Anders Lauge Meldgard
The Art of Playing the Fantasia
U.S.A. SUN ARK RECORDS SA067 C.D. (2023)
Anders Lauge Meldgard is a Copenhagen-based multi-instrumentalist/composer whose back pages include time served with Supermelle, ‘free-range pop project’ Frisk Frugt and Berlin experimental collective Yo Yoo You. He’s also shared tour dates of a somewhat disparate nature with Konono No. 1, Lukas Ligeti and A Hawk & A Handsaw. His “…Art of Playing the Fantasia”, a purely solo work, employs an extended family-sized raft of hardware/software instrumentation. Novation Bass Stations, Nord Pianos, D.S.I. Tetra 4s and Eurorack Simulators suggest that even leaving a breadcrumb trail, a man could get helplessly lost in this high-tech maze. But Anders appears to be more than adept in retaining the desired human touch throughout
The principal voice/focus skipping daintily around the half dozen pieces being the “EWI” (Electronic Wind Instrument). Its tones somewhat reminiscent of another hybrid beast; the Lyricon, once championed by Wayne Shorter during the latter days of Weather Report. Within pockets of spiritual jazz uplift (“Jazz, Bold and Buddhism”), glitchy electronic tonalities (“Overture”) and contemporary composition (“A Dream About a Concert Hall”), the EWI is at its most stage-hugging on what would appear to be the collection’s centrepiece: “Have EWI, Will Travel by Bike”. Its looped digital outage, forming a playful and skittering backdrop to Anders’ dancing fingers, at times bringing to mind a certain Mr Terry Riley interpreting a long lost, dog-eared Phillip Glass score, which is no bad thing.
Despite its highfalutin sub-title (“An Electronic Woodwind Concerto” does strike an awkward chord), and the less than enticing sleeve art, “…Fantasia” remains a worthwhile entry in the small, but perfectly formed catalogue of “Sun Ark”, the imprint curated by Cameron Stallones, otherwise known as Sun Araw.