NICK PYNN : with the Life And Death Orchestra

 

 

Life and Death Orchestra : 'Songs for the Betrayed World' :

Nick plays violin and mandocello on this CD.

Below a description of the project written by Bill Smith from the 'Life and Death Orchestra', and wirter/composer of 'Songs for the Betrayed World' :

The Life And Death Orchestra comprises some of the best musicians I've ever met. Bim Sinclair is a brilliant composer, performer and producer in both the classical and pop worlds. Herbie Flowers is ''one of the world's finest bass players'' according to the Guinness Encyclopaedia Of Popular Music and he brings with him many of his regular compatriots, including his regular partner in rhythm, Dave Trigwell on drums. Also he brings with him multi-instrumentalists, Nick Pynn and Tom Arnold, playing a range of instruments: fiddle, accordion, mandolin, tabla, bazouki and many more - plus Tom adds a very un-folky hammond organ on some tracks. Ian Hamer, one of Britain's top jazz trumpeters, contributes on Never (Reprise). Mark Allen of cool continental band Manos brought his skills on zither and Spanish guitar, while Big Bob Taylor plays all the other guitars, including heart-rending solos on This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen, and Us Two. He also plays all saxophone parts. Lead Vocals are by Angi Mariani and Bill Smith and harmony vocals are sung by Bill also. Thanks also to Catherine Black and Marjorie Ashenden who joined the orchestra for the live performances. The whole thing was expertly recorded and mixed by Julian Tardo.

Songs For The Betrayed World by The Life and Death Orchestra is a universally acclaimed album of Holocaust songs. "It is a masterpiece" (Metro) - click here to buy a copy of the album. It is based on the words of Holocaust poets and writers such as Tadeusz Borowski, Tadeusz Rozewicz, Paul Celan, Elie Wiesel, Zbigniew Herbert, Czeslaw Milosz, Nina Cassian, Reiner Kunze, Micheline Maurel, Adam Zych, Yehuda Amichai, Kevin Carey and Adrian Mitchell.

The work covers the genocide of Jews in the concentration camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Ravensbruck, Buchenwald and Dachau amongst many others; murder perpetrated by the Nazis led by Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels and Eichmann. It links the horrors of the Holocaust to ethnic cleansing perpetrated elsewhere such as My Lai, Kampuchea, Bosnia, Kosovo and also Chile where the story of Victor Jara is told.

The composers and main performers of The Life and Death Orchestra are Bill Smith, Bim Sinclair, Angi Mariani and Herbie Flowers. Herbie Flowers is best known as the "world's greatest bass player". Like Schindler's List or Life is Beautiful, this is a controversial work. The most moving song, This Way For The Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen, adapted from the short story by Tadeusz Borowski, depicts an ordinary but horrific day in the gas
chambers detailing the zyklon B, the cruelty of the SS, the transports, the summary executions, and the slaughter.

The guilt of the survivors is shown. As Tadeusz Borowski said, the world is ruled by neither justice nor morality; the world is ruled by power. In the accompanying booklet, the works of main Holocaust writers and artists are shown, including the works of Arnold Daghani, Ralph Freeman, Donald Woodman, Gerda Weissman Klein, Primo Levi, Gary Sea, Ursula Goetze, Eva Fogelman. The Poetry of Survival edited by Daniel Weissbort is also a key text. Based on the words of Holocaust survivors and poets, The Life & Death Orchestra performs Songs For The Betrayed World, composed by Bill Smith and Bim Sinclair.

 

 

EDINBURGH REVIEWS

The Life and Death Orchestra-Songs for the Betrayed World.
Edinburgh Festival 4th-17th August - Reviews: The Life and Death Orchestra Rating:*****

Well done, somebody; candles and red tablecloths bring a welcome degree of nightclub intimacy to the cavernous barn that is the Southside Theatre. Bill Smith, the composer of all the songs we are going to hear today, greets us as we sit down and tells us that the words are written by people who survived the Nazi concentration camps, or visited them afterwards.

He does not expect us to clap between songs. The orchestra of seven take their places. The music begins.
After Auschwitz, poetry is barbaric, wrote the German critic Theodor Adorno. But the Life and Death Orchestra adhere to the greater imperative; the need to give voice to feelings of guilt, anger, despair and human betrayal, to speak of the unspeakable. As they play and sing, pictures begin to form of a terrible, monochrome place; a place where real and desperate people throw their last messages from trains and gas is carried to the chambers in Red Cross vans; a place where children are flung in the air for target practice and parents must scour the ground for little naked bodies. And so what was billed as "an astonishingly dramatic musical performance" was, in many ways, the opposite; a simple, delicate, respectful and utterly moving collection of songs, narratives and instrumental pieces, eschewing the blatancy of drama in favour of the power of words and music and the sheer weight of history.

The songs are rich and intense - from strong narrative works like "Five Men" or "Death Fugue", musically reminiscent of Bob Dylan's best work, to melancholy gypsy paeans and exceptional, emotional pieces like "This Way to the Gas". At times the violin becomes a train, then the screams of its human cargo; Herbie Flowers' bass talks of foreboding and doom; Angi Mariani's voice soars sweetly and the sense of engagement is total. I would have liked a little more from Bill Smith in the way of introductions to some of the pieces and the stage lighting was a bit on the harsh and static side. Other than that, it lives long in the memory, one of the most moving and enriching shows on the Fringe.

Penny Barr.
Wednesday, 8th August 2001 scotsman.com

Theatre Review *** Life and Death Orchestra : This Way For The Gas Ladies And Gentlemen.

Go placidly amid the noise and haste of the Fringe and remember what peace there is in silence. We sat in silence, stunned by the sheer emotional waste of humanity portrayed in the almost informal performance of songs and narrative taken from the victims of the Nazi Death Camps. Bill Smith introduced each section with heartfelt conviction and the accomplished musicianship of the orchestra was evident immediately. The acoustics of the venue were well mixed and suited the sombre nature of the pieces incredibly well. Nick Pynn's violin, shrieking a discordant wail in the opening cacophany of Deathfugue and then soaring into wonderful rapture with Angi Mariani's ephemeral vocals, singing of naked little bodies with bloated skin was enough to make you weep.....

Excerpt from Metro Life 16/8/01.

 

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