In 2008 ECM Records began an ambitious and handsome reissue project that
brought many catalog titles back into print, in handsome gatefold
cardboard digipacks with original artwork, and sold them for budget
prices. In 2009 ECM jumped into the game of reissuing catalog titles en
masse with budget multiple-disc box sets. Among the first of these are
the three mysterious albums by the all-acoustic trio Codona, whose
members were multi-instrumentalists Collin Walcott, Don Cherry, and Naná
Vasconcelos. Codona are not often spoken of for their groundbreaking
approach in melding world folk traditions to improvisation and jazz, but
the truth is, they were at the very forefront. They used world music
traditions authentically -- in the sense that each individual in the
group had decades of study and immersion already under his belt before
coming to the group -- without attempting to water anything down to make
it fit. Codona were about listening and flow, and these three CDs are a
monumental testament to that. Silence (not the new age artificial kind,
but the true musical kind), space, interplay, compositional and
improvisational discipline, and a sense of humor and playfulness mark
these recordings as indispensable parts of the ECM catalog, and as
important additions to each musician's résumé. The truth of the matter,
whether they were playing two Ornette Coleman tunes bridged by one by
Stevie Wonder as in "Colemanwonder" on their debut, African traditional
music as in "Godumaduma" on Codona, Vol. 2, or an original tune such as
"Hey Da Ba Doom" by Walcott on Codona, Vol. 3, the same elements were
always applied, and always put to rather astonishingly adventurous use.
No one composition sounds like another and no group of elements,
regardless of how dissimilar -- from sitar, tabla, sanza, and hammered
dulcimer; to berimbau, cuica, and talking drum; to trumpet,
doussn'gouni, flutes, and melodica; to voices -- ever sounds out of
place or strange no matter how exotic the setting. Codona were the sound
of nature unveiled, of music engaged with the universe, of the genuine
expertise and good will of a group of master musicians in dialogue with
one another. This is remarkable music, and these recordings endure as
well as still point the way to what is possible when players check their
egos at the door in service of music itself. by Thom Jurek
Pure wizardry. The art of the improvisers beyond all borders. Preaching
equality for all the idioms, anticipating the gathering wave of “world
music”, drawing on traditions from all the continents, Codona was like
no other band. Its sound: simultaneously poetic and powerfully evocative
and stamped, in every second, with character. Summoned into being by
Collin Walcott in 1978, the trio provided an utterly original context
for Don Cherry’s starkly melodic trumpet and for the
multi-instrumentalism of all three players. This 3-CD box incorporates
the albums “Codona” (recorded 1978), “Codona 2” (1980) and “Codona 3”
(1982). Excerpt from ECM's Website :
Codona (1978)
2. Codona (6:16)
3. Colemanwonder, Race Face, Sortie, Sir Duke (3:44)
4. Mumakata (8:18)
5. New Light (13:22)
1. Que Faser (7:11)
2. Godumaduma (1:58)
3. Malinye (12:43)
4. Drip-Dry (7:03)
5. Walking on Eggs (3:04)
6. Again and Again, Again (7:32)
2. Hey Da Ba Doom (7:13)
3. Travel By Night (5:55)
4. Lullaby (3:34)
5.Trayra Boia (5:19)
6. Clicky Clacky (4:10)
7. Inner Organs (9:17)
Don Cherry: trumpet, doussn’gouni, flutes, organ, melodica, voice
Nana Vasconcelos: berimbau, cuica, talking drum, percussion, voice
Collin Walcott: sitar, tabla, hammered dulcimer, sanza, timpani, voice
