Werner Hertzog’s stunning documentary Grizzly Man has a very pleasant and appropriate score by Richard Thompson. Ok. On the DVD release of the film there is an excellent documentary about the making of the score, with extended scenes of Thompson and his ad hoc band (including a dejected, unused Henry Kaiser) in the recording studio, improvising and philosophizing under the severe tutelage of Hertzog himself. The doc is one of the better views into the film composing process I have seen. Ok again. But there is a moment where Hertzog plays Thompson a mysterious, otherworldly piece of music to try and elucidate the sound he is going for, and that piece of music is what we’re featuring here today. Thompson seems to sort of go “Right then, Werner, I see” and carry on with his usual thing. But that piece of music caught my ear, if not Thompson’s, and I had to hear more of it.
The piece turns out to be Jangelma by Dutch monster improviser cellist Ernst Reijseger in collaboration with Senegalese poet Mola Sylla and percussionist Serigne C.M. Gueye. It comes from the 2003 CD Janna, a beautiful, demanding, uniquely original work, full of challenges and surprises. No world music fusion nonsense here — just three masters of their craft, bringing their unique world-views to the table and creating some very good music together. The lyrics on this track concern the collision of French colonial sensibilities with an African state of mind. Very highly recommended.
You can find the DVD of Grizzly Man here. Richard Thompson’s score for the film is here. There’s more info about Ernst Reijseger here, and his CD Janna is available here.
