and understood each other well. In addition to the leader, I would especially like to mention the wonderful pianist Carmen Staaf, winner of the 2009 Mary Lou Williams Piano Competition.

The playing time of the album Stories From The Years Of Living is just over an hour. But during this time we will hear only five compositions, the shortest of which lasts more than nine minutes. Perhaps it was the Indian tradition that instilled in Noshir a taste for large forms, or perhaps he initially preferred detailed musical narratives that made it possible to thoroughly express all the author's ideas. By the way, in the small liner notes of this self-published album, Nodi gives the key to understanding all five pieces included in the album. Thus, the opening The Next Chapter is based on a "contemplative foresight of new beginnings", Beckoned By Mercury describes "the effect of incomprehensible behavior caused by the influence of planetary forces", India, as you can easily guess, is inspired by the author's nostalgic feelings, A Pearl Discovers The Oyster is an attempt to understand the relationship between external circumstances and the inner world of a person, and, finally, To Be in Your Thoughts speaks of the power and strength of love.

From a purely musical point of view, in terms of style, Noshir Modi's work fits into the framework of a broadly understood mainstream, but with a more or less noticeable flavor of ethnic Indian motifs in at least three of the five pieces. Each of the quintet's musicians was memorable in their own way, but the performance of Modi himself and his pianist Carmen Staaf, as mentioned above, made a particularly strong impression. By the way, Noshir Modi is talented not only as a musician, composer and band leader: look at the cover - this painting was also created by him.

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