Ballads From The Wrecked Ship is a decidedly varied and rather wonderful improv release, which sits somewhere between sonic creativity and atmospheric moodiness. The seven-track album slides in at a concise and focused forty minutes, and I must say it certainly stand as one of more distinctive/ original improv release I have heard in some time. The album appears on the always worthy/ interesting New Wave Of Jazz- coming in the labels house style mini grey gatefold packaging, which as always features a write-up about the release/ artists inside from Guy Peters.
The line-up we have here is Den Haag based Arvind Ganga on Electric guitar and objects. And Verona born Riccardo Marogna on Tenor Sax, bass clarinet, and electronics. And boy do the pair cover a lot of different types of sound/ composition- with it all (just about) staying in the improv bracket. We move from hovering ‘n’ swarming “Oed’ Und Lees Das Meer” which blends billowing ‘n’ honking eastern atmospherics with simmering and impassioned blues scaping. Onto the off-colour/ dragged-out slide guitar harmonics meets grating horn warble of the lengthy named “The Limp Leaves Waited For Rain, While The Black Clouds Gathered Far Distant, Over Himavant”. We even go textured noise bound on “Phantoon” which finds constantly rolling waves of static splutter been scared ‘n’ slowly bayed by dragged out pop and blips of textured. We have the sour and shrill manic-ness of “Kzans” which it is a blend of constantly picking ‘n’ ringing guitar harmonics, and tight compressed and looping horn wails. With the album playing out with the wonderful awkward “These Fragments I have Shored Against My Ruins” with its grainy tinkling music box-like tone battering, souring whistling horn work, and scraping texturing.
Pretty much everything that New Wave Of Jazz puts out is worth a play/ listen if you enjoy any of the more abstract/ daring side of the improv/ modern composition. But Ballads From The Wrecked Ship is a real high watermark release- as it’s so creative, distinct and wholly rewarding.” - - Musique Machine
