Iman Spaargaren & Undercurrent Orchestra - Everything Seems Different
I
Zennez Records
Iman Spaargaren, leader of the Amsterdam based band Undercurrent Orchestra wrote all but one of the compositions for this album ('Smoke Gets In Your Eyes'). The compositions serve as a means to expresse his musical feelings about the past one and a half years of pandemic life: fear and hope, boredom and inspiration, sadness and joy.
The song titles speak for themselves and make the musical stories lively. The songs evoke impressions, ranging from introspective chamber music (‘Wat Bedoel Ik?! {What Do I mean?!]’, 'Waiting Room', 'De Vergeten Tijd') to infectious grooves, Latin rhythms and fierce improvisations ('Strange How Everything Seems Familiar And Yet Different At The Same Time ', 'Los Zapatos'). The Annie Tangberg’s cello lays beautiful accents and trombonist Joost Buis and Iman Spaargaren increase the musical tension with their contributions.
‘Scene Onderbroken Door Inkomend Telefoongesprek [Scene Interrupted By Incoming Telephone Call]’ is full of humor and has a bit of a contrarian mood, with a starring role for trumpeter Gerard Kleijn.
In 'Sub' and 'Shaba' guitarist Guillermo Celano takes the lead, firmly supported by drummer Marcos Baggiani.
A dreamy soundscape turnes 'Françoise, Pourquoi?' into an expressively charged orchestral gem. An outsider is 'Waltz For Undecided Minds & The Art Of Decision Making', in which the hectic sound develops into an apocalyptic melting pot.
The album closes with the jazz standard 'Smoke Gets In Your Eyes', which Jerome Kern wrote for the musical 'Roberta' (1933). Iman Spaargaren arranged the song and chose it as a kind of false nostalgia for freedom and the romanticized longing for better times.
With the colorful instrumentation of Undercurrent Orchestra, Iman Spaargaren delivers an evocative album that visually fits the current exhibition ‘De Ontdekking van Het Heden [The Discovery Of The Here and Now]’ (until June 2022) in the Noordbrabants Museum.
© Bernard Lefevre
