Haale at Mass MoCA: Hudson Reviews
Haale Concert / Mass MoCA, / June 24, 2006
By: Jane Hudson - Aug 25, 2006
As we filed into Club B-10 on the 3rd floor of Mass MoCA the sun spilled through the windows behind the stage where Halle, Iranian-American singer-songwriter was about to perform. The laid-back Berkshire crowd lounged on the couches and sipped wine and beer at the tables surrounding the stage. As the sun set, the members of the band took their places, Dougie Bowne on guitar (he’s her producer and co-writer as well), Megan Weeder on violin (something almost Klezmer-ish about her style), Ken Hashimoto on electric cello (a really neat stripped down instrument), and Matt Kilmer on percussion (a fantastic drummer). The drone began, and then Haale floated onto the stage. Her long black hair and purple gown gave her the exotic aire one might have expected.
The set of ten songs began with “Ambient”, a mystical drone piece that explored the interrelationships of the players. With “Navayee” the energy rose to a more traditional rhythm with vocal and violin mirroring eachother. Halle donned a guitar (Sears Silvertone!) for this piece and throughout the set she alternated between the guitar and a traditional lute/sitar-like instrument. It was in the strumming of both that her authentic musicality really shone. Vocally, Halle’s quality is sometimes quite gentle and dreamy, and occasionally bell-like and penetrating. In “Baz Hava”, both she and the band seemed to rise to the music, giving the audience a chance to move and clap to the beat. Again in “Hameyeh” the energy was palpable, and the audience seemed to bounce.
There was a powerful moment when the singer recited a Rami poem of love, desire, and despair. Rendered in the original Farsi, it rolled out of her, sonorous, real, compelling. Even though we couldn’t translate the words, the longing Halle embodied was completely familiar.
The set reached its climax in “Morning” and “Home Again”, more familiar melodically, and exploring the possibilities of a hybrid musicality that’s evolving from the intersection of the cultures that have formed this artist. I suspect that the product of this investigation will yield material that will speak most eloquently to the adjustments we are all trying to make to bring the world into one voice.