Lal Meri / Venue: Zanzibar / Santa Monica, California / December 4th, 2009
Reviewed by Susan Ferrari
The proof that three is a divine proportion was in evidence on Friday night when the Los Angeles based trio, Lal Meri, played a set between DJ’s at Zanzibar in Santa Monica. The combination of vocalist Nancy Kaye, Ireesh Lal on electronic keyboards and trumpet, and Dmitri Mahlis on oud created a wash of acoustic/electric sound that was mesmerizing and beautiful. The oud is a Middle Eastern pear-shaped stringed instrument much like the Western lute. The music was a combination of world music and down-tempo trip hop beats, synthesized sound, and microtonal melodies that went well with the exotic atmosphere of the club. Behind the band on stage, a painter calling himself Wisdom Art created a constantly changing visual counterpart to the music, using water colors on glass to make portraits of female figures.
The set began with the song “My Ocean,” with the enticing lyrics “Fly away with me, take a little trip.” Nancy Kaye, who goes by the name Rosie in her other role as a jazz singer, plays the temptress on stage with her ethereal vocals and languid movements. There was some feedback at first in the mix, but that got fixed by the second song. “Bad Things,” was the darker side of the portrait, with lyrics such as “Look at all those bad things you made me do, I could say I was sorry but it wouldn’t be true.” By the third song, “Give Your Light,” the smell of incense was wafting through the room along with the electronic drone. Cutting through this, and adding to the counterpoint of voice and oud, was the cool jazz sound of the muted trumpet played by Ireesh Lal.
“Dreams of 18,” was introduced by Nancy as a song that is available for free download on their website, lalmeri.com. It is also the first song on their album. This song about disillusionment with the club scene, “All she wants is love, and it never comes”, opens with a tabla drum beat and synthesized string hook. The set began to build in intensity and groove, with longer instrumental solos, giving Dmitri Mahlis a chance to show the note-bending capabilities of the oud. In “Take Me As I Am,” with its mantra “Learn to accept,” the trumpet came in again, along with the oud as the music reached a climax. The painting changed to a scene of a figure holding an umbrella under a rainbow for the last two songs, “Rainbow,” and “Love,” the latter from Nancy’s first album, showing the jazz influence in her vocal style and her ability to freely move between genres.
Lal Meri can be compared to bands like Morcheeba and Portishead, but the fact that all three members come from varied musical backgrounds makes their sound a fusion of world music, jazz, and electronica that is uniquely satisfying. Their live performance was a complete multi-sensory experience that left everyone feeling fine.
To listen to the music of Lal Meri, please visit their myspace site.
December 4th, 2009
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Contributing writer Susan Ferrari is a writer/musician who lives in Los Angeles, CA and Plymouth, MA.
