Lambarena
Bach To Africa

A truly bizarre and controversial album, this "Bach To Africa" by the "open" collective known as Lambarena from Gabon, a region of equatorial Africa. An album that goes beyond universally accepted boundaries, into that borderland between experimentation and the contamination of music that fundamentally deals with classical music. There are no barriers or fences when it comes to music, Lambarena seems to suggest, and to prove this thesis, they reinterpret some great classics of J. Sebastian Bach through the instrumentation and vocality of black Africa. An experiment, I repeat, original in its intentions, divided between these two seemingly extreme worlds that seem almost irreconcilable, given how different the nature that animates them is: the music of the European composer is as baroque, romantic, and virtuous as the one coming from the black continent is wild, visceral, and concrete. An attempt at times enlightened, which becomes intricate and complex when it tries to order and discipline these two contrasts. At times, one gets the impression of being faced with more of a formal mannerism than a truly heartfelt interpretation, but it is undeniable that the project, in general, lives here and there made of moments of rare irresistible beauty never heard before, and this compensates for some excessive forced elements present in the arrangements.

A precious and unique album, probably destined to remain without follow-up given the "heavy" legacy of the genres involved, but precisely because of this, it serves as an applied example of what is meant by the term "Music Without Borders." A term that, more than ever, seems specially tailored for this album. For fine palates and minds willing to challenge themselves.