Rimona Francis fits into no single category. With her Bulgarian background, Israeli singer Rimona Francis feels at home with the complexities of East European and mid-Eastern rhythms and melodies as well as jazz and modern classical. She utilizes them all on this extraordinary album. At the time of this 1977 recording Francis lived in New York, and she brought along three top-flight NY musicians to complete the group. Bulgarian Beans is based on a Bulgarian rhythm in 11/8, and features ferocious solos by Francis, Polish saxophonist Leszek Zadlo, and Dutch keyboardist Jasper van’t Hof on synth. Joachim-Ernst Berendt called the Francis original Escape “more of a “lied” than a song, reminiscent of late Debussy or early Schönberg.” Debka Druze is based on the music that accompanies a traditional dance performed by the Druze, a secretive religious sect based mainly in Lebanon. Here Francis’ singing has a haunting Arabic feel. Ginghi, Hebrew for “red-head” was Francis’s nickname for van’t Hof. Played live in duo, with its intuitive interplay it exhibits free improvisation at its best. A hidden gem of a record!
