Fred Ho and the Monkey Orchestra - Monkey: Part Two (1997) {Koch Jazz - KOC 3-7840-2H1}
Fred Ho and the Monkey Orchestra - Monkey: Part Two (1997) {Koch Jazz - KOC 3-7840-2H1}
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© 1997 Koch Jazz / TAP | KOC 3-7840-2H1
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Experimental / Modern Creative / Baritone Saxophone / Flute
I’m honored to discuss this CD. I found Fred Ho’s Monkey: Part One a glorious surprise, and this second section of his musical setting for the trickster tale is no disappointment. The ensemble’s personnel has few changes, notably Francis Wong as tenorist; but its spirit remains dramatic, flexible and visionary as Ho achieves tremendous range from trombone, three saxophones (including his own baritone), bass and drums, and several performers on Chinese traditional instruments. I associate this music’s programmatic essences, its pungent lyricism, its humorous play in sound and song contradistinct to Chinese singing for the western stage, and its sheer drive with Mingus’ Black Saint…and a continuum of Weill and Bernstein. The CD’s contents are too multi-faceted for a short review. Be aware that it concludes the suite by offering Acts 2 and 4. I don’t know why the music had to be packaged this way, but I hope Koch Jazz will do Fred Ho justice and reissue this wonderful effort in its proper sequence.
Monkey, Pt. 2, featuring Acts II and IV from baritone saxophonist Fred Ho's multimedia musical Journey Beyond the West based on the Chinese trickster figure Monkey, features some new musicians on both the jazz and traditional Chinese instruments, but the sound remains roughly the same. Recorded in a different studio, the music has a fuller, more present sound than Monkey, Pt. 1 while still placing prime emphasis on composed sections that throw several distinct change-ups into each piece. "Overture/The Journey Begins" starts with yearning melodies but this traveling monkey is a pretty lively fellow, with "Monkey Strut" repeating the character's theme from Pt. 1 with more sax soloing. "Dance of the Devil Demons" rocks with an off-kilter big-band riff, "Chased by Bandits" is pretty rompin', stompin' stuff that sounds like cartoon soundtrack music with sax screeches for a bit, and "Monkey and Tang Seng Argue" has its rocking moments, too.
"Coming of the Pig" incorporates many of the elements Ho uses throughout this work – Chinese vocals with big-band comments kick off a really interesting piece that goes in many different directions, including a little free section with baritone guffaws from the leader. "Pig Is Happy" is almost a blowsy blues with whooping, muted trombone before settling into an orchestrated section.
"The Pilgrims Meet Friar Sand, The Ogre" starts off more atmospheric with a Chinese banjo/lute (pipa?) playing off sax and an ominous Ho foundation before a sudden, dramatic acceleration into a herky-jerky segment with silences. The leader finally gives himself a solo over a bass riff and drum foundation, swooping up to harmonic squawks and squeals and back down to a melody that frequently hints at pre-bop vintage jazz and quotes from Charles Mingus' "Boogie, Stop, Shuffle."
Act IV begins with "Arrival in India," with Chinese vocals and effective use of dynamics to move to a soothing progression before changing again to rocking mode anchored by Ho and some collective improv shrieks and groans for drama. The occasional big-band lushness in "Hell Is My Home" suggests that, if anyone, Mingus may be Ho's compositional model here.
"The Revolution Begins" with atonal flurries, bits of the "Monkey," and adapted "Mission Impossible Theme" battle sounds from Ho while "Sitting Around the Fire" quiets things down with bass, erhu (fiddle), and pipa. "The Mighty Battle" is somewhat subdued and never gets as wild as you would expect from its title, while the jaunty and light "Epilogue: Happiness Is Being a Monkey" closes things out with a reprise of our hero's theme.
If there's any distinction between the two discs, Monkey, Pt. 2 gives a bit more freedom to the individual instrumental voices as compared to the collective voicings focus on Pt. 1. Both are full of stimulating, constantly shifting music and moods and both work well as distinct discs. Again, the only advisory is that fans of Ho's work in the jazz field won't find anywhere near the same emphasis on improvising and solos here.
Fred Ho and the Monkey Orchestra - Monkey: Part Two (1997) {Koch Jazz - KOC 3-7840-2H1}
Musicians
Fred Ho - leader, baritone sax, vocals
Jerome Korman - conductor
Shen Pei Sheng - sona (In D and A), oboe, Chinese percussion, vocals
Hafez Modirzadeh - chromodalphone, Persian karna, Persian goshme and Chinese sona (in D)
Yu Shan Min - soprano vocals, Chinese percussion
Wu Man - pipa, Chinese percussion
Tang Liangxing - erhu, Chinese percussion
Royal Hartigan - drum set and Chinese opera percussion
Sam Furnace - alto saxophone, piccolo
David Bindman - tenor and soprano saxes, flute
Martin Wehner - trombones
Dean Johnson - contrabass violin
Track LIsting
01 - Prologue
02 - Overture - The Journey Begins
03 - Dance of the Devil Demons
04 - Chased by Bandits
05 - The Monkey Strut!
06 - Monkey and Tang Seng Argue and Goddess Kwan Yin Intercedes
07 - The Coming of Pig
08 - Pig Is Happy and Joins the Pilgrims
09 - The Pilgrims Meet Friar Sand, The Ogre
10 - Ogre's Lament
11 - Arrival in India
12 - Monkey Decides to Return Home 'To Right the Great Wrongs'
13 - Hell Is My Home
14 - The Revolution Begins - The Liberation of Flower and Fruit Mountain
15 - Sitting Around the Campfire
16 - The Allies Arrive- The Gatheringof the Tricksters, Guerillas, Womyn …
17 - The Mighty Battle (The Struggle of All Struggles)
18 - Victory-Kwan Yin Is Free
19 - Epilogue [Reprise- Happiness Is Being a Monkey!]
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Fred Ho and the Monkey Orchestra / Monkey, Part Two
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End of status report
Fred Ho and the Monkey Orchestra / Monkey, Part Two
Used drive : PBDS CDRWDVD DH-48C2S Adapter: 1 ID: 1
Read mode : Secure with NO C2, accurate stream, disable cache
Read offset correction : 6
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Used output format : C:\Program Files\FLAC\flac.exe (User Defined Encoder)
128 kBit/s
Additional command line options : -V -8 -T "artist=%a" -T "title=%t" -T "album=%g" -T "date=%y" -T "tracknumber=%n" -T "genre=%m" %s
Other options :
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
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Fred Ho and the Monkey Orchestra - Monkey: Part Two (1997) {Koch Jazz - KOC 3-7840-2H1}
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