The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble

“From the Stairwell”

(Denovali)

The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation

“Anthropomorphic”

Denovali

No prizes for guessing that neither The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble nor The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation really play jazz music in any literal sense. Likewise, the adjectival qualities ?dark? and ?doom? are not really applicable to either of the two discs I?m reviewing. (Well, perhaps there is a little darkness, here and there.) So what is on offer? Apparently there has been a shift in the music of The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble away from beats (and since main man Jason K?hnen is better known as the force behind breakcore (techno variant) act Bong-Ra, that must have been a pretty radical shift, for him at least) towards a current preoccupation with early film-making. “From the Stairwell” makes explicit a previously implicit soundtrack for an imagined movie; it is an empathetic exercise in evocation, inspired by the way in which viewers of silent movies (think, perhaps, of the films of F.W. Murnau) were required to conjure their own soundtracks through auricular imagination. This ensemble is not the first to attempt such a soundtrack for an imaginary movie, but theirs is a more original ? and more polished ? stab at the exercise than many. The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation is something else altogether, though the personnel are almost all the same. It is an “improv alter ego”-cum-“jazz/drone/doom sideproject” of The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble. Where “From the Stairwell” presents a sequence of tracks in a range of discrete moods, variously coloured by chamber strings, post-rock grooves, or jazz-inspired solo brass or reeds, “Anthropomorphic” is a single homogeneous suite constructed from three different long-form improvisations. It draws from the same palette, but here the musicians are painting more freely, in broader strokes.

The instrumentation of the collective personnel is revealing in itself. Gideon Kiers handles beats, fx, and processing; Jason K?hnen double bass, piano, and (for MFDC only) guitar; Hilary Jeffery trombone; Charlotte Cegarra vocals, piano; Eelco Bosman guitar; Nina Hitz cello; Sarah Anderson violin. There are also guest appearances by Eir?kur ?li ?lafsson trumpet; Coen Kaldeway saxophone & bass clarinet; and Ron Goris drums.

Of the tracks on “From the Stairwell”, “Giallo” is a highlight. It features Coen Kaldeway’s bass clarinet against a rarefied percussion shuffle, and the shimmer of an entwined guitar and wordless vocal. Later, subtle beats and more animated percussion underpin some tasteful solo trumpet. “White Eyes” counterpoints Charlotte Cegarra?s vocal refrain with muted brass and brushed drums. The theme is twice taken up by strings, which are succeeded by trombone with trumpet variations. There?s a coda of sorts for heavily reverbed guitar, but the piece ends with a plaintive trumpet solo. “Cocaine” begins with ?outdoor? FX: ?wind chime? electronics, blown disconnected mouthpieces, etc., and sustains a mood of low-key agitation, albeit with clear instrumental textures (brass, primarily) intermittently emerging from the etherized collective sound. “Cellardoor” initially evokes Fennesz or Philip Jeck?s submerged analogue on Gavin Bryars? Raising of the Titanic, then builds until it sounds more like a chilled-out Cinematic Orchestra. “Cotard Delusion” marries a skittish percussive pulse with a strings sound distantly reminiscent of the Masada String Trio, and builds to a climax of muted distress. “Les Etoiles Mutantes” has clean guitar figures and Cegarra?s slowly cohering dream vocal breaking out of a hypnagogic reverie. As the track develops it becomes quite snappy, with brushed drums, some organ and a brief, tasty flurry of solo trombone. Lastly, “Past Midnight” features the ensemble at its most abstracted, in a diffuse take on chamber music dominated by string drones. Think, if you can, of Ben Frost?s By the Throat, with added Silver Mount Zion strings, and you won?t be far off. Again, the track ends with a lovely muted trumpet solo.

“Anthropomorphic” runs together three improvisations, each of which were recorded at separate live shows in the Netherlands, Poland and Russia, into one hour-long suite. None of the shows, on this evidence, featured the full ensemble. Part 1 features only trombone and guitar; part 2 guitar, electronics, cello, and violin; part 3 trombone, electronics, violin, bass, guitar, vocals, and drums (courtesy of guest Ron Goris). I don?t know how the material was treated in post-production, but it seems to my ears (and I confess, I played this album only as ambience, tuning in and out) that the three movements were edited together rather than radically recombined. (There is no indexing on the CD, but the album is also available as four quarter-hour downloads with individual titles: “Space”, “Dimension”, “Form”, and “Function”.) The consistency of the ensemble sound is remarkable, if one disregards some frankly cack-handed electronic yawing on the transition from the subtle opening duet. The string instruments, first cello and violin, then violin and possibly bowed bass, work throughout very effectively to build and maintain a lamenting aura of emotional intensity (again, think early Silver Mt. Zion), which is accentuated in the final movement by some superb playing by trombonist Hilary Jeffery. Swathes of ambient electric guitar sometimes threaten to smother the collective vibe, but that never happens. There?s ample evidence here of close, empathetic interaction.

Two very different recordings then: each informs the other, although From the Stairwell will doubtless have the broader appeal. “Anthropomorphic” sounds best heard at volume through speakers, while curiously enough I found “From the Stairwell” most effective played at modest volume, on headphones.

Tim’s Star Ratings;

“From the Stairwell” 3.5 Stars

“Anthropomorphic” 3 Stars

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