Kristo Rodzevski – Black Earth (defkaz records, 2023)
Kristo Rodzevski’s Black Earth presents an alluring and joyous fusion of eleven traditional Macedonian songs with African influences. Mixed and produced by influential American musician Bill Laswell, the album incorporates elements such as transfixing Gnawa elements, dynamic Congolese rumba, and evocative African field recordings. These influences contribute to a beguiling amalgamation of sounds.
The traditional Macedonian harmonies and rhythms at the core of the album have evolved over centuries, drawing from diverse cultural sources including Ancient Greek and Roman lyricism, Byzantine chants, and Ottoman classical music progressions. This evolution reflects the effect of migrations, storytelling, tensions, folk tales, strife, and perseverance.
In essence, Black Earth serves as a distillation of intergenerational narratives, spanning topics of endurance, distress, affection, and innocence. The album was released on September 5, 2023.
Kristo Rodzevski, a vocalist, guitarist, and composer originally from North Macedonia, has been an active participant in New York City’s downtown avant-garde music scene since the late 1990s. He gained prominence with the release of his trilogy of albums: Batania, Bitter Almonds, and The Rabbit and the Fallen Sycamore, on Much Prefer Records in 2015, 2017, and 2018 respectively. Following these, Rodzevski recorded Hubris in 2020 under MOD Reloaded, followed by Fair Weather Friends in 2022 released by Point of Entry.
His albums are characterized by insight-oriented lyrics and electroacoustic sound, incorporating experimental and free jazz elements. Rodzevski has collaborated with renowned figures from New York’s jazz-improv and experimental scene, including Tomeka Reid, Kris Davis, Ikue Mori, Mary Halvorson, Ingrid Laubrock, Tomas Fujiwara, Kirk Knuffke, Chris Speed, among others. Additionally, he has worked with notable representatives of the modern Chicago scene, such as Jeff Parker, Nicole Mitchell, and Ken Vandermark.
Musicians: Kristo Rodzevski on vocals, acoustic guitar, tambura; Dominic James on electric guitar; Josh Werner on bass; Bill Laswell on bass, field recordings; and Adam Rudolph on sintir, percussion.
Buy Black Earth.
Author: JGurski
