Suí Vesan - Merging with the brook (World Village)

Home to Yat-Kha, Toto La Momposina and Mariem Hassan, the World Village label is no stranger to striking and – at times – demanding vocal performances. It’s a global family into which singer Suí Vesan fits perfectly. An experimenter in the tradition of fellow Slovak Iva Bittova, Vesan makes liberal use of an invented onomatopoetic language she calls ‘tatlanina’. Sparsely accompanied by guitar or light percussion, Vesan’s vocalizations are at times suggestive of Sami artist Mari Boine. The whole package she calls ‘Dadajazz’, which is a largely meaningless tag… but perhaps the point. A touch uneven – some of the less focused tracks sound a little like vocal exercises – there are beautiful moments on this recording, and always her engaging voice. The highlight for me is ‘Running through the hollow tree’, which sounds like a vocal improvisation over one of Moondog’s studies in rhythm. File – in good company – under uneasy listening.