Pan Project - 2024 - Borderless Flows

(45:39; Neuma Records)

Track list:
1. The Naked: Call 5:58
2. 오시더라 Oshi Dhora (He Came) 9:36
3. The Naked: Question 5:31
4. Sīmātītapravāhaḥ (Borderless Flows) 8:41
5. The Naked: Night 11:19
6. 水节奏 Shui Jiezou (Water Rhythm) 4:34

Line-up:
Gamin - piri, saenghwang
Jeff Roberts - guquin, electronics
Woonjung Sim - percussion
Ned Rothenburg - shakuhachi
Saeyeon Jeong - vocals
with:
Jessika Kenny - vocals, voice
Deepak Parmashivan - sarangi
Jocelyn Clark - gayageum
Afarin Nazarijou - qanun


The multinational ensemble Pan Project was formed back in 2015, with Jeff Roberts and Gamin as the founding members. In the decade that have passed since then they have released two albums, as well as having live performances and educational events in the US and in Asia. The album "Borderless Flows" is the most recent of their two studio productions, and was released through US label Neuma Records in the fall of 2024.

I rather suspect that world music may be the best categorization for the landscapes explored by this ensemble. This isn't a traditional take on this style of music though, and from what I can hear these compositions, some that possibly may be improvisations, does not follow any clear and distinct cultural norm either. My main associations are towards Asian folk music of different kinds, possibly with some Middle-East tones and timbres being present here and there, but that these are creations where elements from different cultures and possibly different time periods have been assembled into a whole.

Conventional song structures isn't a matter you will encounter all that often here. The focus appears to be to create expressive landscapes, and frequently with a little bit of a theatrical attitude. While the vocals are important in that regard, we do get instrumental that come with a more fragmented and chaotic pattern here too that in itself adds a theatrical flair to the landscapes explored.

When I did a more brief review of this production a little while ago, prior to getting the actual CD, I made the following summary: Playful and expressive rhythm and instrument patterns define this album as a whole, and the expressive vocals that plays a major part in most of these compositions comes across as relentlessly expressive as the instruments that support them. A bit of a free form inspired take on Asian sounding world music if you like, with an experimental attitude, an avant-garde spirit and possibly with some influx from experimental classical music too.

I do believe that this will be very much an album with a niche audience. A fondness for a more expressive and avantgarde approach to the world music legacy will be a bit of a required interest here, and an affection for more unusual tone, timbre and rhythm patterns also comes across as something of a requirement here. But if an experimental, expressive and avantgarde take on world music in general and Asian folk music of different varieties in particular strikes you as interesting, this should be quite the rewarding album to investigate I suspect.

Olav M. Björnsen, January 2025

Links:
https://www.panprojectensemble.com/
https://neumarecords.org/