Kalpadruma (which means ‘tree of life’ in Indian-origin religions) is an ensemble led by saxophonist/composer Asha Parkinson, a rising star who reached the semi-finals in the BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year in 2016, 2018 and 2020, and who gained a 1st-class BMus Hons from the Guildhall School of Music in 2020. Her band comprises a jazz quintet, string quartet, woodwind, singers, and qanun (a large Middle Eastern zither).
The launch gig for the album Possession (Ubuntu Music) was in the Toulouse Lautrec Jazz Club in Kennington. It’s a small venue for such a large band, but a cosy atmosphere for the audience with candlelit tables and a bar for food as well as drinks. Fortunately, it was the sort of devoted audience who didn’t chatter or rattle their cutlery.
The band had two performances to deliver (7pm and 9:30pm), but still managed to play every number from Possession and one from their 2022 debut EP Onwards (‘El Duende Me Protege’), plus Parkinson’s arrangements of an Ennio Morricone tune (‘Metti una sera’) and three Turkish folk songs. And great music it was, too. Hard to categorise, but imagine a orchestrated fusion of classical and jazz, with Middle Eastern and even occasional prog-rock influences, as on the riffy and densely textured ‘Urban Fantasy’ with an electric guitar solo from Charlie Heywood.
The Middle Eastern influence was most evident on the three Turkish folk songs, complemented by the haunting qanun of Serdar Yılmaz. The hypnotic dance-like rhythms of one of these, ‘Gurcu Kizi’, rather curiously reminded me of a Scottish reel – but then again, multiculturalism is in this band’s DNA. As if to prove it, the very next piece, ‘Distant Devotion’, was a song setting of a poem by the 13th-century Persian poet Rumi, sung by Swedish vocalist Rebecka Edlund. A lush strings arrangement and Parkinson’s soaring soprano sax made this a deeply romantic performance.
Edlund also sang on ‘Our Father (Avvon D’Bishmaiya)’, inspired by the original Aramaic version of the Lord’s Prayer and originally arranged for choir; and ‘Possession’, with original lyrics by Parkinson and a tune that sounded as if it could belong to a jazz-inflected musical. Another vocal number, ‘El Duende Me Protege’, featured vocalist Aitzi Cofre Real singing in Spanish (more multiculturism!). Then off to Russia with ‘Mirror, Mirror’, on which Real sang Parkinson’s English lyrics inspired by Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina.
Finishing off this globetrotting set was ‘Permanent Verse’, a rhythmically strong piece on which Parkinson encouraged the audience to join in with clapping; and, as an encore, the Turkish folk song ‘Kaytagi’, which started off gently and lyrically before the drums of Alex Taylor dropped in, followed by the strings, rhythmic clapping, and a vigorous and fast piano solo from Reuben Goldmark.
A short review can’t mention all the musicians in this concert, let alone do justice to them. Suffice to say this is a band to watch – and Parkinson’s ambitious, complex arrangements are crying out for a concert hall. How fortunate I felt to hear them early in their career, up close in a small venue with a warm and appreciative audience.
Line-up:
Asha Parkinson – alto, tenor, soprano saxophones and musical direction
Rebecka Edlund – voice
Aitzi Cofre Real – voice
Daniel Swani – flute, piccolo
Christie Smith – trumpet
Simeon May – baritone saxophone, bass clarinet
Serdar Yılmaz – qanun
Abbie Davis, Chloe Meade – violins
Andrew Liddell – viola
Cubby Howard – cello
Reuben Goldmark – piano
Charlie Heywood – guitar
Hamish Nockles-Moore – acoustic bass
Alex Taylor – drums
