Tommy Meier, Root Down Orchestra - Root Down (2008)

Tracklist

01. The Dawn Part I-III
02. Lady
03. Analog - Vamp For Lady
04. City of Noise
05. Mra
06. Kirui Part I-V
07. The Root
08. Makaya and the Rain
09. The Drought - Colo Vamp
10. Zombie
11. Gebrselassie

Is Africa in Zurich? The 15-piece orchestra ROOT DOWN brings together impressions and experiences of African music – more precisely, the melancholy music of homesick South African musicians in exile and the revolutionary protest music of self-conscious rebels. And Root Down combines these experiences (documents of their age) with the unbelievably wide range of individual experiences (musical and otherwise) of the fifteen musicians who have come together to create this unusual orchestra: with music of Fela Kuti, Chris Mc Gregor, Dudu Pukwana or compositions of bandleader Tommy Meier.

Switzerland seems like an unlikely place to harbor an appreciation for African sounds, but Dollar Brand and the Blue Notes first made European inroads here. Reedist Tommy Meier leads a big band exploring the connections on Root Down (Intakt 135) mixing expansive originals with tunes by Fela Kute and Dudu Pukwana. While polyrhythms abound, Meier charts his own path, mixing contemporary elements like turntable scratching and tough funk patterns, woolly free-jazz improvisation, elegant swing and the ebullient melodies of kwela and the storming licks of afrobeat. The band is terrific and features pianist Irène Schweizer.

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