Enclave Diaspora
Rebecca Cline and Hilary Noble
Enclave Jazz
The concepts of a “Diaspora” and an “enclave” are certainly opposing ideas, but both essential processes in the pursuit of a defined creative voice. An enclave exists as an enclosed area, a safe zone that may serve as home base for its inhabitants. For most artists, it’s the starting point of their creative life, and the defined traits of their enclaves form the boundaries of their comfort zone. A Diaspora is a group of people that have left their safety zone and found culture and tradition in other parts of the world. For many reasons, they’ve found new homes and experienced new lifestyles, changing the core of their beliefs. The creative artist needs to visit both of these points, starting in their enclave. Here they build the foundation of their musicianship and establish a firm understanding of music and style. Once they reach a proficient level and feel comfortable, they need to completely abandon their safety zone and leave, in search of something new. Their journey needs to challenge their established artistic direction and force them to experience new musical approaches. They need to embrace the unknown and dive headfirst into uncharted waters, where the artistic outcome is sink or swim. They’ll eventually return to their enclave, where they can digest their experiences and construct a new artistic identity, which they can share with their peers. Pianist Rebecca Cline and saxophonist Hilary Noble display the results of this process on Enclave Diaspora, an exciting recording that explodes with a brilliantly intertwined group of musical cultures.

Several Songs Dedicated To Yemayá
Several tracks serve as dedications to Yemayá, the Santeria Orisha who watches over the ocean and seas. Cline thoughtfully embellishes a traditional song for Yemayá with colorful harmonies through an unaccompanied introduction on “Improvisaciones sobre Yemayá,” before Noble revisits the melody on flute. As Noble plays the song with a gentle serenity, Cline improvises actively and the rhythm section provides coloristic textures. The dramatic contrast between the melody and support seems perfectly logical amid the song’s natural beauty, with the melody serving as the calm among the storm. Noble enthusiastically jumps into a joyful melody over a samba rhythm on “Chorinho pra Iemãnjá,” joined by Cline on the repeat. After the melody, bassist Fernando Huergo catches the spirit of the song perfectly with an improvisation that combines long lines, precise rhythmic articulations, and a serious forward motion. Noble and Cline quickly revisit the melody, bringing the song to a close. Huergo establishes a muted funky vamp that is soon doubled by Noble on “Ocean Mother” with Cline providing a rhythmic counterpoint line. Noble wanders through the funky groove with a bluesy improvisation, leaving plenty of space between phrases to emphasize the groove. Layers of overdubbed saxophones enter with a catchy line that pushes the song into a pan-Caribbean direction while members of the group take turns improvising. Noble boldly presents a traditional Afro-Cuban chant over a free-flowing background on “Iyá Modupué,” which Cline divides with a lush bridge section. As Noble begins his solo, he play around short melodic phrases with plenty of space, indulging in the open beauty of the song’s foundation. As he builds momentum, Noble’s improvisation grows into a series of furious runs and screaming notes that recall Pharaoh Sanders and late John Coltrane while the rest of the band reacts with an assertive collective improvisation. The group’s connection to Yemayá resonates strongly in these pieces, inspiring them into a flurry of beautiful music.

Complex Stylistic Mixtures
The group engages in a complex stylistic mixture on other pieces, employing compositional devices from a variety of sources. Cline introduces a complex groove with a funky clavinet sound on “A-Frayed,” which gains a fusion-influenced foundation, full of switching meters and double time transitions. The groove continues to modulate with the band integrating spontaneously improvisational embellishments, until Cline jumps into a long twisting montuno pattern. The montuno leads into Cline’s solo, where she bravely winds through the feel changes with confidence, building an engaging statement. The group implies a timba influence with Cline’s funky montuno on “Mars Bars,” until they deftly switch into a relaxed swing feel, creating a powerful contrast. Cline shows many sides of her improvisational skills here, swinging with a passion, creating tension fueled polyrhythms, and connecting extended variations into a fluent idea. Noble exerts a strong personality throughout the challenging form, spinning quick bebop lines and funky rhythmic ideas around his urgent tone. The group establishes a definitive 6/8 pattern behind a catchy melody on “Moab,” sliding into an elegant melody over an Afro rhythm on the bridge. Huergo moves through the full range of his bass with flowing melodies that both draw upon the melody and explore further pieces of the harmony. Cline enters with carefully placed notes over the Afro feel, building into a long, busy line over the 6/8 section. The group shows an academically informed voice on these pieces that breathes naturally with life, mixing complexity with fluent musicianship.

Bringing The Group’s Distinct Personalities To The Forefront
A series of pieces stay focused upon single styles, bringing the group’s distinct personalities to the forefront of the music. A series of polyrhythmic hits introduce “Crossroads” before the group falls into a steady groove, which consistently gets broken by the metric contrast of the original hits. Cline storms into a powerful improvisation that builds upon the song’s inherent rhythmic tension, boldly adding to the already complex syncopation. Noble screams through an inspired tenor sax solo before the group transitions into 6/8 for a display of his impressive conga chops. The band maintains a ballad behind Noble on “Nameless” as he tenderly shapes the melody with dynamic contrast, careful phrasing, and tonal variations. Cline reveals a different side of her musicianship here, with a gradually developed solo that draws upon space as much as it emphasizes harmonic color. The steady ballad feel disappears behind Huergo as he weaves steady melody lines over sparse colors, leading back into Noble’s sensitive reading of the melody. As drummer Steve Langone holds a steady 6/8 feel on “Blue Cross,” Cline and Huergo play contrasting lines that become even more vital as Noble enters with a rhythmically opposing melody. A transition into a fast son montuno feel sets the stage for Noble, who playfully creates ideas off the rhythmic foundation, inspiring active response from his band mates. The band moves back to 6/8 for Cline’s improvisation, who fuels her statement with bluesy inflections, pushing the group back into son montuno for a rousing finish. These pieces show the group playing full force, and letting the personalities drive the work freely.

An Exciting Journey
Cline and Noble display the power of experiencing both the comfortable and new on Enclave Diaspora, with a powerful set of music that boldly combines each of their influences into a seamless mixture. They find inspiration in the melodies of Cuban Santeria, jazz harmonies, and odd meter groupings, yet they never feel bound to the established past. Cline, Noble, and their group find every possible connection point between these worlds, and they move between them at a dizzying rate. Their compositions are academically complex, but they remain loose and natural. There’s a sense that these musicians have taken the time to completely digest the scope of their compositional tools and apply them liberally. Their performance approach is distinctly modern, finding a coherent blend between rumba, rock solid funk grooves, and free jazz improvisation. Cline displays a wide mastery of harmonic devices, and her improvisations radiate with the rhythmic power of Cuban music and the lyrical grace of jazz. Noble’s performance voice screams with personality at every turn, as he boldly twists between funky riffing and screeching freedom, an adventurous and engaging player. Huergo and Langone appear as perfect band mates, acting as a sensitive and interactive rhythm section; Huergo steps out as a captivating soloist at several points. With every track, Cline and Noble share the path of their development on Enclave Diaspora, an inspiring journey that would be well-worth the time spent following them.

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