Angles + Elle-Kari – The Death Of Kalypso (Thanatosis Produktion, 2024) *****

By Stef Gijssels

There is music that moves you. There is music that brings you to tears. For me, this music did the latter. 

Swedish composer, saxophonist and band leader Martin Küchen has surprised us before. And this album stretches his own versatility and musical language even further, to some uncharted musical territory. 

For the occasion, his wonderful Angles ensemble has now been extended with a string quartet, bringing the line-up to thirteen musicians. Angles are Magnus Broo on trumpet, Mats Äleklint on trombone, Johan Berthling on double bass, Konrad Agnas on drums, Mattias Ståhl on vibraphone and glockenspiel, Alex Zethson on piano, synth and Hammond organ, Fredrik Ljungkvist on baritone saxophone and clarinet, and Martin Küchen himself on tenor and soprano saxophones. The string quartet are Anna Lindal on violin and octave violin, Eva Lindal on violin and viola, My Hellgren on cello and Brusk Zanganeh on violin. Add the speaking voice of Raed Yassin on one track. 

But this is not your usual Angles album. It's a kind of jazz opera, an incredibly ambitious and genre-bending masterpiece that defies categorisation. That is of course the result of Küchen's wonderful musical vision, but also of the powerfull vocal delivery by Elle-Kari Sander, the - amazingly enough - only singing voice for this opera, which can equally be called a jazz musical or a rock opera, because many of the rythmic and compositional elements also find their tradition in other genres. It is not free jazz - even if some moments are - yet the music will require the open ears of avant-garde jazz fans to fully appreciate its quality. The double vinyl is the result of the painstaking compositional effort and arrangements that Küchen and Zethson worked on: the former on the compositions, the libretto and the wind arrangements, the latter on the string arrangements and some wind arrangements. 

The title story refers to the ancient Greek myth of Kalypso, and especially Homer's story of Oddyseus. Kalypso "was a nymph who lived on the island of Ogygia, where, according to Homer's Odyssey, she detained Odysseus for seven years against his will. She promised Odysseus immortality if he would stay with her, but Odysseus preferred to return home. Eventually, after the intervention of the other gods, Calypso was forced to let Odysseus go", we read on Wikipedia. Despite the ancient mythological references, the music is about humanity today, our self-indulgence, our greed, our lack of ethics and empathy for other people, and of course the ruthless and unjust brutality of today's wars. Küchen's universe of the ancient gods reflects the oppressors of today who have no respect nor any feelings for other humans. Themes that are present in all of Küchen's work. 

The usual attack on the criminals of power and the stupidity that many humans cherish is perfectly balanced with a deep sense of compassion for the fate of that same humanity. As in other Angles albums, the music borrows from traditional and folk sounds, with the attitude of a marching band, of the sharing of the community sentiments of the moment, like a funeral or a celebration. The sweeping movements of the compositions, their infectious sound, their deep resonance with the sorrows and the predicament of humanity, are what makes the music so compelling and accessible and enjoyable, despite the sad undertones. It's exuberant and intimate at the same time. The dark mood of the album also held a personal tragedy for Küchen, by the recent passing away of his own father. 

To turn this core concept of the band's communal emotional music into a much more theatrical performance, with a single singer who plays a role, was clearly an incredible challenge. In an opera or a musical we know that the singers are actors trying to give the impression of the feelings of their characters, as compared to musicians who - in good music - express their personal feelings directly. This potential dichotomy is brilliantly resolved by Elle-Kari Sander's stellar performance. Her vocal timbre requires some getting used to, and she adapts it depending on the text and the piece, but I can only recommend that you keep listening and several times to fully appreciate the quality of her art. 

As I mentioned earlier, when the music was performed for the first time in public a little over a year ago,  this is in my opinion the best jazz opera to be produced since Carla Bley's "Escalator Over the Hill" (1971), and that's a more than solid reference. There are of course major differences in tone and style. This album is less absurd, less iconoclastic, and stylistically much more coherent and compact. The big difference is the mood of the music. 

The mood is one of desparation, of pain, of incomprehension, of powerlessness. Elle-Kari Sander pleads and cries and weeps and mourns and gives expression to a whole wide range of emotions without names even, wonderfully supported by the band that moves her voice like the waves and the wind move the seagull: lonely in a vast expanse that is at once familiar and menacing. 

The album is organised in five acts like the structure of real drama, with subthemes, sometimes with parts of real jazz without vocals, alternated by a string quartet, or music with vocals, often in a more ballad or rock-influenced harmonies. 

The album is a real work of craftmanship. Incredibly balanced, every detail has been carefully prepared and orchestrated, from its structure to the wonderful and mystifying lyrics, the dark and infectious music, the precise arrangements and the incredible musicianship of this band whose every performance is a winner. 

Read these few excerpts from the libretto, that form the liner notes to the double vinyl, and are essential for a good appreciation of the music. 

From "Fetus of Dawn (Kalypso talks to her Son Nausithous and Sings to the Gods):

"I know we were not supposed to see it
not to beg for anything else than to be left alone
But why on earth would you then dig out our souls
and cremate them and our aftermath - like we never existed
We all you asked for and more
please do consider to leave

Please
leave this rain alone
leave this flesh
leave this flesh alone

Please, stay close to me now
Taste the rain
Taste the flesh
Don't you ever leave
me alone anymore
never more
never more
alone

Please, help me break the spell
Make me real
Make me human
and don't you ever leave
me alone anymore
never more
never more
alone"

Or some lines from "A Campaign Of Tragedy": 

"The usurpers from the future had come that night

searching everywhere with a certain light

Took the sundial and its remains

Imprisoned time and put it gently in chains

You unveiled my secrets one by one

You crushed my vanity to the core

But will you ever admit your faults

Seven years and still not done?

We saw our petty life in the mirror of the sky

A God's play in perfect disguise

You left the scene and went for the knife

I vanished and returned to life

Gods at bay

will cast the net

Bring him home

through the ashes

through the labyrinth of death

Gods at sea

will break the curse

Bring him back

through the storms

through the trenches or worse

Gods at sea

will cast the net

Gods at bay

will cast the net

Bring him back

through the ashes

through the labyrinth of death"

Not exactly the lyrics you expect in jazz, but more adapted to ancient tragedies: darkness, pain, isolation, despair, and the powerlessness of the single individual against the forces of nature, of the universe, of the gods. The question that remains is a big why? Why is this so unfair? A why for the injustice? Why now? Why me? Why him? 

You can listen to the album a hundred times. The question will remain, just like the music. Possibly a hundred years. Or more. 

The album is so exceptional that you will hate it or love it. Which is great. Real art should be uncompromising. It will not leave you indifferent. 

Listen and download from Bandcamp ... although I would recommend to buy the vinyl format.