Marcus Vergette: Tintinnabulation
Author: Andy Robson
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Musicians: |
Marcus Vergette (bells, b, Time and Tide bells |
Label: |
Nonclassical |
Magazine Review Date: |
May/2023 |
Media Format: |
LP, DL |
Catalogue Number: |
NONCLSS056 |
RecordDate: |
Rec. date not stated |
Two albums from strikingly individual artists, but the golden thread between them is the talent and influence of Kate and Mike Westwood.
Commissioned by the Hanover World Fair, Leuchter has composed KlangWeltReligion, a collage of jazz orchestra, vocals and improvised segues which evokes nothing less than a journey through the world's religions. Kate Westbrook, in a mix of German and English, tackles scripts from ancient Egypt, Christianity, Hindu and mystical Sufi texts. Not surprisingly the music is equally eclectic, moving from tabla intros to swelling Hammond undertows to ecstatic sax.
Earnest, yes, but there are moments of tenderness, as on ‘Formel 1’ and a touching rendition of Wilde's ‘Requiescat’
If KlangWeltReligion is epic in scale, with Kate immense across different languages, different styles, then on Tintinnabulation, she provides a wraith of song, a passing bright bracelet of found melody. Vergette's composition focuses on his Time and Tide bells, self-sculpted bells that are installed around various coast-line sites. They ring at high tide and, as such, mark both the reassurance that nature remains a constant, yet also they toll a warning about rising sea levels.
Vergette plays bass in various Westbrook set ups, and notes that bells are symbols of power and who rings the bell gives it meaning. There are three meditations here: the eponymous title track starts dramatically with arco bass and plucked piano strings pitched against various bells and found sounds; you can drift away with it, or like the dolorous bell of ‘The Dry Salvages’ you can be anchored as sounds float to you.
‘Ferry’, by contrast, rattles along to the sound of the implacable Torpoint chain ferry. It's a fixed point to fixed point six-minute journey, there's no escaping once on board, but then where else would we want to be? In contrast, Harding's fragile alto ornaments ‘Wax and Wane’, through which slivers of song fly, while the breath and clacks of the sax are set against the decay of the bells. Send not for whom these bells toll: they toll for us all.
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