Jazz Archives

A first aural encounter with Elliot Bergman's transcultural NOMO ensemble from Ann Arbor, MI, will undoubtedly and correctly stir the soul and move the feet in the same direction as Fela Kuti's Afro-beat orchestra music of the 1960s-1980s. Bergman, the leader and composer, has assembled a large band around the sound of reeds and brass -- and the occasional woodwind -- and a myriad of percussion instruments from a trap kit to all manner of hand drums and small instruments. Also prevalent in the mix are B-3, Fender Rhodes, bass, guitar, and textural instruments like the harp. What it adds up to is a music that indeed uses Kuti's notions of rhythm and melody, but it certainly doesn't stop there. Over the course of these ten cuts, one can hear the deep resonance of the harmony employed in John Coltrane's Africa Brass sessions and the modal notions employed on the Olé Coltrane album as well. There's a deep dub reggae and funk here, too, where King Tubby meets the JB's. With Warn Defever in the producer's chair, Bergman makes sure it's not all dark bubbly groove and vibe -- though they are present on every selection. Bergman is a highly developed, sophisticated composer. His charts reveal a canny knowledge of song forms that come from jazz, soul, and blues and employ a keen, elegant sense of dynamic and texture. There isn't a weak moment on this set, but a couple of the true burners here do stand out. 

"Discontinued," with its spacey funk guitar line, minor groove horn charts coming at the mix deep dubwise, rough-and-ready Rhodes solo, fueled by a rippling, propulsive backbeat, opens the set cooking on high. "Better Than That," with its Afro-Cuban percussion intro and Yoruba-meets-Nigeria modality, is underscored by a knotty melody colored by African thumb piano and a driving B-3. "Moving in Circles" opens with a tough tenor and baritone horn line that gives way to a shimmering yet edgy funk tune with vocals that come out as a perfect, seamless meld of spaced-out soul, Afro-beat, and hard, mid-'70s groove wrapped in post-bop jazz. As the recording continues, it becomes slippery, moving through time while seemingly displacing it. The intoxicating brew of rhythms emerge and disappear only to be replaced with others that push beautifully constructed harmonics and melodic invention through the listener's space, engaging the body as well as the mind. This is one hell of a debut album that uses the past to push righteously into the future.

:::Review by Thom Jurek:::

Nomo - Nomo (2004)

1. Discontinued 8:03
2. Better Than That 6:31
3. Not Wisely ... 0:41
4. Moving In Circles 6:25
5. ... Too Well 2:03
6. Busy 8:42
7. Untitled 0:28
8. Hourglass 7:15
9. The Seams 2:41
10. La La La 3:25

Credits
Congas - Nicole Turney
Djembe, Drums [Kpanlogo] - Antoinette Kudoto
Drums, Percussion - Dan Piccolo , Mike Gabelman
Flute, Saxophone [Tenor] - Leah Paul
Guitar [Fuzz], Percussion - Fred Thomas
Harp - Chilali Hugo
Mixed By, Guitar - Erik Hall
Organ, Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes] - Alex Chadsey
Producer, Mixed By, Guitar [Wah] - Warn Defever
Saxophone [Alto, Tenor] - Dann Friedman
Saxophone [Baritone] - Dan Bennett
Saxophone [Tenor] - Michael Herbst

Trombone - G. Scott Jones
Trumpet - Ingrid Racine
Vocals, Bass - Jamie Register
Vocals, Composed By, Written By, Mixed By, Saxophone [Tenor], Piano [Electric Mbira], Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes] - Elliot Bergman
Written-By - Segun Bucknor (tracks: 10)