the story: by Son of CHIHanyo van Oosterom aka Son Of Chi on The Fifth World Recordings:
"In the early eighties i spent long periods in the cave of The Kallikatsou on the island of Patmos, Greece. I was surrounded by the beauty and the silence of this magical place. Times of simple life and soulsearching. I just discovered the Fourth World Music of Jon Hassell. I brought my cassette walkman with portable speakers and played “Dream Theory In Malaya” on repeat. At night, looking at the stars and stil hearing the sea, the nightbirds, distant goat Bells, sometimes untill sunrise. Back home i started recording ambient soundscapes inspired by the memory and insights of these times. For my first track “CHI -Hopi” (1984) i sampled the voice of a Hopi elder. Later i found out he was talking about the Hopi ceremonies, the respect for nature, the fourth world and the arising of the fifth world. In 1987 i met Jon Hassell for the first time after his “The Surgeon Of The Nightsky” concert in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. I gave him the “CHI-Original Recordings” cassette. Later he sent me a beautiful letter saying: “it’s an old mens pleasure to see beautiful things grow from seeds planted”. Decades later in 2007 i invited Jon Hassell for two magic nights of “instant composing sessions’ with the Numoonlab Orchestra in LantarenVenster in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. the same stage where Jon Hassell performed in 1987 and also where CHI did their first live concert in 1986. We also had special guests like Tony Allen (Fela Kuti), Ursula Rucker, Kain The Poet (Last Poets), Dwight Trible (Art Ensemble Of Chicago), Omar Ka. Anthony Joseph, Colonel Red, Joe Bowie (Defunkt) and many more. Trumpeteer Arthur Flink and electronic jazz producer (State Of Monc, FLiNK) was part of the Numoonlab Orchestra. Later we Also performed together with the trip hop collective “Flying Dutchman”, the “Zebra Zulu Quartet” and Fulani singer Omar Ka. When Jon Hassell sadly passed away in 2021 i invited Arthur Flink to record a tribute album, inspired by Hassell’s epic and groundbreaking ambient albums like “Vernal Equinox” (1977), “Dream Theory In Malaya” (1981) and ”Aka/Darbari/Java” (1983). We randomly created loops, drones and soundscapes at the Chi Factory Studios. Arthur Flink was jamming with these sketches. “In A Silent Way” by Miles Davis (1969) was also a source of inspiration. The trumpet improvisations were later layered, looped, stretched, piched and harmonised. Using the exotic scales and unique harmonics of Jon Hassell as a guide. Finally i added bass, piano, guitars, vocoder, percussion, mouthharp, vocal samples and fieldrecordings.The wah bamboo flute at the closing piece is an homage to the works of CHI co-founder Jacobus Derwort (1952-2019). For this piece i used his first bamboo flute he made at the cave of The Kallikatsou in 1984. Arthur Flink answers with a wonderful wah trumpet, almost like the intuitive communication of nightbirds. The Hopi vocal sample strengthens the ritual. |
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