Product Description

Didgeridoo or didjeridu. Whatever the spelling of this strange instrument may be, it is usually associated with the indigenous people of the fifth continent, the Austra-lian Aborigines. But there is also a Californian by the name of Stephen Kent who was born in England and grew up in East Africa among other countries. Twenty years ago he learned to play the didjeridu in Australia and has since concentrated on this fascinating archaic wind instrument for his musical projects. This instrument has mainly been used by the Australian Aborigines for ritual occasions for about 1,500 years. In most cases, it is made of eucalyptus wood, sometimes even of bam-boo. For Stephen Kent, playing the didjeridu has always been the ideal way of expressing the manifold musical experiences he has gathered all around the world (for exam-ple, with the ensemble Trance Mission). The album 'Oil and Water' means for Stephen Kent the beginning of a new creative period. For the first time he worked with electronic beats and loops. His musical horizons include music from the Middle East and North Africa to Rajasthan; he has even used a Scottish bagpipe. The recordings for the CD started on 9 September 2001. With regard to the events on 11 September, it was important to Stephen Kent to devote a special place on the CD 'Oil and Water' to Yassir Chadly, the imam from the mosque in Oakland, California who comes originally from Marocco. 'Oil and Water' there is hardly any other title that could better express Stephen Kent's intention to bring harmony into a world of inner turmoil and conflict. With fascinating soundscapes, driving grooves, sophisticated electronic ar-rangements and a gripping varied dramaturgy, Stephen Kent and his comrades in particular Simon Tassano who co-produced the album set new standards in the field of world ambient groove. World music, more than just groove, more than just ambient. And yet something from everything. With 'Oil and Water', Intuition, the label for ambitious musical cross-boundary musicians, has resumed releasing regularly after a long pause owing to removal.

Track Listing

1. Oil
2. Water
3. Khoomei Song
4. Baraka
5. Thel Kupa
6. Ouled Sergo
7. Valley Of the Winds
8. Edge Of Three
9. Lookout
10. Ya Rabbi Bil Mustapha
11. Elders Lament

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #365662 in Music
• Released on: 2004-12-14
• Number of discs: 1

Review
This is what it was always supposed to be about. Stephen Kent, master didgeridoo player and multi-instrumentalist, has been hinting at a record like Oil and Water for a long time, on his solo works and in his collaborations with Lights in a Fat City, Trance Mission, and others. In Kent's hands, the didgeridoo becomes an instrument not only of antiquity and the spiritualities of a bygone time and place, but a living, breathing, rhythmist, capable of transforming deep groove music into something magical. In collaboration here with Simon Tassano (loops, programming, samples) directly, and a host of others including Eda Maxym and Peter Valsamis from Trance Mission in various appearances. Kent goes deep into the well of rhythm and harmony. He plays guitars, basses, percussion, and Cello-Sintir, and creates tape atmospheres for his didgeridoo not only to feed from, but to color, enhance, stretch, warp, and spindle. --All Music Guide

Customer Reviews

An inventive world music/world fusion set
The mere mention of the Australian digiridu --a long, oboe-like instrument-- is enough to make some nonbelievers cringe in terror: several years ago it was adopted as an instrument of choice by world music's fusion-y New Age contingent, and since then its status has never been the same. What's most remarkable about this album, though, is that it's really quite good, although it is pretty much what you'd call a "world fusion" album. To start with, Californian Kent is a virtuoso performer, capable of delving deep into the tonal richness of his chosen instrument, but also of playing shorter notes and not just the long, resonant drones the digiridu is known for. These controlled percussive bursts are so unlike most digiridu playing that at first I wondered if they'd been sampled or digitally manipulated; but no, I think he's just an amazingly skilled performer. Naturally Kent also explores a wide variety of musical styles and it's the album's odd multicultural combinations -- the "oil and water" of elements you wouldn't expect to mix -- that bring life to this album. Some parts work better than others: in general, the Western funk and pop mixes seem tacky, but the tracks that borrow from various "world music" styles -- Tuvan throat singing, Arabic percussion, EastIndian flutes -- are pretty nice. One song which features a shimmering cascade of Rajasthani flutes, "Edge Of Three," is particularly beautiful. Though this record edges into territiory that I don't normally go for, there are several songs on here that I could see working into a mix. Worth checking out!