'Between Two Worlds' by George Lernis
Discontent over the way people can be stereotyped has produced much a great deal of angry art. But the pigeonholing of folks based on skin color, religion and other attributes led George Lernis down a less agitated path.
Between Two Worlds, the Cyprus-born Bostonian percussionist's second album as a bandleader, was born of concern over prejudice against immigrants and refuges’ struggles to extricate themselves from strife. Thus, an often-meditative album incorporating instrumentation and melodies from Lernis’ and occasional vocalist Burcu Gulec’s Mediterranean/Middle Eastern heritage set within a post-bop jazz framework. Previous Lernis collaborators, such as pianist/oudist Mehmet Ali Sanlikol and upright and electric bassist John Pattitucci (the latter of whom merits a “featuring” credit on the front cover), navigate the realms Lernis leads them through with graceful agility that bespeak harmony and tension. And in a move that would reek of cheesiness in lesser hands, Lernis casts his young son’s singing in the album's benedictory composition, a song based on the boy saying goodnight to his dad.
Though Lernis may embrace “world music” as a category for his expansive music, Worlds’ adept fusion reaches significantly beyond so limiting a term.
