This remarkable recording – a gloriously conceived and executed suite – from Andromeda Turre comes at a time when the world is almost numb to dystopian future of our planet. The dystopian future that awaits future generations is often crushed as naysayers and refusniks [almost always from the right-wing of politics] spread falsity upon falsity upon the effect of the overarching gluttony of industrialisation and its dependence on fossil fuels has on Spaceship Earth.
Reaction to the dire future of the earth’s environment – from stratosphere to the depths of the oceans, and on terra firma, from the boreal forests of the artic to the tropical denudation of the Amazon and forests like it – comes fast and furious. Environmental activists from the much maligned Greenpeace to the iconic Greta Thunberg and her myriad followers are often strident, as are many artists across many disciplines, from painters and sculptors to dramatists, poets and musicians.
The elemental dolor of the superbly eloquent orchestration, [notably from the almost human wail of trombone and shells by Steve Turre] add enormous power to the vocals, melisma of vocalise of the star of the recording – Ms Turre – as she holds notes with powerful diaphragmatic breathing, as she gives wing to the lyric with operatic coloratura. The lyric is, of course steeped in both sadness and hope.
Thus, Ms Turre wails into the canvas as she paints it in colours that are indigo-blue – often almost ink-black. The with soaring, majestic and hope-filled ebullience she reminds us, by the end of the suite, that the rays of the sun rising from the east announcing a bright new day – rays shimmering off the ice of millennia – that it is possible indeed to get it right again. But only if we – as she does – wrap our arms in loving embrace of a planet whose elemental wail echoes from earth to sky and back again.
All of this wild despair and joy came after a walk – Ms Turre tells us – across the endless expanse of Iceland’s floes in 2022. And she translated the experience not only with great ingenuity but also with uncommon sensitivity for underserved communities – Indigenous, Black and the poorest of the poor from Hispanic communities – not to mention African and Asan – who continue to be the hardest-hit communities across the globe by environmental degradation brought on by the insatiable gluttony of the wealthiest who seem least interested in those affected by economic and other kinds of modern slavery.
To turn this prescient social thesis into art she has brought alive the elements in a four-part suite that embraces: the Geosphere [the earth], the Atmosphere which is critically wounded by the ever-widening hole in the ozone layer, the Hydrosphere which, teeming with life feeds life in the waters, from whence we came, to land upon which we crawled and later walked from fours to twos. And, finally, there is the Cryosphere that the treasures trapped under it that provide the critical barometer that regulates global warming. And here lies the artistic beauty of it all…
Ms Turre has melded the poetic from the recitation of the celebrated Newark poet Betty Neals and excerpts of interviews with Drs Jifunza Wright-Carter and Gladys M. Canals and with Ms Margaret Gordon. These spoken the elements of – even the prose ones – somehow fit the lyrical tapestry of Ms Turre’s music. Her creative genius is matched by her understanding of symphonic orchestration; when, for instance to employ her crystal singing bowls and digeridoo by Harold E. Smith [Ingression Interlude with Betty Neals recitation] and when to adorn the music Riza Printup’s harp [Atmosphere], Chien Chien Lu’s gleaming marimba and vibraphone [through the Geosphere movements]
Finally, there are the movements that feature her father – Mr Turre – on trombone and shells [seemingly ever-present throughout the disc]. Her mother Akua Dixon is also features on t he album [alas, not with her cello, but adding her first instrument – her silvery-toned voice – to the final chorale]. And it is on this, dénouement of this unforgettable music that the masterful album ends, with appropriate density, reminding us that the only liveable planet we know has reached Critical Mass. Well… brava, Andromeda Turre, for an album to absolutely die for…
Deo Gratis…
Music – From the Earth – 1. Ingression Interlude; 2. Geosphere; 3. Grandmother’s Permission; 4. Earth Waltz. From the Sky – 5. Atmosphere; 6. Ms Margaret’s Lament; 7. Finger on the Trigger. From the Sea – 8. Hydrosphere; 9. Sin Agua No Hay Vida; 10. Contiguo. From the Ice – 11. Cryosphere; 12. Oracle Interlude; 13. Amulena; 14. Critical Mass.
Musicians – Andromeda Turre: vocals [1 – 11, 13, 14], piano [12], crystal singing bowl [1 – 3] and bell tree [11]; Steve Turre: trombone [6 – 10], horn arrangements [9, 10] and shells [11, 13]; Chelsea Baratz: tenor saxophone [6 – 11, 14] and EWI [10]; Harold E. Smith: digeridoo [1]; ELEW: piano [2, 4 – 11, 13, 14]; Richie Goods: bass [2 – 10, 12, 13]; Gene Lake: drums [2, 4 – 10, 12, 13]; Chien Chien Lu: marimba [2 – 4] and vibraphone [5 – 7, 11, 13, 14]; Jacqueline Acevedo: percussion [8 – 10]; Riza Printup: harp [5]; Betty Neals: recitation [1]; Dr. Jifunza Wright-Carter: interviewee [3]; Ms Margaret Gordon: interviewee [6]; Dr Gladys M. Canals: interviewee [9]; Rhonda Hiscock: interviewee [12]; Choir – M’Elle: choir [14] and background vocals [10]; Akua Dixon, Lulu Fontan, Catherine Assad, Tyrell Foster-James [14].
Released: 2024
Label: Starbilt Records
[andromedaturre.com]
Runtime: 1:02:10