Zack Browning: Soul Doctrine
Innova

A too-quick scan of Soul Doctrine's back cover hints that this Zack Browning (b. 1953) release is a chamber classical collection featuring works for duos and trios. Closer inspection, however, discloses the involvement of electric guitarist Walter Zanetti, which suggests Soul Doctrine is less a prototypical chamber release than some unusual classical-and-rock fusion. That's an oversimplification, of course, as it's certainly a whole lot more than that, but it's also not far wrong.

Tackling Browning's material is the Trento, Italy-based chamber ensemble Sonata Islands, which as an outfit dedicated to performing new classical and jazz- and rock-flavoured pieces would seem to be a perfect fit for his music. Established by flutist Emilio Galante, the quartet also features the aforementioned Zanetti plus pianist Andrea Dindo and alto saxophonist Pepito Ros. On Soul Doctrine, the four are arranged into different groupings of twos and threes for all five of the works presented.

Though Browning's an Associate Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois, Soul Doctrine is no by-the-numbers academic exercise in Western classical form. Instead, he draws on a number of unusual strategies, Chinese magic squares, feng shui, and astrology among them, as foundations upon which to build, resulting in pieces that are, not surprisingly, as unconventional (detailed info pertaining to the compositions' origins are included on the physical package's inner sleeve). It also doesn't come as a huge surprise that the listener is oblivious to such esoterica as the music plays, the attention instead engaged by music that's visceral, vibrant, and rapidly scene-shifting.

Of course, the moment you're in classical-and-rock territory, chances are prog isn't far behind, and true enough the album does occasionally exude a strong prog scent. It makes some kind of perverse sense, then, that the title composition should not only draw upon Palestrina for a theme (“Missa Pape Marcelli”) but Jethro Tull, too (“Cross-Eyed Mary”). The flute-piano-electric guitar combination makes for interesting listening, especially when the ever-dizzying piece wends such an unpredictable, episodic route and the slightly raw timbres of the guitar provide such stark contrast to the acoustic instruments.

Its title a reference to the “228 Incident” and the thirty-eight years of martial law in Taiwan from 1949 to 1987, Silent Crackdown, a duet for alto sax and piano, draws for inspiration from a number of things, music played at Taiwanese funerals to awaken the dead and the jazz tune “Evidence” among them. Sombre passages, mellifluous melodies, and swinging sequences surface during the ten-minute ride, one as wide-ranging as the title track. In similar manner, Unafraid references everything from “Our Town is Burning,” the unofficial anthem for Jewish resistance during the second World War, and Handel's “Tears Will Assist Me” to Bob Marley's “Get Up, Stand Up,” the elements united by common themes of bravery, resilience, and survival.

January 2019