Slowness as the opposite of haste, not only from a semantic point of view but as a mirror pole, a key thought that claims an entire system of ideas. Slowness as a treasure to be rediscovered, a journey in full contestation of the dictates of accelerationism, the goal through which to regain contact with rest and oblivion, mourning, the very design that underlies our limits and aspirations. Slowness as a political proclamation, a manifesto with which to subvert the concept of movement, the senseless mania that attacks and consumes everything. As the second chapter of its “Reflections” series, dedicated to encouraging collaboration between contemporary musicians, RVNG goes straight to the most rebellious offshoots of ambient music, playing with the expectations and preconceptions that it brings with it.
Its interpreters? On one side we find Khari Lucas, better known as Contour, neo-soul musician and producer, recently appreciated also in “Gentle Confrontation” by Loraine James. On the other we have instead Omari Jazz, closer to the hip-hop universe but with a solid basic electronic training. If the second had already appeared in the last solo album of the first, it is only now that the creative pleasure finds a concrete shore, in the form of the Black Decelerant project. Born of the mutual passion for jazz improvisation, but at the same time the frame of a much more articulated sound picture, the first product of the couple travels on the wings of a deep reflection, supported by a quiet reversal of perspective that totally embraces its realization.
With only a brief vocal parenthesis to provide the entire album with a clear conceptual foothold, as well as reaffirming the proudly African-American perspective of the project, the album never makes its political nature explicit through sound choices or particular textural twists, rather it is itself, its very conception, that represents the protest, that highlights the countercurrent movement in the system in which it is inserted. And if this also involves disrupting the numerical order of the songs in the playlist, so be it: this moment of surprise will not slow down the immersive nature of an experience that develops like the most ecstatic Stars Of The Lid but intercepts the profound spirituality of Don Cherry and the sense of mystery of Laraaji.
Quiet reigns supreme, shaken just enough to never feel any sense of flatness. Instinct must prevail, its intervention trace new coordinates: on sparse droning storms a guitar hints at sinuous melodic contributions in “Three”, barely rippled by light gusts of wind, while the subsequent “One” touches the swirling density of Beautiful Schizophonic placing a lyrical piano commentary at the center of its universe. No speed, no sense of urgency, everything evolves according to an internal order, the changes are managed by smoothing out the impacts, while still keeping intact the ghostly nature, the evocative power of the songs.
More than filling spaces, Lucas and Jazz's deceleration focuses on absences, travels on that thin strip that intercepts the void, identifying a restorative beauty. This is how the true creative power of the duo is unleashed, respectful explorers of the cosmos (the wandering synths of “Six”, barely broken up by external intermittences), capable of expressing the most sincere emotion (“Two”, a sparkling jazz sketch in which the trumpet of Jawaad Taylor of Shape Of Broad Minds floats warmly), elsewhere prone to push out its most meditative side (the aquatic textures of “Five”).
In the rich variety of solutions put in place, the art of Black Decelerant shows its intentions by embracing the indefinite, finding within itself a hidden strength that resists external pressures in a seemingly counterintuitive, but instead completely logical, way. Permeable but never surrendering, such serenity can oppose even the most formidable enemy.
02/07/2024
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
