Jazz review: GOL

Published on Thursday 5 August 2010 18:26

GOL **** VOODOO ROOMS, EDINBURGH

"THIS first song," announced GOL singer Roxana Pope before Zaar, "is inspired by the shamanic trance rhythms of southern Iran." It's not every day that you hear an intro like that, nor such a collision of traditional and modern styles as a tune that features santur – a traditional Iranian dulcimer – and live vocal sampling, looping and manipulating via a laptop computer.

This multi-national Edinburgh quintet are one of the most eclectic bands at this year's Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival. They fuse contemporary jazz with elements of everything from dub to funk, Persian folk and North African dance music. They play instruments from bass, drums and percussion to saxophone, clarinet, keys and live electronics,. Multi-lingual British-Iranian Pope sings in Persian dialects and English.

It could all quite easily wind up a big sprawling mess, but GOL piece together their diverse mosaic of styles so deftly that you can barely spot the joins.

They addressed Iran's political situation with the pensive and haunting Strange Times, which was dedicated to "protesters in prison" in Iran.

Tempering the worthiness were big doses of fun – GOL's grooves might be complex, but they're accessible and Pope didn't cease coaxing people to stand and shake their hips until she had the whole crowd on their feet, during the African gnawa rhythm-inspired Maragnawa.

We could probably have done without the questionable cameo from the contemporary dancer, but otherwise, this was a compelling, cosmopolitan workout for the mind – and feet.