The Cherry Thing
| The Cherry Thing | |
|---|---|
| Studio album by Neneh Cherry & The Thing | |
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Publication |
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| Label (s) | Smalltown Supersound |
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Format (s) |
CD |
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Title (number) |
8th |
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running time |
50:59 |
| occupation |
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Joakim Haugland, Conny Charles Lindström |
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Studio (s) |
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The Cherry Thing is a jazz album by Neneh Cherry and the trio The Thing that was released on June 21, 2012.
History of the album
After her last album Man , Cherry had withdrawn from the music business for family reasons. She only worked occasionally in collaborations with other musicians; Among other things, she sang on the Gorillaz's second album , worked with Peter Gabriel and Eagle-Eye Cherry, and founded her own band with her husband and daughter. In 2010 a friend drew her attention to the Scandinavian free jazz trio The Thing , which had existed for a long time but was named after a lesser-known piece by her stepfather Don Cherry that year.
Regarding the trio The Thing , Cherry said: “One aspect of our relationship is their great love for my father. You always talked about what a tremendous inspiration he was to you. This made my family and I feel very honored, of course. Their musical self-image has a lot to do with what I grew up with. ”In addition, the musicians are all influenced by punk .
In late 2010, Cherry met The Thing in London; the musicians recorded the first three pieces in a studio: “With The Thing , we just started making music without having to make an appointment about what it was supposed to be. And something new came out of it for all of us. ”The quartet has given several concerts since March 2011 and, according to Cherry, got along well straight away:“ We had something to say. Most importantly, neither of us had to bend over from the other. We just had to choose the songs and give them an organic form. ”According to Cherry, the collaboration also worked well in the studio:“ For some songs we only needed one take, for others it was maybe four. But we've always tried to pour the natural energy of a song into its clearest form. "
Contents of the album
The album contains songs by various artists, in addition to two original compositions by Neneh Cherry and Mats Gustafsson, four pop music tracks and two free jazz classics: it covers songs by garage rockers The Stooges ("Dirt"), the proto-punker of Suicide ("Dream Baby Dream ”), Martina Topley-Bird (“ Too Tough to Die ”) and Madvillain (“ Accordion ”). Don Cherry's "Golden Heart" and Ornette Coleman's "What Reason Could I Give."
The album begins with “Cashback” written by Neneh Cherry, whose source is in pop-soul-hip-hop of the early 1990s; possibly it would have found its place “in a radio-compatible version on one of their early solo records.” But here it begins “with a lonely and concisely grooving double bass”; During the course of the piece, the jazz musicians take more and more space and the baritone saxophone "screams painfully for help."
This was followed by an almost nine-minute version of "Dream Baby Dream", which, according to Thom Jurek, even eclipsed Bruce Springsteen's sophisticated interpretation. It is just as ethereal as the original, but more sinister. Cherry's vocals “leave the melody intact in its beauty throughout, even where it becomes more haunting and shows its assertiveness. Her companions build a great wall of atmospheric tension behind her ”.
“ Trip-Hop- pregnant” the bass runs through the following “Too Tough to Die”; increasingly the singer and the trio liberate the song "from its structures". Neneh Cherry lets her voice “break, tilt, vibrate and yodel. For her the strongest moment on The Cherry Thing . "
In “Sudden Moment” Cherry's singing is interwoven with playing the saxophone before an overflowing improvisation begins. The piece “Accordion” is largely taken apart. Here “there is little left except for the lyrics, not even the accordion that gives it its name. Even so, the hip hop roots are omnipresent. Neneh Cherry tips between rap , jazz and soul . Mats Gustafsson's saxophone buzzes around her voice. Below Paal Nilssen-Love lets the drums simmer. "
"Golden Heart", first published (without lyrics) in 1966 on Don Cherry's album Complete Communion , has expanded the line-up. Here “her voice lies ghostly and coldly over the instruments.” “Neneh Cherry & The Thing stamp like an ancient creature through the dirt of 'Dirt'. The Stooges classic is bent until it collapses at the end. "
“What Reason Could I Give”, which was originally sung by Asha Puthli in 1971 (on the Science Fiction album ) , is interpreted here in a version full of sadness. Together with Cherry's vocals, the reserved but adventurous solos by Gustafsson and Håker Flaten make the song look wistful.
Track list
- Cashback (Neneh Cherry) 5:58
- Dream Baby Dream ( Alan Vega , Martin Rev ) 8:24
- Too Tough to Die (David Peter-Holmes, Martina Topley-Bird , Chloe Page) 5:13
- Sudden Moment (Mats Gustafson) 8:26
- Accordion ( Daniel Dumile , O. Jackson) 6:10
- Golden Heart (Don Cherry) 4:43
- Dirt ( James Osterberg , Ronald Asheton, Scott Asheton, David Alexander ) 6:47
- What Reason Could I Give (Ornette Coleman) 5:18
Reviews
Neneh Cherry and The Thing manage, says Ben Hiltrup appreciatively, "the balancing act : With" The Cherry Thing "they recorded a cover album that both preserves the identity of the covered pieces and leaves plenty of scope for their own ideas." He lifts show that the energy level is high; “The tempi changes cause surprises. And the fusion of a basic jazz framework and the attitude of a Bristol TripHop record is currently unique. "For Neneh Cherry, the record is" a more than successful comeback. "
The jazz critic of the London Guardian agrees and gives the album four out of five stars: “This uplifting ensemble with the Norwegian-Swedish free jazz trio 'The Thing' fundamentally bridges the gap between the singer's avant-pop world and the saxophone throughout - Howling and percussion-thundering landscapes, with which the trio ruthlessly polarized its audience since 2000. "
By compiling songs from very disparate sources, the album “creates a moving, coherent collage through different genres and moods,” says the music critic of the Los Angeles Times . The album regains the unpredictable energy and impulses of the outlaws from hip-hop, jazz and punk and organically combines them with it. This connection, which is embodied in Cherry, comes to a creative climax here that is permanent.
In his review for Allmusic, Thom Jurek also considers the album to be organic and not a flash in the pan; he gives it four out of five stars and thinks it is a serious part of any representative annual list. Wolf Kampmann comes to the conclusion: "The music of the quartet is so compelling that one wonders why they have only now found each other."
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b cf. Andreas Busche The Cherry Thing: Perfect Unity Frankfurter Rundschau , July 20, 2012
- ↑ a b c d cit. n. Wolf Kampmann Neneh Cherry & The Thing: They Insist! Jazz thing 94 (2012): 72-73
- ↑ Oförglömlig kväll i skenet av stearinljus (SvD Kultur) March 30, 2011
- ↑ a b Ben Hiltrup Neneh Cherry & The Thing - The Cherry Thing (gmx.net or web.de) ( Memento of the original from July 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c d e Sven Kabelitz Now she really is “Raw Like Sushi” , laut.de.
- ↑ a b c d Thom Jurek The Cherry Thing (Allmusic)
- ↑ Also there are Christer Bothén ( Gimbri , Douss'n Gouni), Mats Äleklint ( trombone ) and Per Åke Holmlander ( tuba , cimbasso )
- ^ John Fordham , Neneh Cherry: The Cherry Thing - review The Guardian, June 28, 2012 ("This exhilarating set with Norwegian and Swedish free-jazz trio the Thing dramatically bridges the singer's avant-pop world and the flat-out sax-howling , percussion-thundering soundscape the group have been poleaxing audiences with since 2000. ")
- ↑ Ernest Hardy Album review: Neneh Cherry and the Thing's 'The Cherry Thing' Los Angeles Times, June 19, 2012
- ↑ Wolf Kampmann Neneh Cherry & The Thing: They Insist! Jazz thing 94 (2012): 72-73
