Dizrhythmia – Dizrhythmia (1988)
Artist: Dizrhythmia
Album: Dizrhythmia
Genre: Jazz Fusion / Art Rock
Label: Antilles New Directions
Year Of Release: 1988
Quality: FLAC (tracks)
Tracklist:
1 Dizrhythmia (4:21) (Jakszyk/Thompson)
2 Standing in the Rain (8:05) (Jakszyk)
3 It Will Only End in Tears (5:46) (Jakszyk)
4 Katy Goes to School (6:54) (Jakszyk)
5 Walking on the Cracks (3:09) (Harrison/Pandit/Jakszyk)
6 8000 Miles (6:17) (Jakszyk)
7 What Katy Did Next (2:42) (Jakszyk)
8 Grown Man Immersed in Tin-Tin (5:45) (Jakszyk/Blegvad)
Personnel:
Gavin Harrison – Drums, Percussion & Marimba
Danny Thompson – Double Bass
Pandit Dinesh – Indian Drums, Percussion & Vocals on track 2, 6 & 8
Jakko M. Jakszyk – Acoustic, Semi-Acoustic & Sitar Guitars, Piano, Prophet, Flute & Vocals
with:
Sultan Khan – Sarangi (track 2, 4)
Gurudev Singh – Sarod (track 3) & Dilruba (track 6)
Durga Pandit – Vocals (track 4)
Rattan Sharma – Vocals (track 3)
Surekha Kothari – Vocals (track 5)
Lyndon Connah – Piano (track 1, 6)
B.J. Cole – Pedal Steel Guitar (track 4, 7)
Dave Stewart – Piano (track 4)
David Coulter – Didjeridoo (track 5)
Bobby Harrison – Flugelhorns (track 7)
Peter Blegvad – Voice (track 8)
The music on this album is a synthesis of two musical forms. The Western Tradition is represented by guitarist/songwriter Jakko Jakszyk, drummer Gavin Harrison and bassist Danny Thompson. They are joined in Dizrhythmia by Indian percussionist Pandit Dinesh, together with a stellar group of Indian classicists.
The idea behind Dizrhythmia were first formulated by Jakko Jakszyk, whose compositions formed the basis for the Indian musicians’ improvisational skills. Once the guests had made their contributions the tracks had naturally taken on a different form, a new direction.
“I think most of the Western fusions with Indian music so far have been patronising.” says Jakko.
“The music has such rhythmic sophistication compared to Western classical music which, for example, didn’t even use syncopation until comparatively recently.
The melodic timbre of Indian music also appealed to me, I liked the melancholy technique and dexterity of the singers.
Improvisation is also integral to the Indian classical structure; Indian musicians never play the same thing twice.”
Jakko Jakszyk and Gavin Harrison first met in 1984. Jakko’s career, by that time, had already included work with the National Youth Theatre plus songwriting, producing and playing guitar for a whole variety of artists and bands, including Swing Out Sister and Jermaine Stewart. He also played guitar for the Inspirational Pentecostal Choir of The First Born Church Of The Living God; indeed, he was the only white member of the choir.
Harrison’s career, meanwhile, had been built on a solid reputation as one of Britain’s finest drummers. Among his credits, for instance is work with a variety of artists, from Iggy Pop to Geno Washington and Duran Duran’s guitarist Andy Taylor.
Pandit Dinesh is part of the fourth generation from a leading family of classical musicians from India. He is the son of a legendary classical singer called Pandit Maniramji. Pandit Dinesh’s own career, however, started with session work for the Indian film industry – in India the movies are the prime vehicle for popular culture and most singers and musicians make their initial reputations working on soundtracks.
Pandit also made frequent trips to London, where he played with visiting Indian stars. It was on one such trip, in 1980. that he decided to make London his home.
Despite several setbacks Pandit Dinesh achieved a breakthrough with the group Osibisa, since when he has carved himself a regular career working with such diverse artists as the Communards, Nick Heyward, Simply Red, The Thompson Twins, ABC and Blancmange.
It was Pandit Dinesh’s reputation that gave Dizrhythmia the access to the cream of visiting Asian musicians whose work you can hear on the album.
Danny Thompson is one of the world’s finest acoustic bassists, a reputation that now stretches back 30 years. Danny was a stalwart of the Soho jazz scene in the Fifties and, by the following decade, his musical horizons embraced everything from jazz and folk to rhythm & blues. He worked with Ronnie Scott, for instance, and Tubby Hayes, Alexis Korner and Ginger Baker.
By the end of the Sixties he was a member of the much-vaunted folk-rock group Pentangle and few years later he began a long association with John Martyn.
His unique, melodic sound has endeared Thompson to every generation of musicians. His career includes credits with John McLaughlin, Kate Bush, Julian Cope, Everything But The Girl and David Sylvian.
Most recently, however, Thompson has entered into the limelight himself, releasing his own solo album, called Whatever, to rave applause from the critics.
Boasting such a wealth of talent and imagination. The haunting music of Dizrhythmia naturally possesses its own unique soul.
