Nan Madol

Finnish drummer and avant-garde iconoclast Edward Vesala cut some of the most intriguing diamonds for ECM, starting with this one. The title of Nan Madol means “spaces between,” which happens to describe his music to a T. In a mélange covering such disparate territories as Alpine herding calls and Japanese folk melodies, he clears his path with aplomb. His fascinating eleven-piece band includes saxophonist Charlie Mariano, whose shawm-like nagaswaram intones alongside Vesala at the harp (!). From there, we lift the hood on an engine built less on melody than on ritual, esoteric yet fully drivable.