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Saturday, March 6, 2010

Enterout Trio - Pink Ivory (Multikulti, 2010) ****

When the Cracow Klezmer Band stopped playing, I was sad, because I liked their combination of traditional music with jazz and classical, of the dark menace behind the joyful themes, the combination of melancholy and aesthetic beauty, combining entertainment with virtuosity. Now, the Enterout Trio, equally Polish, is here with the same ingredients, but making a different stew out of it, more jazz, rawer, more adventurous. No klezmer this time, but rhythmic, melodic and lyrical improvisations full of gloom and foreboding.

Piotr Mełech plays clarinet and bass clarinet, Adam Wróblewski plays cello, and Sebastian Grzesiak drums. With just the three of them, they alternate composed with fully improvised pieces. The first track, "Terminus", combines it all: a somewhat abstract intro evolves into a forward driven rhythm, with the cello's supportive drone setting the ideal backdrop for the clarinet's joyful theme followed by free improvisation, and when the rhythm slows down again, the drums goes and the clarinet and bowed cello converse in a modern classical way, then the cello goes forth on its own, full of vulnerable hesitancy and clear of tone, tearing the composition out of its pattern and pushing it deep into uncharted territory, yet without losing its inherent lyricism, and when the clarinet and drums return, they rejoin the - now mournful - theme. The improvised pieces vary between free improv and melodious creativity. The longest piece, "Księżycowy" ("Lunar"), is a gem, but then one of terror and madness, with a dark unison theme that develops into nightmarish improvisations and volumes of sound you wouldn't expect from a trio. A great album: excellent musicians and the coherence of their creative vision is even more impressive if you know that this is only their debut.

There are some clips to be found on Youtube, but the sound quality is so bad, that I don't share it.

© stef

5 comments:

Luis said...

First of all: congratulations for your site! I've been reading it for quite a long time. I should have written before. I'm curious to listen these guys basically for their nationality. I became a huge fan of another polish band called "Contemporary Noise Quintet" and i really recommend you to listen!

Stef said...

Thanks Luis. I will check them out!
regards
stef

Anonymous said...

Cracow Klezmer Band didn't stop playing, they've just changed their name to Bester Quartet. They declared they were no more klezmer only.

See their website:
http://www.besterquartet.com/english.php

Stef said...

I know, they indeed became Bester Quartet, but to my knowledge they have not released any CD yet, whereas before they released quite regularly.

Eron Rauch said...

I've been trying to figure out where I first heard of the "Contemporary Noise Quintet" and I think that this comment was probably the place, since I love this site so much! Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I've been loving so many of the albums you review. I even used "Army of the Sun" by the Contemporary Noise Quintet on a recent mix CD I shared with the readers of my art blog to show what my musical inspirations have been lately. Check it out at http://eronrauch.blogspot.com/2011/02/new-mix-cd-end-of-winter-2011.html Thanks and keep up the great work!