Ravish Momin’s Trio Tarana – Five Nights

NotTwo 770-2

It’s always a pleasure to hear evidence of a player’s growth whether on record or in person. I first encountered percussionist Ravish Momin as one point in Kalaparush Maurice McIntyre’s triangle The Light. Their 2001 CIMP debut left something to be desired in the durability department, partly due to a slightly clunky instrumentation of tenor sax, tuba and drums. Momin’s eccentric sense of rhythm initially struck me as slightly askew and jejune. Page forward to this live date recorded at the Smithsonian, summer of 2005, and Momin’s progress is boldfaced. Joined by regular partners, Jason Kao Hwang on violin and Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz doubling on bass and oud, the fissures and holes prominent in his earlier technique are largely spackled over, but the joyful capriciousness that guides his rhythmic choices isn’t compromised in the least.

Hwang and Blumenkranz repeatedly swap roles throughout the five lengthy tracks, one supplying an ostinato for the other to solo against and vice versa. The richness of the string play is often extraordinary, especially given the modest number of participants. Blumenkranz is a splendid bassist, his ability to milk a massive, but sonorous tone, coupled to an incongruously nimble attack. Nevertheless, it’s his oud work that truly impresses, turning from staccato strumming to intricate single note ladders that echo Arabic and Andalusian elements as on the modal opener “Dai Genyo,” which is itself based on a Japanese taiko piece. That sort of cross-cultural chemistry underscores the other tracks too, from the Afghani influenced “Peace for Kabul” with its knotty violin figures, snap-pea bass and percolating hand percussion, to the raga-calibrated rhythm of “Gathering Song,” a piece that once again parades the tensile precision of Blumenkranz’s oud against a rippling cadence.

Momin keeps things moving with drum kit and a small battery of hand percussion. His rich melodicism and rhythmic veracity regularly rise to the foreground matching the agility of the strings in shaping mellifluous patterns. Only rarely does he rest, and his near-constant activity reminds me of Hamid Drake, both in terms of daring and deftness. Hwang is his usual virtuosity-on-sleeve self, sculpting crying, keening glissandi with his hummingbird bow and continuously slicing through conventional notions of tempered tonality with voice-like inflections. This date is actually the trio’s second commercially released recording. I haven’t heard their first, Under the Banyan Tree on Clean Feed, but recall reading positive reviews of it with interest. A third session for the label is purportedly in the can and set for an mid to late 2007 street date. I’ll be marking my calendar and spinning this spirited stopgap in the interim.

~ Derek Taylor