American trumpeter and composer Frank London is the co-founder of the renowned klezmer ensemble The Klezmatics, composer of the Yiddish-Cuban opera Hatuey Memory of Fire and the multimedia work Salomé: Woman of Valor and 1001 Voices – A Symphony for a New America, and a musician who has worked with John Zorn, Lester Bowie, La Monte young, David Byrne, Pink Floyd, LL Cool J, and They Might Be Giants. He was knighted Sir Frank London for his work promoting multicultural music in Hungary.
London and the Loisaida Fife and Drum Corps’ Touzle Your Kurchy takes him on another musical adventure. Now he returns to the roots of American folk music, the fife and drum music, often identified with military songs and marches, but not as a nostalgic musical journey, but as a music born in a time of strife, fitting a nation facing new struggles, especially when it is celebrating its 250th anniversary. It is a joyful reminder of how the United States overcame the disunion, aimed directly at those who look to fracture this proud nation once again; both a balm and a bomb.
London says that his adaptation of the fife and drum music is not only a window into history, played in a new way. «It’s a refutation of the way ‘Americana’ has been categorised in racial terms. This music wears its genealogy on its outer layer. On one hand you have the English, Irish, and Scottish influences, and on the other you have the clear influence of African music». London employs his Loisaida Fife & Drum Corps to underscore the common musical ground where European folk melodies and African polyphony converge.
London leads the Loisaida Fife & Drum Corps with uplifting, collective improvisations that trade the traditional militaristic spirit for the compassionate, inclusive vibe of a Salvation Army band with the humour of New Orleans Preservation Hall Jazz Band. There are hints of Bo Diddley riffs, West African dances, and an Iranian exile, Martin Shamoonpour, playing a Jew’s harp on one piece, and healthy doses of subversive, anti-militarist spirit. London concludes that this is not only the history of the United States; it is also its future, if this nation will be lucky enough.
Eyal Hareuveni
Frank London (trumpet), Newman Taylor Baker (washboard), Charlie Burnham (violin), Ron Caswell (tuba), Reut Regev (trombone), Brian Chase (snare drum), Elijah Thomas (piccolo), Kenny Wollesen (bass drum), Martin Shamoonpour (Jew’s harp)
