Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Misha Mengelberg: Rituals Of Transition

4

Misha Mengelberg: Rituals Of Transition

By

Sign in to view read count
Misha Mengelberg: Rituals Of Transition
It takes a master to speak like a child. Pianist Misha Mengelberg (1935-2017) was such a giant at the keyboard that he could shed all pretension and improvise with a simple innocence. Call it Zen enlightenment or just a blunt brilliance. His music is often absurd and paradoxical, like an inside joke, except he graciously lets us all in on the pranks.

Rituals Of Transition is a collection of solo performances recorded from 2002 through 2010 in The Netherlands, Ukraine, France, and of course Italy, the home of AngelicA, Festival Internazionale de Musica in Bologna. This sample taste of Mengelberg can best be described as a gift to listeners. Opening with "Amsterdam," Mengelberg engages a child in the audience with a make believe language that cascades into a similar make believe piano language. The pianist, although conservatory trained, favors eccentricity throughout. His language is spontaneous, unbidden by conventional styles, much like that of his personal heroes Thelonious Monk and Herbie Nichols.

That said, "Kiev" parts 1-3 serve tastes of Duke Ellington's flowing style, Bill Evans' romanticism, some classical passages, and that probing percussiveness we might associate with a modernist like Matthew Shipp. "Pantin" and "Bologna" dissect bits of Monk as if we were hearing it in a nostalgic dream. Was Mengelberg sentimental for the days he Roswell Rudd, and Steve Lacy were certifying Monk's genius? Yes, plus his performance at AngelicA expands into fragments of cabaret song. Singing not for that child on the first track but the child inside the adult he has become.

Track Listing

Amsterdam; Kiev I; Kiev II; Kiev III; Pantin; Bologna.

Personnel

Album information

Title: Rituals Of Transition | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: I Dischi Di Angelica

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Love Is Passing Thru
Roberto Magris
Candid
Sunny Five
Inside Colours Live
Julie Sassoon

Popular

Eagle's Point
Chris Potter
Light Streams
John Donegan - The Irish Sextet

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.