Kali Z. Fasteau: Sensual Hearing

Music from the jazz world and the world-at-large get together, unapologetically, on Zusaan Kali Fasteli’s Sensual Hearing (Flying Note 9005; 60:52), on which the multi-instrumentalist leader exercises her global-jazz improv ideals. Fasteli was raised in Paris and New York and was an ardent traveler, both literally and culturally. On this, her sixth album for Flying Note, she sings and plays soprano sax, ney, shakuhachi, piano, cello, mizmar, moursin, and drums. Joining her on the album, recorded in different situations, are such noted figures as bassist William Parker, pianist Bobby Few, violinist Somalia Richards, and the Korean komungo player Jin Hi Kim. In effect, Fasteli is extending the thematic thread of musicians who have made the connection between free jazz, various world music traditions, and the improvisational imperative in general. This is not easy listening: it’s about tracing universal cultural lineage, with the empowerment of jazz in the broad sense.

Originally Published November 1, 1997