Best of 2019 #09: Goran Kajfes Tropiques – “Into the Wild”

 

Goran Kajfeš doesn’t fuse together different music forms so much as view them all as interconnected motions in one, long intricate dance.  The trumpeter waltzes, foxtrots and tangos with the folk musics of Turkey, Sweden, the Balakans, Africa, and America with no change in dance partner, and with a fluidity that sees old-school psychedelic jazz-rock, new-school avant garde, and a timeless ballad as different facets of the same, synchronized motion.  The modern jazz and improvised music scene has revealed itself to be as diverse as any art form on the planet; Goran Kajfeš embraces and embodies that truth.

But his world-hopping expressionism is just part of this music’s charismatic appeal.  It’s as much to do with the trumpeter’s talent for bringing the same energy and introspection to his sound, regardless of whether he’s instituting a deep groove or an ambient drone.  There’s a vitality to it at all times like the beating of a heart at first love, and a centered calm like a heart that is one with its surroundings, its beat in sync with the pulse of the world.  Kajfeš’ music is varied, nuanced, strange and obscure, and the culmination of the influences and approach results in music with an addictive personality and one that is supremely fun.  The music of Goran Kajfeš is essential, and some of the best stuff the new century of jazz has to offer.

Your album personnel:  Goran Kajfeš (trumpet, Moog synthesizer, Make Noise 0-coast), Alexander Zethson (piano, Crumar Organ, Korg MS-20), Johan Berthling (acoustic bass), Johan Homegard (drums, percussion) and Christer Bothén (bass clarinet).

Released on Headspin Recordings.

Music from Stockholm, Sweden.

I wrote about the album for The Bandcamp Daily.

Listen | Read more | Available at:  Bandcamp