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| THE JUNGLE RETURNS TO THE CITY |
| by
Paul Blair, hothousejazz.com |
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| Duke Ellington won early prominence during the late 20s when his jungle music band was resident at a single Harlem club over a period of several years. By contrast, Pierre Dørge’s ten-member New Jungle Orchestra has earned widespread acclaim by never staying in one place for very long. Over the past decade or so, NJO has dispensed joy from bandstands in Accra, Adelaide, Athens, Valencia, Vancouver, Bratislava, Buenos Aires, Singapore, Shanghai, Saskatoon, Siberia, Hanoi, Tasmania and a few other locales not renowned as jazz hotspots. For several years, they served as the official Danish State Ensemble – and were, two years ago, the first jazz ensemble to play in Copenhagen’s marvelous new opera house (with Yusef Lateef as their guest artist). |
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| Mind you, this is no casually thrown together pickup group. Three members – saxophonist Morten Carlsen, trombone player Kenneth Agerholm and keyboardist Irene Becker – were actually part of the very first NJO outfit to record for Steeplechase back in 1982. Here’s who else comprises today’s NJO: trumpeters Kasper Tranberg and Gunnar Halle, saxophonist Jakob Mygind, bassist Thommy Andersson, percussionist Ayi Solomon and drummer Martin Andersen. |
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| Now 61, Pierre Dorge is a worthy heir to the legacies of Ellington and Mingus. A truly distinctive guitar voice, he’s played free music with saxophonist John Tchicai and swing with violinist Svend Asmussen. He’s absorbed the harmonies, rhythms and textures of distant spots he’s visited – for instance, Bali, the Balkans, the Middle East and the West African nation of The Gambia – and woven them into compositions which veer unexpectedly between wild abandon and simple beauty. Over the years, he’s also attracted the kind of musicians able to play what he’s been imagining. This month’s U.S. tour enjoys financial support from the Danish Arts Council. And Pierre himself won a life grant from the Danish State as a composer. Yet he’s definitely no one’s idea of a bureaucrat. |
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| Now 61, Pierre Dorge is a worthy heir to the legacies of Ellington and Mingus. A truly distinctive guitar voice, he’s played free music with saxophonist John Tchicai and swing with violinist Svend Asmussen. He’s absorbed the harmonies, rhythms and textures of distant spots he’s visited – for instance, Bali, the Balkans, the Middle East and the West African nation of The Gambia – and woven them into compositions which veer unexpectedly between wild abandon and simple beauty. Over the years, he’s also attracted the kind of musicians able to play what he’s been imagining. This month’s U.S. tour enjoys financial support from the Danish Arts Council. And Pierre himself won a life grant from the Danish State as a composer. Yet he’s definitely no one’s idea of a bureaucrat. |
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| The NJO’s last swing through New York, back in 1999, resulted in concerts at Carnegie Hall and Columbia University, along with the live recording of a Birdland gig with hordes of U.N. diplomats in attendance. But NJO isn’t a group you’re likely to catch on MTV (where they’d be a sensation) or see profiled in the pages of Newsweek. Hearing them requires a bit of effort on the listener’s part. With the exception of three 1982-85 Steeplchase albums (New Jungle Orchestra, Brikama and Even the Moon Is Dancing, all of which still delight), just about all of their recordings have appeared on even smaller indie labels like Olufsen, Marco Polo, Da Capo, Stunt and Ilk. There isn’t a loser among them, though. With its sparkling soloists, punchy ensembles, vivid tonal colors, rhymic drive and generally high spirits, NJO music is exotic and sophisticated, yet readily accessible and always engaging. It’s often wildly funny as well. |
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| Finally, here’s how a presumably objective Scandinavian reviewer summed up one of their recent concert appearances: "I was weeping. The experience was as beautiful as that! It was like being embraced by the whole human race, like watching a baby being born, like being told the meaning of life and being too enraptured to worry about having to remember it. Fantastic, it was quite simply fantastic!" |
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| New Jungle Orchestra plays at Joe’s Pub on April 10-11, with one 9:30 PM set each evening. |
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