New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Lisa Young official website) Filmed on a winter's day at Ferdy Durke in Melbourne, director Tabata Piccinelli's vision was to weave the creation of the Eternal Pulse album artwork (painted by artist Elizabeth Vercoe) with the vibrant imagery of the group's performance. Inspired by the intense rhythmic language of the music, Piccinelli allowed the rhythms to set the pace in the editing suite, resulting in an art-filled vision of this fine Australian ensemble.
Launched specifically on International Women's as a celebration of the journey shared with director Tabata Piccinelli, and producer Kellie Jayne Chambers, the video features the intuitive musicality of vocalist Lisa Young, Stephen Magnusson on guitar, Ben Robertson on double bass and Dave Beck on drums.
Young is well known to world music and jazz listeners as a creative vocal stylist and improviser, incorporating Indian and African elements in her work. A longtime student of mridangam maestro Guru Kaaraikkudi Mani in Chennai, Lisa specializes in 'konnakol' - South Indian vocal percussion. The highlight of much of her recent work is her exploration and creation of vocal works using a diverse vocal language that speaks from a personal 'sound bank' aesthetic built over many years as an improvising singer.
"Her art is an awesome rhythmic control, not to be missed, this is one out of the box" - Leon Gettler, The AGE
The quartet's latest work 'The Eternal Pulse', layers Indian elements, rhythmic textures and ensemble dialogue, and is influenced by Young's years of exploring and integrating the art of konnakol, and her commitment to the creation of a unique voice in contemporary vocal music. The Eternal Pulse features the of art konnakol, scat sounds and varieties of rhythmic meter and subdivision to produce a wordless song-cycle strongly held within a jazz performance framework. As an ensemble they seamlessly apply the creative tools of both the Karnatic and jazz traditions into a new form of musical expression linking the creative processes of two musical cultures. Unique to Young's work is the use of both recited and pitched konnakol. Aside from the traditional intoned percussive passages, Young creatively uses konnakol language to express melody, bass riffs, and improvised sections.
The Eternal Pulse is the major performance project created for her PhD in Music Performance at Monash University, Melbourne, where she received the Monash-Pratt Post Graduate Award for her candidature. She gratefully acknowledges the inclusion of konnakol structures composed by K. Mani, the vision of the work shared with her co-composer Ben Robertson and collaborative development with the quartet members, guided by the highly developed harmonic and rhythmic language of the jazz tradition.
As an ensemble of award winning improvising musicians (BELL Awards, Best Australian Vocal Album) they have a rich creative and performance history and have received wide media acclaim for their unique craft and musicianship.
"An intelligent, loving, and unforced marriage of two great musical traditions" - Doug Spencer, ABC Radio
Tha Thin Tha is composed by Lisa Young, Ben Robertson and Kaaraikudi Mani and performed and improvised by Lisa Young Quartet.
To learn more about konnakol and The Eternal Pulse visit Lisa Young's website https://www.lisayoung.com.au or get in touch with her at https://www.facebook.com/lisayoungmusic
