X/Y Goran Kajfeš

May 27, 2011

Jazzwise

Here´s one for all those who insist they don´t make ´em like they did in the 1960´s/70´s. On "X" (the first set in this double-dics UK debut) Croatian/Swedish trumpeter Kajfes digs deep into the sound and legacy of Don Cherry´s hippified, commune-dwelling Swedish years, leading a large psych-jazz ensemble called The Subtropic Arkestra. You can practically smell the insence wafting off it: "Solar Still" and "Dinner with Inner" are tabla-dripping Indo-jazz; "Subtropics" and "Sarasvati" get into the kind of ethno-squelch-groove used on Don Cherry´s "Brown Rice", and "Sand Boogie" is an irresistible nugget of oriental and acid jazz that could have been recorded any time since 1967. Best of all, Kajfes´s reworking of Cherry´s "Solidarity" evokes a sweeping vista worthy of Ennio Morricone. The second disc, "Y", is a more minimal collection of duets with modular-synth boffin David Österberg. Awash with grainy, tactile tweets and whooshes, a lot of it is deeply psychedelic, recalling not only Cherry´s work with Terry Riley, but also German Kosmische bands like Popol Vuh and Tangerine Dream. Sure it´s all very nostalgic - derivate, even - but it´s also great, joyful fun.

3/5 Daniel Spicer

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