ADAMA

This album (the CD version) is listed twice on Progarchives, both as an album and a compilation. Basically, it's a CD reissue with a bonus track ("Ima"), but the order of the original 7 tracks has been changed, and so has the cover artwork. Moreover, the title is changed from "Adama" to "Adama Ima", and to top it off, the cover notes from 1995 completely fail to mention that these recordings were made 9 years earlier. I've had to go to Seffer's homepage and do some detective work on whether it is in fact the same recording. It is, apparently, although I don't have the LP version to check. Ascertaining the provenance of the extra track "Ima" required another bit of detective work (more on that later).

Adama is a grand project, because it unites (for the first time, according to the liner notes) all 7 saxophones from sopranino to contrabass at the same time on a single album. All played by Seffer. And as if that doesn't make for a rich enough spectrum of reed horns for you, on the tracks "Trablair" and "Ima" Yochk'o also plays 6 sonic sculptures which he designed and fabricated himself. To enjoy this album, in other words, you need to like saxophones, and lots of them. That said, Seffer really pushes the instruments to the boundaries of what they can do, employing them in unsusual ways. Having got his hands on the extremely rare contrabass saxophone (which he poses with on the cover), he realised that the mechanical noise from the keywork was loud enough to have nice percussive properties in its own right. To call some of his arrangements non-standard would not be exaggerating: for example "La danse des ferrailleurs" is a piece for 3 contrabass saxophones and one baritone. Tell me you've heard that before...

Mind you: this is not a Zeuhl album by any stretch of the imagination, even though bits and pieces of the Zeuhl esthetic is evident. What style to call this music, though, I'm not so sure. I guess it goes in the contemporary jazz shelf somewhere. Nevertheless, Adama Ima should appeal to proggers who have a stomach for Zeuhl and RIO/avant-garde.

The highlights on the album for me are the two last tracks, "Trablair" and "Ima", which feature Seffer's musical sculptures as well as a 9-voice "choir" (all sung by Seffer). Treblair is extremely intense, and the effect of all the saxophones, sonic sculptures and ghostly voices is jolly insane! One of the most inspiring pieces of music I've heard. "Ima" on the other hand, moves slowly through several phases, in a long prayer. A 19 minute version of "Ima" was released as side B of the 1976 album by Neffesh Music of the same name. Confusingly, this version is longer, and it turns out it is a different version incorporating elements of the track "Ghilgoul" from the album by that name. It features the trademark string section of Neffesh Music who add a beautiful ambience; I particularly like the pizzicato cello work from about 16 minutes. All the way through the music twists and turns through various moods, carrying a single long long tenor sax solo most of the way through. Truly inspired. Why these strings players are not credited in the album cover I can't fathom. Another case of lack of information which gives being a Yochk'o Seffer that element of detective work.

According to some liner notes written for the original LP which featured 7 tracks, Seffer was inspired by Kabbalistic symbolism and the number 7, with 7 tracks featuring 7 saxophones symbolising the 7 days of creation. I find it hard to reconcile this with the fact that the order of the tracks was changed for the re-issue, though. Either way, serious thought has gone into the compositions here, each of which is even accompanied by a painting (also by Seffer himself). What the liner notes do state about interpretation of this work is that "Adama" -- "Earth" in Hebrew -- and "Ima" -- "Mother" in Hebrew and "Prayer" in Hungarian, unites to become "The prayer of Mother Earth".

In summary, this is really amazing music, and very awarding if you are willing to spend the time and energy delving into it. But it's definitely not for everyone; I guess most people would get saxophone overdose pretty quickly. But if you like some avant-garde and contemporary jazz you will swallow this whole.