Firebird Ensemble Plot in Fiction Italian Music For Ensemble (2002)

Ripped from the DVD-Audio portion of this amazing set. The DVD-A side of the DVD offers both STEREO and 5.1 SURROUND at 24/48. That is what I offer here.

This is the sound, the story, of the M’berra Ensemble, a collective of Malian musicians from the M’berra Refugee Camp in southeast Mauritania, and Italian producer and electro-shaman Khalab. In a sprawling tent city rising out of the desert, out of nothingness, at the border with Mali in West Africa, brought together by spirit and circumstance, the group’s Arab and Tuareg members — some unknown, some who have previously toured Europe — find solace and beauty in music and song.

Fantastic singing by the Finnish ensemble, who display a remarkable ability to convey the 'polyphony' - the sounding together of 'many tunes'. For their focus is very much on ensuring each voice is phrasing & singing their 'tune', with the lovely harmonies a result rather than their main target. It's good to hear an ensemble singing this way, all too often we hear the same 'vertical' (harmonic) approach that is the basis of the last 200+ years of concentration on tune+harmony, rather than a truly 'horizontal' focus on the lines of the music.

The Revolutionary Ensemble were an extraordinary trio who unfortunately has a very limited discography, and what they did record is rather difficult to find. The Psyche is a case in point, released in 1975 on the small, self-produced RE: Records label and, as of 2002, unavailable on disc. It's a superb performance, however, consisting of three compositions, one by each group member, and can serve as a microcosm of what the band was about…

Shawn Phillips is my guru, a spiritual guide if you will. After listening to this album I am always infused with energy and good will and feel I have the strength to carry on no matter what is pulling me down in life. Shawn is my candidate for the most overlooked / underrated musician of our time, he’s an extremely fine musician and vocalist with an incredible vocal range that will blow your mind.

Over the years Mr. Phillips has worked with Peter Robinson quite a bit, you might know him from Quatermass (the band). Peter Robinson shines quite a bit on Rumplestiltskin's Resolve, another Quatermass alum (John Gustafson on bass) shows up on the “Spiteful” track.