Chicago clarinetist and composer James Falzone uses his different Allos Musica ensembles to traverse modern chamber music, world music, and jazz — often within the same song. Lamentations, the debut album from his newest Allos incarnation, will be released on November 2 and derives a good deal of inspiration from Arabic music.
“I was working on a lot of this music in 2006 as US forces were more and more entrenched in the Iraq war,” Falzone says. “It did, and continues to, trouble me a great deal.”
“During the build up to the invasion,” he continues, “I was studying Arabic music and seeking out Arabic neighborhoods where I could hear the music and buy CDs. I was in a grocery store watching Al Jazeera with the shopkeepers when some of the heaviest fighting was taking place. There is a phrase from Phil Ochs I like a lot and use in programs for this project: ‘In such ugly times, the only true protest is beauty.’ This sums up why I put these laments together. I was lamenting what was happening in my country, the way we were thinking, but I’m not a very politically motivated man. For me, it comes out in creative ways.”
Falzone’s four-year-old group includes oud player/vocalist Ronnie Malley and hand drummer and percussionist Tim Mulvenna, and the band also will become Chicago’s resident ensemble for the MOMENTA dance company.
Outside of the Allos Musica ensembles, Falzone plays in a number of other great Chicago groups, including Vox Arcana and Klang.