UNDERCURRENT ORCHESTRA
Everything Seems Different
Zennez Records
On its latest CD 'Everything Seems Different', the Amsterdam based band Undercurrent Orchestra provides a glimpse of its experiences during these strange and exciting times. Composer and reed player Iman Spaargaren wrote ten new pieces and edited one old one, but more about that later. The new pieces respond to the different emotions a musician experiences who is forced to sit at home. These vary from resignation, boredom, melancholy to protest and chaos. This kaleidoscope of emotions are to be found on 'Everything Seems Different'. Will that cause a mishmash of noise? Well, then you underestimate the musical talent within the Undercurrent Orchestra. There are certainly moments when the listener desperately looks for harmony and structure, but trust these musicians; it'll be fine. A beacon of tranquility is Annie Tangberg's cello, as in ‘De Vergeten Tijd (The Forgotten Time)’, a song that is full of melancholy.
In the happy 'Los Zapatos', trombonist Joost Buis and trumpeter Gerard Kleijn provide the fun and guitarist Guillermo Celano provides the power. I don't know which ringtone you have set, but Iman Spaargaren's can clearly be distilled from the song ‘Scene Onderbroken door Inkomend Telefoongesprek (Scene interrupted by an incoming telephone call)’. The song gives room to a musical group conversation, in which it seems at times as if no one is listening to each other. But that's just appearances, as you'll notice when you hook up. The will to fight, I heard that in the song 'Sub' with a star role for drummer Marcos Baggiani. Each of the pieces on this CD has something that grabs your attention, with the delicious 'Françoise Pourquoi' as my favourite tune. The title alone makes me curious. As a burning closing tune, Iman Spaargaren adapted the ancient hit of The Platters: 'Smoke gets in your eyes'. This good old song to swoon to evokes the melancholy of the good old days on the one hand, but the performance of Undercurrent Orchestra gives way to a feeling of longing for everything splendid to come.
Sjoerd van Aelst
Line up:
Iman Spaargaren (tenor sax, (bass) clarinet), Gerard Kleijn (trumpet, flugelhorn), Joost Buis (trombone), Annie Tangberg (cello), Guillermo Celano (guitar), Marcos Baggiani (drums, percussion).
