New York Jazz Guide - November 2006 By Dan Bilawsky The music of Ian Dogole and Hemispheres is a blend of traditional jazz with different ethnic influences spicing up the mix. Dogole and his musical companions have created a strong album, which puts an emphasis on stylistic difference during each of the seven tracks performed here. Sheldon Brown’s “Nostalgia,” which opens the album, features the composer on soprano saxophone. Dogole’s udu playing, and the steady bass playing from Bill Douglass, help to anchor the music while Brown and Paul McCandless solo over the rhythm duo.

McCandless, who was blending jazz and world music with Oregon long before it was commonplace, is impressive with his fluid soloing on bass clarinet in the second half of this piece. Dogole and Hemispheres move down to South America for “Mistura E Manda. ”Sheldon Brown’s arrangement of the piece maintains a strong Brazilian influence and mixes in a little bit of New Orleans second line. “John Coltrane” opens with a mystery laden bass solo from Bill Douglass. This Bill Lee composition, while featuring five performers on this particular performance, really captures the spirit of Coltrane’s classic quartet. The piece, which is waltz-like in feel, features some great saxophone work from McCandless and Brown. Frank Martin sprinkles McCoy Tyner-isms throughout the piece and Dogole, while not as loose and pliable as Elvin Jones, maintains the overall percussive arc that Coltrane’s music had. “Hijaz Oyun Havasi,” a traditional Turkish tune arranged by Hemispheres, begins with some strong ensemble playing. This gives way to a clarinet cadenza from Sheldon Brown. To his credit, Brown never gets anywhere near a musical cliché during this piece. The solo clarinet performance becomes a duet with Dogole’s hand drumming and percussion work until the baton is handed to McCandless on soprano saxophone. Douglass gently moves behind the soprano saxophone during the freely played solo section of the piece. I can’t say that I have encountered many duo performances like “Jungle Jive II,” which feature talking drum and pennywhistles! While this vehicle could threaten to become aurally tedious, the overall fun spirit in the piece and the short running time help to make this musical dialogue very enjoyable. “House Party Starting,” by Herbie Nichols, is a slick tune that evokes images of a smoky late-night club with a small, but attentive audience. Douglass anchors the music in this medium paced performance and contributes his best solo on the album. Dogole’s focus, while occasionally moving across the drums, is on his ride cymbal. The piece simmers throughout and, while never exploding, always maintains a sort of tension from start to finish. Billy Higgins influenced countless musicians and Dogole dedicates the album closer, “Smiles for Billy,” to the drumming legend. The hang, a “steel-pan hybrid instrument,” is the centerpiece of this “multi-episodic composition.” After an impressive solo from Dogole, the ensemble begins to play long notes, which overlap to create some floating, hypnotic sections of music. This leads to a section of music with more rhythmic stability and flute and oboe solos from Brown and McCandless, respectively. The piece and album, concludes as the music fades away and we get a last glimpse of the hang from the leader. Ian Dogole and Hemispheres have created an album that is strong in variety and cleverly fuses jazz and many “world music” styles. Back to Press