There’s cultural appropriation, then there’s cultural homage. This album falls in the latter. The drums are undoubtedly jazz but with a tribal cadence. The brass ranges from smooth to harsh and everything between. The piano is perfectly scattered. The bass is a human walking, standing still, sitting, sleeping, being. The strings are scarce and jagged. The overall feel is walking through a city in Africa experiencing the colors, smells and sounds while being very deliberate about taking in every grain of the culture. I’m not going to break this down by track because the album itself is a cohesive experience. After all, there are only two tracks, Africa and Mikrokosmos. Listening from front to back you could easily determine this is one continuous song with smooth transitions that break any chance of monotony. Maybe Gaslini studied music in Africa and this is his account. I don’t know but I’d be shocked to learn this record isn’t a journal of experience. I’ve never seen it in the US, but if you do, passing on it would be a journey lost.
• Released 1970 on Produttori Associati
Review by: Def Wax
Def Wax 