Behrooz Mihankhah had already proved just what a creative force he would be when he released the title track from his new album Lydium. And if anything, the refined musicianship that was on display there was an understatement of what we would be treated to on the album proper. Lydium is all at once familiar and unknown, intimate and vast, cozy and explorative. It is a deep look into one of Nova Scotia’s preeminent jazz artists and the sights are something to behold.
Drawing from his own unique identity, Mihankhah centers Lydium on a few conceptual cornerstones: the namesake of the Lydian scales featured in the title track, his heritage as an Iranian musician, and the path his migrations took from Iran to India, and finally to Canada. The ways in which the composer weaves these cultural points into a uniform fusion feel both skillful and effortless. With a solid basis of fundamental jazz and impressionist work, these key thematic explorations give a rich depth to the compositions of this album.
Mihankhah’s work as a pianist is impressively evocative and overwhelmingly effective at capturing the mood of each song. It is ceaseless, the looping sections feeling like some eternal fixture, and the loose and sprawling sections seeming to pull notes and phrases from the aether itself. He shines in his role as a leader for the sound as well as a creative mind behind each track’s purpose- truly, Mihankhah’s creativity is front-and-center.
But Mihankhah is far from alone in this endeavour, the band he has chosen more than executing the intent of each song. “The stylistic improvisational elements added by each musician on this recording is equally as important to the piece as the composition itself,” states Mihankhah, and that is clearly evident.
Pat Healy’s guitar brings the whole into familiarly energized fusion territory when appropriate, and Andrew Mackelvie’s sax becomes soaringly, cosmically powerful at points. Most especially, the Iranian instrumental voices of Mohammad Sahraei on the tar and Pouya Shekarriz on the tombak evoke that special quality Mihankhah has weaved throughout Lydium; they capture an essence from far away and make it feel so familiar.
Each of Mihankhah’s compositions can stand rightly on its own, each with a strength of identity and dynamic flare. “Lydium” remains a great and grand entrance into the concepts of the album at large, and the wily and sprawling “Halcyon” sees each band member perhaps at their peak in a dizzyingly daring soar through a swirling cityscape.
One of the notes of greatest intrigue is Mihankhah’s handling of other composers on Lydium. With works by John Coltrane, Eric Satie, and Joe Henderson, the artist gives himself large shoes to fill. But through supplanting these iconic tracks into a new context, he makes them his own. Framed in Iranian instrumentation and approach, the vision of this album is just as clear in its reflections of others’ work as it is in its original compositions.
Through Lydium, Behrooz Mihankhah has harnessed the potential his creative background offers him. He has formed a vivid spiral across the world, picking up and merging with pieces along the way, and evoking the nature and excitement of a world moved through. His passion for his craft is obvious, and his capability to conjure his vision into reality is undeniable. Lydium is a class act in cross-pollination, showing the sheer strength in tapping into our unique selves.