Swiss hackbretts and the
Persian santur combine on this 1999 production and the results do equal the
self-ascribed tag “imaginary folkmusic”, but with rock-chamber jazz sonorities
not yet encountered elsewhere in the emerging idiom. The ten 5 to 6 minute
excursions all penned by Alp denizen Schiltknecht are bound with a prolog and
epilog by alphornist Roland Dahinden, whose resonant and authentic air charges
the dulcimers with high mountain flavor. Electric bass and
drums modernize what would otherwise be some austere and lovely acoustic playing
that straddles the new folk recital/improv line. Tracks with a rhythm section
are carried with a single groove strategy that yields expansive travel textures
when Schiltknecht & the classically trained, Iranian refugee Kushan extemporize
over top. Further dimension is added with violin and cello
and occasional wordless vocals. Much of the music here has a
minor key basis, importantly enriched by a large acoustic stage.
Friendlier than comparable nordic jazz, thanks to a few major key
melodies and waltz meters, this is not quite the traditional/alternative folk of
the Northside label either. Schiltknecht
reveals that “Tunsch” is an old alpine expression for a human-like puppet or
artificial humanoid, created by shepherds. However, according to legend, at the
end of the alpseason when the shepherds depart leaving the Tunsch alone, the
lonely effigy exacts horrible revenge on them. Which would explain the small
exhibition of somewhat menacing, primitivistic charcoal drawings which accompany
the attractive black & white booklet. More lore appears in
an ancient alpine (originally Sicilian) cultural utterance chanted in “Sator
Formula” which purportedly wards off evil, fire, drought and other natural
calamities. Tunsch is a handsome, impressionistic album of
contemporary music making intuitively informed by myth and the purity of
folklife yet escapes typing or direct comparison with any similar developments
in
-Steve Taylor