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Ido Ziv and Friends , Assiya (Deep Tree Music). Israel-born, Denver-based drummer and percussionist Ido Ziv leads an international lineup through almost an hour's worth of folkloric reverie and deep, polyrhythmic grooves. Integrating world genres while remaining true to the traditions of origin, Ziv turns Indian ragas, Celtic reels, Brazilian rhythms and more into a colorful tapestry fit to adorn any global village.
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My suspicion is that Ido Ziv is probably the type of guy who has more frequent flier miles than he knows what to do with. The percussionist's new album Assiya draws intercontinental inspiration from all over the globe, with a wide range of native rhythms and eclectic instrumentation to fill out his particularly holistic vision of what the world's music sounds like. There is a rambling mix of east and west, old and new, that at times is completely incoherent. But sometimes, when incoherence doesn't become irritating, it can be a strength. On the CD, Ziv pastes together sounds from Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, and beyond, making a collage of discoveries both from native musicians as well as from rhythms of the street and from inside the discotheques.
Wisely, Ido Ziv does not feel the need to take center stage. Percussion can be a perfect additive - the secret sauce that makes great music what it is. Taken too far though, it risks devolving into a monotonous drum circle, which is fine for the park, but not for great music. Ziv seems to sense this from the cover of the album to the music contained within. It says “Ido Ziv and Friends” on the sleeve, and the musicians surrounding Ido are given almost top billing. This is particularly true of Ari Mendes who layers beautiful acoustic, electric, and bass guitar work throughout the album and shares songwriting duties on many of the tracks. Ziv shows a true musical appreciation of both the roots of his songs and the players he's enlisted to play them.
The songs themselves vary across the spectrum. Simple African rhythms butt heads with electronic and sampled percussion on “It Don't Come Easy” featuring vocals by M'Mah Doumbouya . Whistles and pipes of a Celtic reel whoosh into the strobing pulses of rave music on “Reelwind,” and syrupy saxophones and a funky bass guitar jazz up the congas and djembe on “Cheetah Surprise.” The result is a wonderfully schizophrenic carpet ride. Imagine a magical radio tuned to every music in the world and a crazy percussionist quickly shifting from one station to the next and back again so that the sounds of planet Earth form one continuous sound – that is what Assiya is.
Ido Ziv is a Denver-based percussionist whose new album Assiya is an experiment delving into just about every musical style you might imagine. It is at one moment progressive jazz, the next Irish and the next Middle Eastern and tying it all together is Ziv's African, Afro-Cuban and Middle Eastern beats.
Listing the forms of percussion Ziv helms would take up more space than I have—needless to say, it's quite a bit. Ziv's greatest strength is his ability to bring players on board to join him that complements his songwriting and musical sensibilities. Surrounding him at any moment there may be a saxophone, guitar and bass or simply recorded noises such as helicopters or children playing in a park, but whatever might be going on to create texture is a perfect complement to Ziv's percussion work.
Ziv himself wrote most of the tracks, often with help from Brazilian guitarist Ari Mendes. The strongest tracks are arguably those that include West African vocalist M'mah Doumbouya, whose vocal range is equally as impressive as his speed. |
