Search - Vijay Iyer, Mike Ladd :: Still Life With Commentator

With their second agit-proppy sound and word experiment, following In What Language? (1994), pianist Vijay Iyer and poet/performance artist Mike Ladd have taken on one of the grand subjects of our era: the onslaught of the new information age, with its blurring of fact and rumor, and our struggle to harness it. Awash in a sea of styles, from M-Base-style jazz-funk to hip-hop to minimalism to bel canto, Still Life With Commentator provides its own kind of international channel surfing experience, with a diverse cast providing the singing and speaking voices: Ladd, the amazing operatic "audio artist" Pamela Z, Icelandic actress Palina Jonsdottir, Japanese actor Masayasu Nakanishi, and Guillermo E. Brown, best known as a drummer but also contributing soulful vocals here. With Iyer, one of the most inspired of new wave jazz artists, slipping in lyrical touches on acoustic piano and providing striking synthesizer settings, the music never stop stirring the senses. But as full of heart as this theatrical work is, and as on the right side of issues with pieces like "Jon Stewart on Crossfire" (anchormen are much on its mind), it keeps listeners at arm's length with its obscure and sometimes goofy language. "I am Bambi dammit/Do not pee on my bliss." It's sometimes best to substitute the words the music has you hearing in your head for the ones you're hearing on the CD. --Lloyd Sachs