Using the texts of playwright Heiner Muller and collecting a wide range of imaginative musicians,
Heiner Goebbels constructed a fascinating music-theater piece that mixes languages and musical styles. The text, read and sung by
Arto Lindsay, concerns the thoughts and fears of an employee summoned to his boss' office and has something of a Brazil-like aura about it. Perhaps coincidentally, Lindsay interjects some Brazilian songs into the proceedings. But the highlight is the performance by this stellar ensemble, ranging from free to punkishly tinged jazz-rock to quasi-African. There are outstanding contributions from guitarist
Fred Frith, trombonist
George Lewis, and the late
Don Cherry on trumpet, voice, and the African hunter's guitar known as the doussn'gouni.
Goebbels brews a rich stew of overlapping languages and styles in a dense matrix that creates an appropriate feeling of angst, but never loses a sly sense of humor. If anything, some of The Man in the Elevator is reminiscent of
Carla Bley's better work and fans of hers as well as curious rock listeners should have no problem enjoying this one. ~ Brian Olewnick