BURGHAN INTERFERENCE SHAMS Ken Hyder drums, vcls, ektara; Tim Hodgkinson flat gtr. clt. flt. alto sax. Recorded at Aula Magna Tolentini Monastery, Venice 19 June 1998. SLAMCD 238 Bar code 5 028386 023821

TRACKS: 1 Late joy, early sadness 6m 47s 2 Still bean restless autumn 8 07 3 Depth of flying 6 49 4 Governors of Steppe School 7 41 5 Make better shake 7 20 6 Olkhon customs 9 54

The Wire Glasnost and perestroika made it easier for Western musicians to visit remote and previously closed regions of the old Soviet Union like Siberia, where they are now able to study traditional musics in their natural surroundings with local musicians. Ken Hyder (founder of Celtic jazzers Talisker) and Tim Hodgkinson (co-founder of avant rockers Henry Cow) were among the first musicians from the London experimental scene to take advantage of this greater openness when they first visited Siberia in 1990. For many years both musicians have been fascinated by the formerly suppressed tradition of the Soviet shamans. They are keen to explore the interrelation between their own improvised performances and shamanic seance rituals, which also involve improvised music. When playing with Yakus musicians, Hodgkinson observed 'that their aesthetic approach allowed them to apply the irregularities of nature to their music without any difficulty'. They seemed not to be concerned with any distinction between musical sound and noise, an attitude very much in tune with Hyder and Hodgkinson (aka Shams) on Burghan Interference, which sensitively weaves Siberian influences into the tapestry of Improv. Hyder's far away vocal cries and sparing use of the Tuvan khoomei overtone style have an evocative, unpolished field recording quality, and he conjures further space with his light-touch cymbal play and skittering drum patterns. Hodgkinson's alto sax is persuasively querulous on 'Make Better Shake', and the steely twang and abrasive strums of his 'flat guitar' suggest a stripped down, primordial rock. Wonderfully paced, atmospheric impov by a first rate due. Chris Blackford

'Burghan Interference', published in the 13th issue of JazzoSphere. "Lorsque deux anglais décident d'enregistrer en Italie un album mêlant, jazz et shamanisme, on sent que le dépaysement n'est pas si loin. Vite passé le caractère " curieux ", cet enregistrement démontre toute sa pertinence et sa force. Ken Hyder, le batteur et Tim Hodgkinson que l'on retrouve aux anches (clarinette et sax alto) forment ce duo étonnant. Six longs thèmes occupent l'espace de la bande et permettent une lente et progressive mise en ambiance. L'auditeur, envoûté dès le thème d'ouverture Late Joy, Early Sadness, par la voix de Ken Hyder, est irrésistiblement pris par le mystère de cette musique qui joue en permanence sur les climats et les couleurs (voir particulièrement Depth of Flying et Governors of the Steppe School qui dominent l'album). Cette musique se vit et se ressent, c'est en cela qu'elle est remarquable.