ast reviews

 

All Music Guide
Ast is the third release from Pachora, continuing their exploration of modal, ethnic flavored jazz. The rhythms and melodies are based in the music of Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean basin, blended with the downtown flair of improvisation. For this recording Brad Shepik has abandoned the guitar in favor of the electric saz (a Turkish lute with paired sets of strings similar to a bouzouki). Shepik and Chris Speed, on clarinet, are the main soloists, although the rhythm section also receives some space. Jim Black is consistently one of the most interesting and intuitive drummers on the scene today. Bassist Skuli Sverrisson is as agile as anyone on the electric bass and, together with Black, provides a solid backdrop for Shepik and Speed's improvisatory flights of fancy. Chris Speed is dazzling on the clarinet, as he floats and dances above the rhythm section, and Shepik's saz has a lush, understated beauty. The apparent ease with which Pachora performs intricate unison melodies and odd time signatures is a testament to each individual's instrumental prowess, as well as to several years of performing as a unit. The tunes are almost all original compositions, as opposed to the mixture of originals and traditional pieces of their previous two releases. The cover of David Bowie's "Man Who Sold the World" is not nearly as out of place as it might seem at first glance and drives home the point that while Pachora is grounded in the traditional dance music of the eastern Mediterranean, they exist and perform as part of the genre-defying downtown aesthetic.
- Sean Westergaard

 

Jazz Review April 2000
Appreciation of this disc will depend on the level of your tolerance toward twanging balalaika-like sounds and shrill folk clarinet. Personally I have a very low endurance threshold for this sort of thing but found myself admiring the considerable artistry involved here. Chris Speed is an exceptional clarinetist, whose style is poised somewhere between Perry Robinson and Jimmy Giuffre in “The Train And The River” mode.
The aim of the group is to “combine the ethic of downtown improvisation with the folk stylings of East Europe and the Middle East” (there are no notes with the CD – you have to go to their web site, www.pachora.com, for an explanation) and I find the most intriguing parts of the disc are where the folk-elements metamorphose into jazz based improvisations. Most tracks fall into something of a pattern, with Speed taking the lead accompanied by buoyant folk rhythms articulated with great finesse by Jim Black on percussion. Eventually the regularity of the rhythm dissolves into something more akin to free jazz and the field becomes open for improvisation. This process seems so organic and uncontrived that it is difficult to gauge when the jazz improvisation has fully taken over.
Although much of the material sounds quite familiar, the clever programming of the disc prevents this from becoming an insurmountable problem. Two tracks break the cycle - David Bowies’s “The Man Who Sold The World” comes from a completely different source and Speed takes it on quite a journey, sounding somewhat like Evan Parker. “Scorpions” is a beautiful and sparse performance that is very touching in its simplicity. Speed’s microtonally inflected clarinet seems to hint at a celtic sound, whereas Brad Shepik’s tamboura solo suggests Indian music.
Ast is undeniably an intriguing disc that is notable for the high level of musicianship and integrity of its intent. Whether it is totally successful in putting their intentions into practice is perhaps open to question, but I suspect that Pachora “live” would be a different experience and it will be interesting to follow their fortunes.
-Philip Clark

 

All About Jazz
With their 3rd release titled Ast, Pachora continues to extend their reach to the global-beat, modern jazz community. A sprightly diversion from their ongoing and thoroughly cutting edge projects within the time honored New York City “Downtown” scene, multi-reedman Chris Speed, bassist Skuli Sverrisson, drummer Jim Black and guitarist Brad Shepik here, utilizing the electric saz and tamboura perform with charisma and jollity! Without a doubt, these musicians do indeed convey a harmonious musical relationship, which is also evident on other non-related projects, - as history dictates.
Pachora’s music is marked by Balkan, Middle Eastern and/or North African motifs spurred upon by clarinetist Chris Speed’s glistening lyricism and altogether buoyant lines coupled with Brad Shepik’s determined and unwavering chord progressions on electric saz. With pieces such as “Freaky Person” and “Aquarians,” the band performs with a sense of relaxed urgency melded with sonorous melodies, Black’s loose yet expansive rhythmic undercurrent and Sverrisson’s limber and extremely fluid bass lines. Throughout, the lead soloists communicate jubilation, verve and excitement amid a seemingly nomadic approach as if they were taking the listener on a journey through the Sahara while Sverrisson and Black perform with Herculean agility. Rebetiki is all about, mystical and bewitching themes while Scorpions contains sweet harmonies and rhapsodic unison lines atop the sturdy rhythmic flow. All in all, the festive demeanor and hip grooves might indeed parallel the sensation of visiting an exotic or far-away paradise. Hence, we are treated to a rather heartfelt, vivacious and engaging listening experience.
- Glenn Astarita

 

The Wire
Pachora are among those musicians currently seeking to develop understanding of improvisation which is not tied exclusively to a grounding in jazz. Drummer Jim Black, Icelandic bass guitarist Skuli Sverrisson, Chris Speed on clarinet and Brad Shepik on electric saz (a long-necked lute) deftly dabble in adaptations of Eastern European and Middle Eastern folk traditions. Like their two previous albums, the result is refreshingly buoyant and consistently persuasive.

 

Rootsworld
In the New York area, a loose-knit group of musicians have been exploring Eastern European music as a jumping off point for jazz and avant-garde experimentation. Ground zero for this has been The Knitting Factory, which has served as a venue and record producer for these young musicians, including the group Pachora.
While three of the four members are American-born and all work with other bands, Pachora is their venue for playing with sonorities and rhythms from Eastern Europe and the near East.
Although Pachora obviously has respect for its source material, and can sound like the house band at an opium den, the members are not slavish adherents to tradition. On the other hand, Pachora is not as aggressively 'out' or dissonant as some of the Knitting Factory regulars, though they share a penchant for pyrotechnics-filled jams.
Pachora's mercurial energy is too fleet and cerebral to prompt much dancing. Still, most of the tunes are spry, with Chris Speed's clarinet flying over the racing rhythms of the bass, drums and electrified Turkish lute called the saz.
- Marty Lipp