PAN Project Ensemble – Borderless Flows (Neuma, 2024)
The Canada-based PAN Project Ensemble lives up to its name in Borderless Flows, an album that transcends geographical and cultural boundaries. This global collaboration intertwines traditional and modern influences, creating a broad ranging, riveting exchange of musical traditions spanning Asia and the Middle East.
Building on their debut, PAN Project, the ensemble, which features artists from Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Indian, and Persian traditions, explores the intersections of their respective heritages. This project mirrors historic cultural exchanges, such as the Tang Dynasty’s Silk Road-era music innovations, where Indian and Persian musicians shaped East Asian court music.
Borderless Flows serves as both a celebration and a reimagining of these rich legacies. Listening to this album feels like tracing the ancient Silk Road, where music was as much a currency as silk and spices; only here, the Ensemble creates new routes for exchange, infusing their work with modern sensibilities.
One track, “The Naked,” feels like standing in a timeless desert under an endless sky. Drawing from a Sufi poem, the piece successively incorporates Persian melodies, Korean percussive elements, and the delicacy of Japanese koto, all underpinned by subtle Western harmonic textures. It’s meditative yet emotionally charged.
“Water Rhythm” takes a different path, blurring boundaries between nature and performance. Field recordings of rain become one with Indian tabla and the breathy warmth of the Chinese xiao flute. It reminded me of summer monsoons, where nature’s rhythm becomes a soundtrack to introspection.
Then there’s “Oshi Dhora,” a track that defies categorization. Rooted in Korean shamanic rituals, it adds layers of Chinese guqin’s ancient sonority, juxtaposed against Western jazz-inflected chromatic runs. The result is both hypnotic and cerebral, embodying the joy of discovery that comes with cultural interplay.
The musicians’ expertise is undeniable. Each artist not only masters their instrument but also listens deeply to their collaborators. The dialog between the Persian tar and the Indian sitar on several tracks is particularly striking; a conversation across centuries and continents. Vocal performances on the album, while sparing, are profoundly moving, their raw emotionality cutting through the intricate instrumentals.
For those familiar with Yo-Yo Ma’s Silkroad Ensemble or Jordi Savall’s explorations of Mediterranean music, Borderless Flows will feel like a kindred spirit. Yet, the PAN Project Ensemble charts its own course, celebrating not only the intersections of tradition but the modern reimaginings born from them.
PAN Project Ensemble: Gamin on piri, saenghwang; Jeff Roberts on guqin, electronics; Woonjung Sim on Korean percussion; Ned Rothenburg on shakuhachi; and Saeyeon Jeong on Korean vocals.
Collaborators: Jessika Kenny on vocals & poetry recitation; Deepak Paramashivan on sarangi; Jocelyn Clark on gayageum; and Afarin Nazarijou on kanun.
Author: Madison Quinn
