Album Review: The Dryad from IFIHADAHIFI (If I Had A Hi-Fi)

Album: The Dryad
Artist: IFIHADAHIFI
Label: Naked Muse
Website:  nakedmuse.net

It's no secret that Melbourne, Australia’s long bursts of lockdowns, the world’s longest as it turned out, had incarcerated and frustrated a great many people. Composer and keyboardist Gideon Frankel used the solitary time to peruse the stockpile of experiences he accumulated in his memory, and concentrate on crafting introspective and imaginative creations. 

His refreshing hybrid of styles found on The Dryad, the new release from his ensemble If I Had A Hi-Fi, a palindrome, seamlessly fuses influences steep in jazz, Latin, world, folk, classical, reggae, and blues, producing a sonic atmosphere built from multiple cultural perspectives and characteristics.  Evocative, penetrative, enchanting, and so uplifting that listeners feel like they are floating above the melodies, Frankel heightens the sensory channels.
 
The feathery flutters of flutist Jamichael Frazier paint every track in stimulating hues enhanced by the glittery chimes of the vibraphone.  Their interfacing scrolls stunning meadow-filled soundscapes along the buoyant swells of "The Phoenician" and a funky saunter colonading "Burning Blues."  There are a handful of tracks featuring exotic climates like the whirling sensations of "Catch Some Honey" and the Latin-imbued shimmies of "Spirit Dance."  The harmonic forms are melodically tuned and evoke a sense of  inner peace.   

Filament in cindering pixie dust-like flickers, twinkles and rattles along "The Start of Something," the ethereal-induced impressions offer listeners an escape from the temporal world.  Sowing mass appeal, the gentle pendulum sway of "Evenings" is haloed in the undulating flutters of Frazier's flute, switching to a brisk tempo with a mambo-infused flare along "Mellow Jive."  The melodic developments along "Broken Dreams" travel in elevating spirals and amble into a flamenco-like promenade through "Chocolate Box."

The music gives listeners the impression of traveling, mentally taking long walks through lush meadows, picturesque dales and peaceful pastures.  The recording is an escape from the temporal world, manifesting during the draconian measures spurred by the pandemic's lockdown rules.  Out of darkness and strife comes sheer beauty in Frankel's release The Dryad, a term that means woodland nymph like the mythical characters Pan and Puck.

Composed, arranged and produced by Gideon Frankel in Melbourne, Australia, he is joined by a litany of musicians from around the world via cyberspace.  Featured on the recording are flutist Jamichael Frazier in Los Angeles, USA, vibraphonist Gianluca Manfredonia in Rome, Italy with additional vibraphonists from Macedonia and Sweden, percussionist Reinaldo Ocando  from Venezuela along with percussionists from Argentina and Spain, upright bass and vintage keyboards by musicians from Italy, Colombia, Argentina and Venezuela, and engineered by Brazil's Bernado Goys in São Paulo.  Both trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific, it's no wonder that the recording makes listeners feel like they are flying because the music, traveling via cyberspace, certainly did.

Musicians:
Flutes - Jamichael Frazier
Drums & Percussion - Reinaldo Ocando, Mauro Regulez and Pepe Rodríguez
Vibraphone - Gianluca Manfredonia, Clara Zucchetti, Levade Paoli, Antonie Veskovski, Reinaldo Ocando and Kai Stensgaard
Wurlitzer & Pianet - all tracks Gideon Frankel and Paolo ‘Pee Wee’ Durante
Fender Rhodes - Abramo Riti
Bass - Gideon Frankel, Miguel Valazquez, Leonardo Vall, and Albert Mora