Vered Dekel and Miles Griffith

expanded interpretations

VDMG7063

Vered Dekel, vocals; Miles Griffith, vocals; Shedrick Mitchell, piano, organ; Reggie Washington, electric bass; Avishai Cohen, trumpet, flugelhorn; David Pleasant, drums, percussion, vocals; Joe Barbeto, accordion

Odd, might be the first thing that springs to mind with this CD. Vered Dekel and Miles Griffith gurgle, splutter, whoop, scream and wail their way through some wacky, fascinating tracks. The liner notes, written in the spirit of the CD, offer (purposefully, I imagine,) no deep insight into what is going on. They do say 'Listen to the music'; it is there, a trifle bizarre on occasions, but the integrity of the piece is always held. This is original, experimental stuff; excellent playing from the instrumentalists who seem to have a great time. Good, demented organ playing from Shedrick Mitchell in "Born To Cry"; and after some initial screaming in "Boola Zoola", it develops into a cool Jazz number. There are periods of remission; "Emp-Va-Lest" is a remarkable, unaccompanied duet from the pair, and "I Want To Be", a love song, has some beautiful singing from Vered Dekel, soaring deliciously and using some unusual melodic nuances, Miles Griffith is always a splendid foil. Dekel and Griffith penned eleven of the twelve tracks; they both have wonderful voices, capable of the sort of circus dexterity that their music exploits. This is adventurous, seeking, spirited, cascading impressionism that thoroughly entertains.

It is a CD to make you sit up and pay attention; I enjoyed it, which is, well, odd.

by Ferdinand Maylin

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