LENA BLOCH featuring KYOKO KITAMURA

MARINA

Fresh Sound Records

Lena Bloch, tenor & soprano saxophones/composer; Kyoko Kitamura, vocals; Jacob Sacks, piano; Ken Filiano, bass; Michael Sarin, drums. Marina Tsvetaeva, poet.

Renowned Russian-born saxophonist and composer, Lena Bloch, is celebrating the poetry of Marina Tsvetaeva, an acclaimed Russian poet, with music Bloch has composed featuring the voice of Kyoko Kitamura. This new album is a commissioned jazz suite for ensemble and voice. It premiered in mid-November last year.

“Throughout my life, Tsvetaeva has been a model of resilience as an immigrant, an artist and a woman.  All, of which, have been under siege in modern political discourse, all the more reason to amplify her voice for a modern audience,” explains Bloch.

“This Suite is not quite music to Tsvetaeva’s poems, but rather an act of our collective perception of her poetry. An attempt at intuitive understanding,” Lena Bloch writes in her liner notes.

Bloch thinks of this production as six short films.  However, there are seven original compositions that make up this album suite. It makes me wonder which composition is not a film. Bloch has translated the poetry of Marina Tsvetaeva herself. Tsvetaeva was born on Oct 9, 1892. The poet’s father was Ivan Tsvetaeva, a professor and founder of the Pushkin Museum of Fine arts. Her mother was a fine pianist. She came from wealthy roots.

However, the poet lived during turbulent Russian history.  She left Russia, fleeing to Berlin, then Prague and finally Paris.  When she eventually returned to her homeland of Russia, in 1939, the Soviet Union government had executed her husband and her surviving daughter was sent to a labor camp. Another daughter had died of starvation. Marina’s poems reflected opinions on the Russian Revolution and the Civil War. She glorified the anti-Bolshevik resistance. But many were reflective of deep feelings.

All of Bloch’s compositions are seven minutes long, or longer.  She is one of the first jazz artists to interpret Tsvetaeva’s poetry into a musical suite.

“Tsvetaeva’s themes are especially relevant to this country of immigrants, now more than ever. … Her work celebrated strength: the power she had to speak freely despite all circumstances, the indomitable will to persevere,” Bloch sings Marina’s praises.

However, most of Bloch’s original music reflects the dark days of Marina Tsvetaeva’ s life. I wish the melodies had been more beautiful, because some of Marina’s poetry is about beautiful things and tender feelings. I thought Track # 4, “Such Tenderness” was a lovely tune. Followed by Track #5, “Tired,” that features an impressive piano solo by Jacob Sacks. Bloch’s saxophone solo is quite spirited and expressive. However, towards the fade of the song, Kitamura’s vocals sing dissonant and repetitive against a chaotic rhythm section, changing the texture of the piece.

Poet, Marina Tsvetaeva committed suicide on Aug 31, 1941.  She hung herself. Although while alive, she lived mostly in poverty and despair, today her poetry is revered. She is heralded as one of the finest poets of the 20h Century. This avant-garde, free jazz production introduces us to her talent.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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