unn reviews

 

Alternative Press
A subtle updating of various traditional ethnic musics.
Modern versions of traditional ethnic music can go through an almost infinite number of gradations, from slavish imitation all the way to irreverent, usually electrified knockoffs. At first listen, Pachora sound like they're on the imitative and respectable end of things, but closer attention reveals some very sophisticated wrinkles. A program of 13 pieces, Unn is almost equally divided between traditional and original compositions. Tricky time signatures and key changes lend a jazz-like complexity to most of the pieces, but the propulsive rhythms of Jim Black on dumbek, snare and bass drum keep the music generally grounded in the dance tradition. Chris Speed's clarinet playing is fluent and buttery smooth, and he keeps the histrionics and klezmer-style squeals to a minimum, sometimes giving the music an almost classical dignity. The most unlikely member of the quartet is Skuli Sverrisson, an Icelandic bassist also known for his avant garde-electronic experiments. However, as a member of Pachora, he not only provides nimble and rock solid support on electric bass, but he also plays the bajo sexto (a mexican bass guitar), which leads to some very interesting duets with principal string player Brad Shepik, who is featured on tambura, electric saz (long necked lute) and several other instruments.
This CD manages to be intellectual and esoteric while also appealing directly to the emotions and kicking some ass.
- Bill Tilland

 

Hollow Ear
This emerging group of American musicians seductively blend the free-form looseness of jazz with melodies and rhythms from Eastern Europe, Turkey, Greece and Morocco. Despite their often-energetic playing, the overall sound here is somewhat muted. While the playing is exceptional and often done at breakneck speeds, this is neither a dance album nor one that demands serious listening; it is lively without being brash.
While the group's members play in other Downtown avant-jazz ensembles, they seem to have reserved a special shared sensibility for Pachora. Chris Speed's sinuous clarinet is, at times, reminiscent of klezmer music, while Brad Shepik's playing of the electric saz (a Turkish lute) gives several tunes their Middle Eastern flavor. Percussionist Jim Black's urgent work on the dumbek and trap drums sends the musical compass spinning. And while his is not an upfront instrument, Skuli Sverrisson pulls Pachora's sound together as well as urging it on with his nimble bass.
Giving new life to jazz with their quiet fire, Pachora is one of those rare groups whose sound seems familiar but is simultaneously singular. Eschewing kitsch and concentrating on its elegant musicianship, Pachora gives worldbeat fusion a good name.
- Marty Lipp

 

Music Monitor March 99 VA
Tim Berne and John Zorn cast a large shadow over the work of Brooklyn-based musician Chris Speed, but his tentative first steps on his own have been accomplished gracefully; the release of the second Pachora album, Unn is an excellent example. Speed (along with Pachora drummer Jim Black) played with Berne for a number of years, absorbing his intellectually thrilling take on
modern composition in the process. At the same time, Speed has been drawn to the mittel-European musings of John Zorn's Masada, and while Speed's other work is more profoundly Berne-esque, it's the voicings of Masada that are the jumping-off point for Pachora. With bassist Skuli Sverrisson, and especially, multi-instrumentalist Brad Shepik (tambura, electric saz and banjar), Pachora is both more `middle-eastern' and more `frisky' than Masada. There are elegiac tones present here, but Pachora, more often than not, prefers to bounce along. This is refreshing, invigorating and spirit-lifting music. All of the members write; they favor sturdy melodies, which are then enhanced by sterling collective interplay.
- Butch Lazorchak

 

The Wire August 99
The common factor on these albums is saxophonist and clarinet player Chris Speed. Since 1992 he has been an important figure on New York's downtown scene, working with musicians like Tim Berne, Dave Douglas, Mark Dresser and his own collective Human Feel. His oblique, surprising lines take some unraveling, while his tenor's thick, treacle tone generates dark sonorities. For some time he's been immersed in the gypsy music of Eastern Europe. With his band Pachora, described as his "World jazz" outfit, he explores Mediterranean and Eastern music, especially from Greece and Turkey.
Apart from Speed, here on clarinet only, Pachora are Brad Shepik on Tamboura, electric saz and banjar - all lute-like instruments - Skuli Sverrisson on bass and Jim Black on percussion. Aside from the Icelandic Sverrisson, they are all from Seattle. By the standards of these musicians, the settings are in some ways fairly conventional, with regular pulse - albeit within a context of nine- and 13- beat metres - and clearly etched themes.
Of the recent synthesis of jazz of jazz and eastern folk music following in the wake of John Coltrane's modal improvisations - among them Zorn's own Masada and Dave Douglas's Tiny Bell Trio - Pachora are the more thoroughgoing. Four tracks of Unn offer traditional material, while the originals are in related vein. Jim Black's slow "Idorno" is based on an intriguing off-kilter rhythm. It is beautifully plangent. The traditional "Prevezaniko Syrto" is lyrical and, for once, four to the bar.
Sverrisson and Black turn up with the impressive Vietnam-born trumpeter Cuong Vu on Speed's own album Deviantics. Vu studied at the New England Conservatory with Joe Maneri, but fortunately hasn't turned out doleful and microtonal. The line-up is the same as on Yeah No, Speed's debut for Songlines - the Vancouver based label whose astonishingly high level output is expanding the boundaries of new jazz. Balkan rhythms are again pervasive. An exception is the bleakly ambient "Tulip", where Cuong Vu sounds like Miles Davis. With Speed keeping the brakes on his clarinet, the atmosphere becomes even more enervated, while Jim Black's double time drumming add to the mystery. This is deep and sophisticated music.
- Andy Hamilton

 

All About Jazz
Jazz, Balkan style returns with Pachora’s 2nd release for Knitting Factory Records. “Unn” certifies this band’s prominent place in modern jazz and/or world music. The title track “Unn” sets the tone as these young, highly skilled and adventurous jazz musicians purvey cross-cultural themes, tonalities and non-Western scales that lean toward Balkan, Middle Eastern and North African musical concepts.
A young star, who has certainly risen, saxophonist Chris Speed is a tour-de-force who displays poise, enthusiasm, versatility and possesses gifted technical expertise. On “Unn”, Speed is a whirling dervish with clarinet in hand as he directs the overall melodic structures and plays traffic cop; although, the amazing bassist Skuli Sverrisson defies all odds and contributes mightily as he frequently matches Speed’s motifs and phrasing with impossible note for note unison runs. Guitarist Brad Shepik, leader of his fine band “The Commuters” along with Jim Black, one of jazz’ most prolific drummers round out this uniquely identifiable band called “Pachora”.
On “Pitta”, the group chemistry serves as a model or precursor for the style of music and interplay which showcases the amazing comprehension these fellows have for non-Western harmonies, rhythmic structures, unorthodox scales and tonal ranges. “Riff” features Jim Black’s colorful and absorbing percussion work as Sverrisson’s bass maneuvers provide the extraordinary impact yet punctuate the linear thematic developments here and throughout. “My Life Is A Nostalgia” provokes notions of “Belly-Dancers” performing at a festival somewhere in Egypt as the profound imagery hits home in enticing fashion. “My Life Is A Nostalgia” along with many of these fine compositions are gleefully tantalizing and in some respects could be considered sexy or sensual depending on one’s point of view or sense of imagination.
Pachora is not a gimmick band or a sideshow. These lads are part of jazz’ future as their individual track records and impressive modern jazz discography’s would indicate. Pachora is just another milestone for a bunch of musicians who are dynamically paving the way for a better “musical” world and the results thus far, prove beyond a doubt that they are way ahead of schedule.
-Glenn Astarita

 

Philadelphia City Paper
The irregular meters, distinctive phrasing and spiky harmonies of Eastern European and Middle Eastern music provide ample fodder for creative improvisation, when put to good use. Reedman Chris Speed, percussionist Jim Black, bassist Skuli Sverrisson and guitarist Brad Shepik (who also plays tambura, saz, and banjar) have developed a means of bathing intricate folk melodies in contemporary hues. On unn, PAcHORA attacks their songs with festive exuberance, most notably on the uptempo "Dratch" and "Laz." Even the pensive compositions (e.g., "Idorno") contain a sort of latent momentum. Not surprisingly, there's some overlap between PAcHORA and Chris Speed's Deviantics ensemble, which features the same musicians (with trumpeter Cuong Vu replacing Shepik). Tunes like "Wheatstone" and "East Europe Rundown" feature some of the ethnic elements that characterize unn. But while PAcHORA's strongest suit is a command of traditional materials, Deviantics adopts a more liberal approach, drawing just as heavily from progressive jazz, experimental rock and numerous other styles. Vu often employs near- and far-Eastern scales, but usually as a fleeting phrase in a series of convincing ideas. The same poignant restlessness fuels Black's collage of breakbeats with traditional percussion. Speed plays more tenor saxophone than clarinet in this context, and when he does channel Coltrane (as on "Valya"), the effect is compelling. What these musicians have crafted is rapidly developing into an oeuvre. Both of these recent releases showcase their wide range of influences, near-telepathic interplay, and two distinctive but overlapping identities.
-Nate Chinen