Bex Burch – Gyil; Dan Nicholls – Bass synth/keyboards;
Dave De Rose – Drums; George Crowley – Sax; Simon Roth – Drums; Stephen Burke –
Vibes; Jim Hart – Vibes (Bewa).
(Review
by Steve H.)
Vula Viel means Good is Good in Dagaare this is the
language of the Upper West Ghana Tribe where Bex Burch lived and studied for 3
years. Starting off as an apprentice to the master Gyilist Thomas Segkura
and graduating to become a teacher herself after the sad passing of her mentor
in 2010.
The music is based around the Gyil a xylophone type instrument
made from sacred iliga wood. The Gyil is used primarily in funerals but the
ambiance is anything but melancholy. This album fuses joyously the traditional
Dagaare music with contemporary jazz. Bex has joined up with some of the cream
of London jazz scene to produce this very fine crossover album All the
tracks have a light uplifting feel to them most make you want to
just get up and dance. However there is enough going on to keep the
listener interested at all times with blend of traditional and modern
instruments. It would be easy to sum up this album by its title Good
is Good but I would like to go a stage further and say Good is
Good is in fact very good indeed.
Available now on Vula Viel Records WMD1.
Steve
1 comment :
Thanks Steve!
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