The arrival in Pyongyang was courtesy of a 30 hour train journey from Beijing, quite an extraordinary experience in itself. Airkraft was scheduled to perform a series of music sets in a variety of theatres by special invitation of the Organising Committee of The 'April Spring Friendship Art Festival'.. the trio met their two young delightful guides in the evening gloom of Pyongyang station.. this cultural adventure had now really begun.
This CD is the retrospective recording which was the result of this ten day adventure back in the Spring of 2009. It is a travelogue which combines the trios collective improvisations, Frank Van De Kooijs musical sketches with field samples taken from the streets and state media of the DPRK. (Listen out for the Pyongyang Express, the DPRK national anthem, Arirang, and the most enthusiastic introductions ever).
The music draws its inspiration from progressive rock, contemporary classical and many references to the European free jazz school, perhaps feint echoes of a previous all British saxophone trio SOS (Surman, Osborne and Skidmore) even spring to mind.
In many ways the music here mirrors the sights and sounds of the DPRK, organised, angular, meticulous and industrial, but behind this veil lies the more tender, sweet and melancholic side of life. Just like Europeans, it seems that the people of the DPRK just want to eat, drink and be merry.. sadly, sometime, that's the problem.
CDBABY
