KAPREKAR’S CONSTANT - THE MURDER WALL
An outstanding album from folk/prog collective.
Kaprekar’s Constant - not just a band, you know, and in the finest spirit of this website seeking to expand educational and cultural horizons, let us firstly acknowledge just what it is that this outfit are named after.
The Constant in question is the number 6174. And what is so remarkable about 6174, I hear you ask? Well, in 1949, Indian mathematician D. R. Kaprekar discovered the mathematical beauty of this number after devising a process that we now know as Kaprekar's operation.
The operation:
• start with any four-digit number that is made up of least two different digits, including zero.
• re-arrange the digits in ascending order for one four-digit number and in descending order for a second four-digit number (don't forget those zeros)
• subtract the smaller number from the larger number
• repeat until you get the same number for every iteration
• and what number is that? It's 6174 -- always
So, now you know. And so to the primary purpose of this website, namely the music. I was attracted to this album firstly by the fact that the gorgeously talented Judie Tzuke featured as a guest vocalist on one of the tracks. Regular visitors to my site know how highly I regard her - she featured in a “video of the week” on the front page recently.
More on this later, but first to the band and the album. Kaprekar’s Constant were founded as the brainchild of childhood friends, songwriters, and multi-instrumentalists Al Nicholson and Nick Jefferson in 2016. In addition, we have Mike Westergaard (keyboards), Bill Jefferson (voices), Dorie Jackson (voices), the mighty former VDGG David Jackson (saxophones, flutes, whistles), and Mark Walker (drums, percussion).
The album has an interesting concept behind it, that of six different attempts to climb the North Face of The Eiger, one of mountaineering’s most difficult challenges. There is a track named Mountaineers, which sets out perfectly both lyrically and musically the admiration the band have for the band of warriors they pay tribute to. It is such a warm harmonious delight.
I regard this as being predominantly a modern folk album with prog sensibilities. Witness the initial medieval feel, leading then into a mix of balladry and deliciously jazzy sax and guitar licks of the utterly lush Tall Tales by Firelight which features some of the most fragile and beautiful vocals you will hear in a long time. As with the best of modern folk, the music and lyrics set a stage and enable the listener to picture the scenes perfectly. The prologue provides us with a nice lyrical introduction to the fatality involved in the challenge of attempting the feat of climbing this monster. You might, though, be surprised to learn that this is, in fact, a wonderfully warm piece of music examining the history and setting the scene with some especially lovely guitar work backing the lush vocals of Jefferson and Jackson (she is David’s daughter). These two harmonising are at the heart of everything that is so good throughout the entire album.
There are 17 tracks on this hour and fifteen minutes of music, and I shall not here attempt a dissection of each and every piece. What is clear is that there is so much to admire. Hall of Mirrors is the loveliest instrumental you will hear this year, I think. Nicholson’s guitar work is so warm, and then we have the first introduction of the wind genius of Jackson, before some lilting keyboard chords join the party. The fading piano is beautiful, and it was this track which got me hooked.
In fact, we have this throughout. There are no “epic tracks” here. The longest track is Third Man Down at 7:20 minutes, but everywhere the music is allowed space and time to breathe. The opening two minutes are a symphonic delight. The ensuing vocals tell a story, and the music adds layers to the story.
The piece on which Tzuke sings, Years To Perfect, is only two and a half minutes long, but is deeply satisfying. It commences with a deep bass lead solo accompanying piano and acoustic guitar before such a tender saxophone joins this sequence. Judie then starts to sing, and that fragile and beautiful voice takes centre stage and takes me back a number of years to when I first heard her. Quite a lovely piece of music. I really must state, though, that Dorie Jackson is in no way upstaged by this. Her vocals take over on the following track, Hope In Hell, singing of the hangman’s role and Venus De Milo, and the performance is stunning, backed by a light flute and guitar. She is a rare talent, for sure. Jefferson’s voice reminds me a little bit of Mark Chadwick, he of Levellers fame, and this is very much meant as a compliment and not to denigrate.
I have really enjoyed listening to and setting out my thoughts about this wonderful album, which is a near certainty to make my top ten of 2022, and this in a wonderful year thus far of intelligent music. Should you wish to “dip your toes” and “try before you buy”, you might want to try the digital single, A Silent Drum. Accompanying this is the story of John Harlin, an American who died trying to climb The Beast in 1966. The flute at the start is evocative before lilting guitars make an entrance leading to a memorable vocal performance. “The broken rope” is a sobering thought indeed, and the ghostly sax at the end portrays matters perfectly.
Marvellous and very highly recommended. When you have legendary participators such as David Jackson & Judie Tzuke, there is the danger that the remaining collective are well and truly upstaged. That they are not, and the whole of the playing and singing remain in your consciousness for so long, speaks volumes. In fact, when The Stormkeeper’s Reprise comes into play, you treat it as a returning loved one.
Here is the Bandcamp link; https://talkingelephantrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-murder-wall