Elder Ones – “New Monuments Live in Vilnius” 2xLP

Elder Ones delivers a searing performance in Eastern Europe in a galvanized quintet formation, fomented during a year of international touring amidst global tumult. This protest performance agitates and awakens those who encounter it to become active in the struggle for collective liberation. While dealing with dire subjects, the performance is boisterous, blistering, joyous and cathartic – avant-dance music for uncertain times.

Elder Ones is Amirtha Kidambi (Mary Halvorson, Darius Jones, Jeff Parker), soprano saxophonist Matt Nelson (Tuneyards, Flying Luttenbachers), tenor saxophonist Alfredo Colon (Henry Threadgill, Moses Sumney), bassist Lester St. Louis (Jaimie Branch, Wendy Eisenberg, Sinono), and drummer Jason Nazary (jaimie branch, Helado Negro) – all of whom contribute their share of electronic textures and electroacoustic treatments. As a document of dissent, these four compositions give proof that improvisation is instrumental in the realm of resistance. Kidambi’s voice hovers over a scorched sonic landscape equally informed by Black American liberation music, the devotional fervor of Indian Carnatic, and the unleashing of an inner scream listeners might associate with hardcore punk and harsh noise.