Next Village

Kaila Flexer & Third Ear | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 19, 1999)
• Original Release Date: January 19, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Compass Records
• ASIN: B00000G4OD
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #646,281 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Preconceived Notions

2. Extrapolate Backwards

3. Squirrel Sits In

4. Shepherd's Dream

5. Feijoada

6. Eastern European Medley

7. Andre De Sapato Novo

8. Mrs. Van Loon's Afternoon Tea

9. January 27

10. Grab The Gutter

11. Trapeze Secrets

12. Mazel Tov

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Kaila Flexer uses the constant flux of ingredients in cuisine and language as a metaphor for her culturally eclectic music, a lively amalgam of zlezmer (traditional Jewish dance music), jazz, classical, and Eastern European musical vocabularies. Produced by Flexer's husband, noted mandolinist Mike Marshall (Chiaroscuro), Next Village blends Nikolai Prisakar's lyrical accordion lines with Flexer's ornamented filigrees on the lovely "Shepherd's Dream" and suggests Greek folk music on the Marshall showcase "Grab the Gutter." But even Brazilian grooves ("André de Sapato Novo") and modern jazz balladry ("Trapeze Secrets") aren't off the menu in Flexer's flexible palette. Deadly serious musicianship leavened with a buoyant, wink-and-a-nod spirit, Next Village is a spicy, protein-rich repast of regional tastes combined into a plucky fusion cuisine that's anything but the flavor-of-the-month. --James Rotondi

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars And Now for Something Completely Different, April 21, 2004

By 

Eric Sanberg (Berwyn, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Next Village (Audio CD)

I'm a rocker from way back. I started with the Beatles and ran through just about every permutaion of rock that bubbled up through the industry. But I find as I get older It becomes less and less satisfying. I keep looking for some new sound, but rarely find it in the place I called home. It does, however, keep cropping up just about everyplace else in music. I continually run across artists who are attemting to fuse the most unlikely styles of music. And I am continually surprised by how often they succeed.

Enter Kaila Flexer. I know nothing of her. I ran across this CD as it was floating around the office I worked in (a music "one-stop"). I took it home and gave it a spin. What a peculiar but pleasant experience. It sounded as though a troup of Eastern Europeans decided to see what they could do with jazz after tiring of Klezmer. Originality is no virtue in its own right but this really works. It's a weird amalgam of styles played by some very talented musicians. There isn't a weak link in this lineup and Kaila herself plays a pretty mean fiddle (violin?).

This will never climb up the charts and will never be enjoyed outside a small circle of people, but those who enjoy new musical experiences need only listen to the cut Extrapolate Backwards to know they're in for a real treat. I found myself playing it for any number of people who seemed to enjoy it as much as I did and who often asked "What do you call this kind of music". I don't really care what you call it, just rev it up, sit back, and enjoy the ride.