The opening moment of Live at Terzo Mondo is quick jab in the ribs. You jolt upright, take quick stock of who just jabbed you, and reckon with your fight or flight instinct. Simultaneously hitting, saxophonist Ignaz Schick plays a short riff while guitarist Christian Kühn strikes a bottom-heavy, dissonant chord and drummer Joe Hertenstein rolls confidently along. Fight or flight, the first option seems right as the group digs in, wave after wave of attack. The pace lets up after a little, sort of, and then they are back with a thrusting velocity.
Schick is front and center, leading the assault with a sharp melodic sense and an inexhaustible supply of ideas. Kühn, an excellent guitarist who leads his own group "Kuhn Fu", provides fierce textured background as well as moments of gentle melody. Hertenstein is invaluable, adding ample energy and direction.
There is a moment where it seems Schick quotes Ornette Coleman, as a familiar, uptempo riff jumps out of the general melee. It is seamless, passes quickly and proves to be just one of many ear-catching moments in the 29-minute piece. In another moment, at about 20 minutes, the entire approach changes. Schick plays almost alone, developing a questioning melody as Kuhn and Hertenstein provide at first incidental sounds and then begin adding more and more until they are back in fighting form.
The second half of the album, encapsulated as a track called 'Shameless' (the first was 'Shameful'), starts out a little differently than the flip-side, but the effect is delightfully similar. Full, furious, and rife with ideas, the trio engages playfully, challenging each other with bold improvisations that blur the line between turmoil and cohesion.
Every journey to the Festival Music Unlimited feels like a meeting with
many known and unknown siblings from an ancestral mother, or taking part
in what the editor of the Austrian FreiStil, Felix Fellinger, called
“soziales Gesamtkunstwerk” (a term used by composer Richard Wagner and
literally means total or ideal work of art, but adding to it the social
aroma).
The sold-out 39th edition of the Unlimited Music Festival was the most
international to date, featuring more than 60 musicians from 24
countries and all five continents, who performed 19 concerts. Many
musicians and members of the audience were returning visitors, putting
their trust in the festival's artistic choices and the new musicians who
would play in the festival for the first time. And, as in every year,
the festival offered many opportunities to meet and talk with the
musicians during its three days, in the festival’s restaurant and the
beautiful photo exhibition of Italian photographer Luciano Rossetti.
First Day, Nov. 8
The opening performance was by the Vienna Improvisers Orchestra (VIO),
founded and led by saxophonist and artistic director Michael Fischer.
The VIO, in its changing lineups, is dedicated to the art of conducted
instant composition, a form of structured, real-time composition based
on Fischer’s hand-signal system in which the distinction between the
conducted cues and the improvised blurs. The 15-member VIO was divided
into string, reed and brass, and vocal sections, and the most
adventurous section, comprised of Bernhard Loibner on modular synths,
Wolfgang Fuchs on turntables, and drummer Didi Kern. Fischer gave a lot
a freedom to the musicians and maintained a fragile balance between the
eccentric female vocalists - Nika Zach, Isabell Kargl, and Claudia
Cervenca, the wild, driving force of Loibner, Fuchs, and Kern, and the
more structured improvisations of the string, brass and reed sections,
while injecting a sharp sense of irony.
American, Amsterdam-based drummer-percussionist Frank Rosaly followed
with a solo set, Bimini, that traces his Puerto-Rican ancestral roots,
with a unique drum-set of two bass drums, two gongs, two snare drums,
two cowbells, and more percussive instruments. This powerful, spiritual
set was informed by the traditions of the indigenous Caribbean Taíno and
was performed in almost total darkness. This timeless trance-like ritual
calibrated Rosaly and the audience into a collective, compassionate
frequency, but also explored Rosaly’s own questions of identity and
larger, more pressing issues of decolonization, in the Caribbean and
elsewhere.
The pan-European, multi-generational quartet Turquoise Dream - Polish,
Amsterdam-based pianist Marta Warelis, Swedish cellist Helena Espavall,
Portuguese veteran violinist Carlos Zingaro, and guitarist Marcelo dos
Reis - released only one album (JACC, 2021), and have not played
together much since then. The performance provided a unique opportunity
to experience the deep listening, spontaneous conversations of these
distinct improvisers, sketching and deconstructing loose textures with
an organic, poetic interplay, grace, and elegance, and, obviously, enjoy
the wisdom and imagination in every touch of Zingaro.
Elisabeth Harnik & Camila Nebbia
The night ended with New Quintet assembled in the last minute, after a
cancellation - American trombonist Jeb Bishop, Argentinian tenor sax
player Camila Nebbia, Austrian pianist Elisabeth Harnik, Brazilian
double bass player Vinicius Cajado, and fellow Austrian drummer Didi
Kern (who plays with Harnik in the DEK trio with Ken Vandermark). This
first-ever, free improvised performance stressed a reserved, often too
respectful interplay, and focused on patient, collective improvisations,
with enough space for individual aolos, with Bishop steering the intense
commotion with his quiet, commanding presence.
Second Day, Nov. 9
Akira Sakata
The afternoon performances at the local Landesmusikchule began with a
solo set of Japanese legendary reed master-vocalist Akira Sakata, who
performed his version of the Tale of Heike (originally released by
doubtmusic, 2013). This epic story is about the fight between two
samurai clans for the control of medieval Japan, and was performed in a
dramatic, vivid way, with Sakata acting like a sage telling the story,
playing the heroic characters, and reflecting on the story with his
openly emotional playing, mourning the loss of so many lives due to
arrogance, hate, and sheer evil. The duo of Czech trumpeter and
electronics player Petr Vrba and Cypriot vibes player Andria Nicodemou
was formed after a chance meeting at the Irtijal Festival in Beirut.
They presented a yin-yang dynamics. Vrba thoughtfully structured dense
textures with a pocket trumpet and live electronics, while Nicodemou
instantly abstracted his ideas into sensual, surprising sounds, often
using objects like a long coil or ping pong balls, totally possessed by
the sounds of the augmented vibes, and both fed by the stimulating
tension. The last set was by the trio Flowers We Are, featuring Serbian
harmonium player Marina Džukljev, Austrian cellist Arnold (Noid) Haberl,
and electronics player Matija Schellander, who released a self-titled
album (Klanggalerie, 2024). The minimalist, austere dynamics of this
trio correspond with the pioneering work of Morton Feldman and the
British AMM. This trio sketched a mysterious drone where Džukljev’s
hrominium soft hums resonated the overtones of Schellander’s
electronics, while Haberl reconstructed this abstract syntax into his
cello playing, but slowly the collective drone gravitated into an
irreverent, powerful spiritual meditation.
JeJaWeDa
The evening performance began with the JeJaWeDa - the initials of
American trombonist Jeb Bishop, Dutch vocal artist Jaap Blonk, and
fellow Americans drummer Weasel Walter, and double bass player Damon
Smith - a kind of super-group that collides eruptive free jazz
explosions and dadaist, absurdist sonic experiments, and already
released two albums (Pioneer Works Vol. 1 & 2, on Smith’s Balance
Point Acoustics, 2019), and stopped at the festival during its European
tour. It was a wild, intense set where Blonk provided theatrical,
eccentric texts in expressive gibberish and toy electronics, Smith was
all over the double bass with multiple bows and assorted objects, and
Walter banged his head with the cymbals, drummed while lying on the
ground, stood on the drum stool and shouted on all, and often ran across
the stage. Throughout this manic mayhem, Bishop kept his commanding calm
and charged it with some reason and direction. In one instance, he stood
closely to Blonk, listened carefully to another absurdist complaint of
Blonk, and instantly transformed it into an inspired theme.
The quartet Plüsch - Argentinian tenor sax players Ada Rave and Camila
Nebbia, Polish pianist Marta Warelis, and German drummer Christian
Lillinger - has not released an album yet, but it already sounds like a
working band. This quartet’s dynamics contrasted Lillinger’s hyperactive
drumming on an extended drumset with Rave, Nebbia, and Warelis’ more
patient, multifaceted play of structuring and deconstructing of form,
melody, and pulse, and adventurous timbral explorations, but suggested a
challenging kind of complementary interplay.
Gabby Fluke-Mogul & Mariá Portugal
The new trio Endless Breakfast - American violinist Gabby Fluke-Mogul,
Brazilian, Berlin-based drummer Mariá Portugal (who will curate the next
edition of the Unlimited festival), and Argentinian-Swiss cellist Paula
Sanchez - was formed backstage at the Unlimited festival, and its
performance there was part of a European tour. This trio has not
released an album yet, but already shaped its idiosyncratic, imaginative
form of collective and vibrant free improvisation, comprised of
vulnerable, poetic soundscapes, often furious ones (and fluke-mogul
reminded the audience of the importance of resistance), but most of the
time, introspective, fragile ones, fully possessed at the art of the
moment, and offering a highly immersive, illuminating listening
experience.
Akira Sakata returned to the stage with his working trio Chikamorachi -
double bass player Darin Gray and drummer Chris Corsano - that has been
working since 2005, as the core trio or as an extended ensemble with
such improvisers as Jim O’Rourke, Masami Akita (aka Merzbow), Keiji
Haino, Michiyo Yagi, and Yōsuke Yamashita. Gray and Corsano offered a
propulsive, attentive support to the mostly lyrical, commanding
performance of Sakata, which was highlighted with a highly emotional
delivery of an anti-war song mourning the ones who are lost.
The evening ended with Chicagoan sax hero Dave Rempis’ new quartet Archer - Rempis on alto sax, Dutch guitarist Terrie Hessels (of The Ex),
and the rhythm section of Norwegian double bass player Jon Rune Strøm and drummer Tollef Østvang (who are also the rhythm section of the
Friend and Neighbors quintet and the Universal Indians trio). The
quartet released its debut album Sudden Dusk (on Rempis’ Aerophonic
label), and was in the middle of a European tour. Its set was intense
and powerful, with Rempis and Strøm kept pushing forward, most of the
time in muscular free jazz power, speed, and intensity, while Østvang
intervened with sharp, explosive but concise contributions, and Hessels
challenged any attempt to form a linear narrative with imaginative,
disruptive rhythmic guitar augmented with assorted abjects (including
the box of famous Austrian chocolate-coated marshmallow treat called
Schwedenbomben).
Third (and last) Day, Nov. 10
Sakina Abdou
The afternoon performances at the distant Schloss Puchberg began with a
solo set of French tenor sax player Sakina Abdou, who played a series of
call-and-response chants with a raw, and powerful sound, first on stage
and then through the audience, stressing the communal, spiritual essence
of her playing and herself as a sort of a high priest who channels the
audience's energy into a prayer for a better, compassionate and peaceful
future. Then the 150-year-old duo of Dutch violist Ig Henneman (80) and
tenor sax player, clarinetist, and shakuhachi player Ab Baars (70)
decided at the last minute to play a free improvised set (and not the
program Autumn Songs, Wig, 2013). It was an inspired, deeply emotional
conversation between soul mates who know and love each other and always
find the innocent joy and inspiration in playing together. It sounded as
if all notes landed in their perfect place and none were redundant, and
articulated with captivating elegance, sheer beauty, and inspired grace.
The last set featured a trio of Taiwanese, Vienna-based guzheng player
Ming Wang, Italian, Vienna-based sound artist Isabella Forciniti, and
Austrian trumpeter Thomas K. Berghammer, who weaved mysterious, layered
textures made of the unconventional playing of Ming Wang, using objects
and bow, the extended breathing techniques of Berghammer, and
Forciniti’s otherworldly electronics.
The evening performances began with the quartet Trapeze - tenor sax
player Sakina Abdou, German trombonist Matthias Müller, drummer Peter
Orins, and Swiss turntables wizard Joke Lanz. The quartet has released
only one album (Level Crossing, Circum Disc, 2023), but already refined
its chaotic, dadaistic dynamics, propelled by the hyperactive, inventive
drumming and the constant supply of inventive cinematic, cartoonist
quotes by Joke Lanz, both charging the music with a stimulating,
subversive aroma, while Abdou and Müller keep this volatile commotion on
solid but intense ground. At one point, when Joke Lanz sensed that Abdou
and Müller refer to a jazz phrase, he immediately played and muataed a
spoken-word quote from an album on the masters of jazz, mocking such
reverent, respectful homages, and making his point by tossing this vinyl
in the air.
Oren Ambarchi
The following performance was by the Swedish power trio Fire! - Mats
Gustafsson on baritone and tenor saxes, flute and harmonica (!), bassist
Johan Berthling, and drummer Andreas Werliin, with Australian,
Berlin-based Oren Ambarchi on guitar and electronics. Fire! collaborated
before with Ambrachi (In The Mouth - A Hand and She Sleeps, She Sleeps,
Rune Gramofon, 2012 and 2016), and Ambrachi plays with Berthling and
Werliin in the trio Ghosted. The first extended piece sounded as if
continuing the hypnotic vibe of Ghosted, with Berthling and Werliin
dictating a stubborn, massive pulse, Ambrachi colors it with a
psychedelic sounds, and Gustafsson adds reserved blows, but as this set
progressed, it settled on the familiar, heavy, uplifting, and
irresistible grind of Fire! with a few surprising moments when
Gustafsson incorporates his small harmonica sound into Fire!’s syntax.
Next, Austrian pianist Ingrid Schmoliner (on prepared piano) and
trumpeter and electronics player Alex Kranabetter presented their Drank
project, which released its debut album earlier this year(Breath in
Definition, Trost, 2025), with guests - drummer Lukas König and vocalist
and electronics player Anja Plaschg (aka Soap&Skin). The stage was
dark, and the music was based on repetitive, short motifs, woven into a
layered, rich drone, enriched by hazy electronics, the processed sound
of Kranabetter’s trumpeter, Plaschg’s suggestive voice, and König’s
drums, and hypnotic grooves. It suggested an endless, Steve Reich-like
swirling effect, but with a strong psychedelic effect.
The festival ended with a wild performance of the French trio Nout -
Delphine Joussein on amplified flute, electric harp player Rafaëlle
Rinaudo, and drummer Blanche Lafuente, who describe themselves as “the
missing link between Nirvana and Sun Ra”, augmented by Gustafsson. The
trio released its debut album last year (Live Album, Trost/Gigantonium,
2024), but until experiencing this trio live, it is hard to believe how
much infectious, primal, and raw power this trio can produce, with
Lafuente drumming as if she plays in a thrash metal band, Rinaudo uses
her electric harp as an electric guitar and bass, and Joussein mutates
her amplified flute sound with countless effects. Gustafsson integrated
immediately and organically into these punkish tsunamis, and it sounded
even better and happier when Akira Sakata and Johan Berthling joined for
the encore.
The next, the 40th edition of the Unlimited festival, with Mariá
Portugal as the curator, will be in Nov. 6-8, 2026. Keep it in your
diaries.
The release of Detergent, the debut album from Ryan Ebaugh (tenor saxophone, detached mouthpiece), Matt Crane (borrowed drum kit, brought cymbals), and Cameron Presley (guitar, amps with stuff on the speakers, volume pedals), is a welcome opportunity to praise Liam Stefani’s scatterArchive label. Stefani launched it as Scatter in 1994, as a physical label, dedicated to musical improvisation in its many forms, with a particular focus on non-idiomatic free improv. Over the 30+ intervening years, this has remained the primary focus. Then there was a curated series of live “scatter“ events (late 1990s to mid 2000s). The majority of these live events were recorded (onto DAT and ADAT) and these became the source of several digital releases, and “scatter“ became “scatterArchive“, with an active bandcamp page for archival recordings and digital versions of the out-of-print “scatter“ physical releases. “As the name changed, so did the business model. It was no longer reliant on each physical release selling enough copies to finance the next physical release, no longer having to wait for payments for orders to come through from distributors and shop/mail order outlets. It was now possible to remove the commercial aspect from the label, becoming a non-profit organization“, says Stefani. Without the physical object, it also became possible to release high quality digital work quickly, more like an online periodical publishing a new weekly issue. The direction of the label has shifted subtly over recent years to include more archival releases. However, the intention of the label is to feature less-known musicians as well.
Cameron Presley - although he has been on the scene for quite some time - and Ryan Ebaugh belong to these lesser known artists. Matt Crane is possibly the best-known name in this trio. From his punk rock days in the early 1980s to his discovery of jazz and his collaboration with Ornette Coleman to freely improvised noise music with his duo Carpet Floor he has been involved in all kinds of avant-garde music. Nevertheless, it took a long time for this trio to come together. “Sometime in the late 1990s, my old band Upsilon Acrux played a show with Carpet Floor“, says Presley. “That show stuck with me.“ About 25 years later he started playing music again after a longer pause and met Ryan Ebaugh. In a way, Ebaugh’s sax reminded him of the Carpet Floor show and this is how Matt Crane came into play.
And let’s be frank: The result of their collaboration is nothing short of sensational, because musical worlds collide here. In the opener “Tongue” sounds swirl around in confusion, while a saxophone gone wild rages against this cacophony in the style of Mats Gustafsson. The guitar roars or lets fragmented tones hiss into nowhere, reminiscent of Masayuki Takayanagi’s noise attacks. For three quarters of an hour, the music roars, booms, howls, moans and groans at every turn. Every now and then, for a few seconds, it seems as if the three want to redeem us when you think you can hear a little melody. But no! Detergent is a monster. No, not figuratively speaking, I mean it literally. It grabs you by the throat with the first note, chokes you, and then whirls you around. It’s like sitting in the engine room of an ocean liner in heavy seas while hearing the death cries of someone being keelhauled by the captain. You don’t believe me? Then just listen to “Shell,” the second track. After four and a half minutes, the guitar and drums mercilessly beat everything into the ground. It’s speed metal, industrial, death disco, free jazz - all in one. It’s music that’s always at the maximum level of intensity. Not for wimps, but for fans of Painkiller, Throbbing Gristle, Napalm Death, and Test Dept. I’m sure John Zorn loves it. What a motherfucker of an album!
Detergent will be released in November, 24th. It’s available as a download and on cassette. You can buy it and listen to it on the scatterArchive bandcamp site:
If you do not want to sell any music, the easiest way is to produce an album cover without text, and to invent a name that is "C6Fe2RN6". I am not sure where this name comes from, but it's sufficiently unpronounceable not to be shouted at the beginning of a concert. (AI tells me that "The elements C (carbon), Fe (iron), and N (nitrogen) would not typically bond with Rn (radon - a noble gas) to form a stable molecule in this configuration" - but since Mazurek has already released "The Unstable Molecule" in 1997 with Isotope 217, you never know ... )
The artists behind this name are Rob Mazurek on trumpet, piano, mbira, flutes, bells, synth and electronics, and Nick Terry on electric guitar, kalimba and music box. Terry is a visual artist, and the cover art is from his hand. Mazurek is also a visual artist and Terry also happens to play the guitar and a few other instruments. Both friends met at Mazurek's recording studio in Texas and recorded material that they afterwards refined and produced. The music is layered like Terry's art, with multiple techniques and materials used to produce unexpected and mysterious sceneries, that are at the same time mystifying and inviting for reflection.
Mazurek writes in the liner notes: "I make music with the intention of placing sound in a certain way that can be exciting, invigorating, calming, destructive, cathartic, surprising, contemplative and many things in between." Or in other words: "What you hear is What you hear. Enter the room and enjoy."
I would echo that recommendation. The music is surprisingly approachable — a big change from some of Mazurek’s recent material — and has an inviting, almost “new-age” feel, with long, tranquil sounds and a reverb so deep it feels like you’re hearing it from far away, and a crystal-clear trumpet to sing and rejoice.
The album also comes in an LP version of 300 copies, and I apologise for reviewing it so late. It may be that the stock is gone. At least I hope so for the musicians.
Mary Halvorson – guitar Adam O’Farrill – trumpet Jacob Garchik –
trombone Patricia Brennan – vibraphone Nick Dunston – double bass,
electric bass Tomas Fujiwara – drums
Mary Halvorson’s Amaryllis Sextet
continue to deliver. This latest repertoire on tour is some of Mary’s freshest
work to date, and presented in the acoustic wunderland of the Berliner
Festspiele, the sextet has never sounded so good. Mary’s virtuosic finger-work
and precision effects, while at the forefront of the music, never come across
as overly dominant. She effortlessly juggles the balance between subtle
digital pitch bends and more traditional licks. This bendy approach is subtly
mirrored with the virtuosoty of Patricia Brennan, who also employs her
signature manual pitch-bending to the vibraphone. She does this along with a
host of other bizarre tone manipulation methods including using her mouth on
the bars - it’s hard to tell from a distance what she’s doing exactly, but it
sounds great. A hypnotic, aggressive bass solo from Nick Dunston elicits
whoops and cheers from a captivated crowd. The duo of Adam and Jacob bring
just the right amount of spice over in the brass section and Tomas’s attentive
drumming seals the deal. The synergy and friendship between bandmates is
apparent and there’s no weak links. Yet another A+ performance from this
immensely talented, always enjoyable bunch.
London Jazz Composers Orchestra, Marilyn Crispell & Angelica Sanchez:
“Double Trouble III” by Barry Guy
Barry Guy – double bass, direction Marilyn Crispell – piano Angelica
Sanchez – piano Torben Snekkestad – tenor and soprano saxophone Michael
Niesemann – alto saxophone Julius Gabriel – baritone saxophone Simon
Picard – tenor saxophone Mette Rasmussen – alto saxophone Henry
Lowther – trumpet Percy Pursglove – trumpet Charlotte Keeffe –
trumpet Andreas Tschopp – trombone Shannon Barnett – trombone Marleen
Dahms – trombone Marc Unternährer – tuba Philipp Wachsmann –
violin Christian Weber – double bass Lucas Niggli – percussion
Out in the lobby after the performance, I spoke with Australian Trombone
player Shannon Barnett, who remarked that she had never seen a score that
was so clear and easy to read. “I knew where all the cues were immediately.
It was such a joy to play.” She added that despite this, for two days
straight the ensemble had "rehearsed the shit out of that piece.” Fellow
trombonist Marleen Dahms felt that due to the rehearsal space being smaller,
the improvisers could read each other’s cues better, and claimed that the
rehearsal was actually better than the performance. From where I was
sitting, there was no indication that any performer was having difficulty
during the show, and I cannot fathom a world in which there could've been a
better performance than what I had just witnessed.
Two enormous grand pianos were positioned at the front of the stage, i.e.
"Double Trouble." These are for Angelica Sanchez and Marilyn Crispell, who
had just been presented with the coveted 2025 Instant Award for
Improvisational Music. Conductor Barry Guy was also out in front with his
back to the audience, along with his double bass. It was thrilling to watch
him gesturing and conducting with his full body, while also playing the
giant instrument - something so rare, I wonder if I will ever see that again
in my lifetime.
This was the third public performance of "Double Trouble." A long piece with
many parts. Barry commanded the seventeen players who were so syncronised,
it really felt like he controlled them with his hands. Everyone seemed to be
perfectly tuned in, perhaps this was due to the crystal clarity of the
score, as Shannon had said. He was confident with an obvious vision of how
each passage should be executed. Loads of shifts in dynamics, and
subgroupings and solos. A lot of space for improvisation which was very
exciting for a group of this size. There were times when the huge room felt
like it could have been mistaken for a tiny New York City basement venue,
listening to some avant-garde underground explosion.
The acoustics at the Berlin Festspiele were particularly satisfying,
especially during a duet solo between Mette Rasmussen and violinist Philipp
Wachsmann. The tone and clarity of the saxophone mixing with the violin
strings were spine-tingly good. Their combined sonic vibrations paired with
their expertise caused physical sensations to arise - goosebumps - and I
found this to be the case for all members of the orchestra. They are all
super qualified, as musicians and improvisers, such that their combination
felt like much more than the sum of its parts. Although there were moments
that were busy and chaotic, it never felt overwhelming. It was very easy to
hear each and every member's contribution and role in contributing to the
overall masterpiece.
Amidst the more chaotic parts, there was an epic, uplifting, triumphant
theme, which presented itself about halfway through the piece, played with
such passion that it reduced me to tears. Needless to say, when the theme
triumphantly returned near the tail end of the performance - the musicians
united as one and the piece was honoured so beautifully. There were so many
individual talents on the stage. When I initially saw the listing of
performers, with so many big names, I was wondering how they were going to
have their moment, or if they would simply just be part of the unified
sound. How they would stand out. I told this to Barry’s good friend and
frequent collaborator, pianist Jordina Millá, who had been watching the
rehearsals. "Barry makes it work," she said. I didn't quite understand what
she meant by this at the time, but I can confirm that Barry does indeed make
it work. Apparently this performance was recorded. I would do anything to
have a copy, because I need it in my life.
Lukas König – drums, synthesizer, voice Audrey Chen – voice, analog
electronics Julien Desprez – electric guitar Will Brooks aka MC
Dälek – voice, electronics
For a particularly avant-garde aural onslaught beginning at 11:30pm, it was
unsurprising that the Quasimodo was not sardine-packed for this loud, wild,
experimental show. There’s so much going on – Audrey Chen’s birdlike vocal
improvisations crackle and sparkle alongside MC Dälek's dark raps and
effects. There are distinct grooves here, carried impressively by Lukas
König's passionate drumming but if there is one unique standout amongst
these beautiful freaks, it’s got to be Julien Desprez and his absurd
“guitar” playing. Inspired by Brazilian tap dancing, Julien has taken to the
concept using his feet to tap his effects pedals in sequence, creating
bizarre rhythms and tones. He does this whilst playing the guitar, sitting
atop a high chair. It’s giggle inducing because it sounds fantastic, and the
performative element is undeniably fun. This is all glued together with a
triggered digital bass sound from Lukas, filling in all the gaps for a lush,
immersive collage. The club environment is a perfect atmosphere for this
kind of avant-garde chaos, and for the passionate individuals who stick
around til the very end, a quirky late-night delight!
***
Sunday @ Berliner (Paul Acquaro)
So here it is, the final day of the festival. Events had already transpired
during the day at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche with the excellent
French saxophonist Sakina Abdou performing solo along with a set from the
international trio The Handover featuring keyboardist Jonas Cambien, oudist
Aly Eissa and violinist Ayman Asfour. However, let us join the festivities at
the Festspiele, starting with saxophonist Amalia Dahl and her expansive
group*.
Dafnie Extended
Cacophonous blasts merged into tumbling passages and unison explosions, then
into a driving pulse from the drums and bass. In fact, two drums and two
basses, joined by trumpet, trombone, sax, flute, and accordion, Dahl's usual
quintet Dafnie was appearing tonight in a 12-piece extended version. Laced
with highly energetic solo passages and solid rhythmic motion, Dahl's musical
vision, a zestful mix of composition and improvisation, was delivered with
conviction. Fragile moments provided pleasant contrast to bombastic ones, and
more than once thoughts of Alexander von Schlippenbach's Global Unity
Orchestra came to mind as the 12-piece veered between the unseemly and the
sublime. Overheard later were quips of it being "too ambitious," to which I
say, "good, keep it up!"
The interlude that followed connected the events at the Festspiele with the
community involvement that the Jazzfest engages in annually. The festival had
actually begun at the start of the week and a group led by bassist Joel Grip
and documented by filmmaker Chris Jonas working with school kids and community
members in the Moabit part of the city on a multifaceted art project.
The Moabit Imaginarium, which was the group Ouat, with
Grip on bass, Simon Sieger at the piano and Michael Griener on percussion
joined by community member musicians drummer Assane Seck, trumpeter Berno
Jannis Lilge, gayageum player Hyunjeong Park, electronicst Elsa M’bala and rig
player Hakam Wahbi. The range of instruments blended into a gentle, rhythmic
piece that slowly grew denser and more melodic over 20 minutes, with the
trumpet cutting through towards the end. The short piece invited enthusiastic
applause.
It was also a nice intro to the eclectic solo set from pianist
Pat Thomas. Thomas, who has been an active musicians for decades in
Britain, has seen his profile rise in recent years along with Grip in the band
Ahmed. Tonight, however, the focus was on Thomas alone as he pounded, plucked,
coaxed and caressed a smorgasbord of sound from his instrument. Bathed in blue spotlights, Thomas,
bedecked in a dark, flowing robe, began with a crash on the keyboard -
deliberate, loud, smashing - followed by a few tumbling notes, like glass
tinkling downwards. Then, it became a flowing melody, soft at first, then
growing stronger. The dynamism of his playing on full display, Thomas veered
from lovely voicing with a touch of danger to riveting rhythmic explosions.
The dissonances were a wild spice as well as structural element of his
approach.
The festival closer was the most grandiose of all, the
Fire! Orchestra** led by saxophonist Mats Gustaffson. While trimmed
down from the 40 members that made up their last
recording Echoes (2023), the new 18-piece group
featured some Fire! Orcehstra alumni favorites such as saxophonist Mette
Rasmussen, bassist Johan Berthling, trombonist Mats Äleklint and singer Sofia
Jernberg, it also brought in new faces like drummer and vocalist Mariá
Portugal, guitarist (and vocalist) Julien Desprez and organist Kit Downs,
among many others (see below). Often organized around seismic riffs and
pulse-setting beats, the Fire! Orchestra can also be surprisingly lithe, which
proved to be the case this evening. It is tempting to say this version was
perhaps more compositionally focused with a modern classical twist to the
sound. An embedded string ensemble comprised of Anna Lindal and Anna Neubert
on violin and Emily Wittbrodt on cello had an extended part in the middle of
the piece that seemed to highlight the composer's ambitions. At the start,
saxophonist Anna Hogberg introduced the work with an extended solo, followed
by a wild exchange of "words" between Portugal and Desprez. There were few
other outright solos in the piece, though it ended with an extended coda by Downes and
trumpeter Tuva Olsson. For an encore, the audience was treated to shades of
Fire! Orchestra past, in which nearly heavy metal grooves, a fiery solo from
Rasmussen and growling B3 tones from Downes shook the stage of the Festspiele.
The final concert of the festival was actually the James Brandon Lewis Quartet at Quasimodo ... undoubtedly an excellent digestive to this musical feast.
---
*Dafnie Extended:
Amalie Dahl – saxophone, composition
Oscar Andreas Haug – trumpet
Jørgen Bjelkerud – trombone
Sofia Salvo – baritone saxophone
Henriette Eilertsen – flute
Ida Løvli Hidle – accordion
Lisa Ullén – piano Anna Ueland – synthesizer
Trym Saugstad Karlsen – drums
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten – double bass
Nicolas Leirtrø – double bass
Veslemøy Narvesen – drums
**Fire! Orchestra:
Sofia Jernberg – voice
Mariá Portugal – drums, voice
Anna Lindal – violin
Anna Neubert – violin
Emily Wittbrodt – cello
Mats Gustafsson – baritone saxophone, live electronics, conduction
"Where will you run when the world's on fire?" asked the slogan of the 62nd
Berlin Jazz Festival, and while I have not yet come up with a satisfying long-term answer to the question, for four nights in mid-autumn, I at least found some refuge in the expansive Haus der Berliner Festspiele, ground zero of the festival.
Ensconced safely enough in the impressive, mid-century modern auditorium,
home to theater, dance and modern music, it felt at least temporarily
removed from the raging discontent 'out there,' that is, until the Beyond Dragon's trio breathed their musical fire.
Beyond Dragon's saxophonist Angelika Niescier, along with cellist Tomeka Reid and drummer Eliza Salem, lit up the
stage with a welcome energy. A tough melody, eschewing any frills and
niceties, bolted from the leaders horn while an intense pulse eminated from
the cello. Along with the drums, the two a driving engine. Focused and
ferocious, but not without an ear to melody, the trio burned up the stage
for an hour, building up tension, Reid taking friction-full excursions, Niescier oscillating between tough heads and heady solos, and Salem always
purposeful.
German bassist Felix Henkelhausen's "Deranged Particles" took the
stage next, and its seven piece configuration seemed to promise an
expansive counter to the focused might of the previous trio. The Deranged Particles began
with the hum of Valentin Gerhardus' electronics and a splatter of Philip
Dornbusch's percussion. Then as layers of sound began to pile up, Henkelhausen's bass could be heard cutting through the
expectant atmosphere. Particles of sound indeed - as the group came together, Percy Pursglove's trumpet and Philipp Gropper's
tenor saxophone were front and center, while Evi Filippou's vibraphone and
Elias Stemeseder's keyboard work formed the perimeter, the music that
emerged was a loose collective of sound with a tinge of orderly chaos. Each
tone was an important piece of the picture, each shift of the rhythm adding
slight instability to the structure.
Closing out the first night was the most intimate of the configurations, the
duo of pianist Vijay Iyer and trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith. Touring their
latest recording, Defiant Life on ECM, there was already a bit of
an answer to the festival's motto: we live in spite of the fire engulfing
our worlds, and the music that the two created showed us how to do it. The
two began defiantly - sharp chords from the piano and incisive notes from
the trumpet - expressive and lined with small melodic statements,
punctuated with big intervallic jumps. After a passage of loose tones from the horn, the two found themselves emerging from musical mists
into engrossing, emotional pastures. The sounds of Iyer's Fender Rhodes and
Smith's soft and wide-ranging trumpet was poignant. Rhythmically
strong with cutting melodic lines, the duo was inspired and their music cerebral but passionate. A strong
ending to a strong opening night in the main hall.
While the main event is happening at the Festpiele, the clubs A-Trane and Quasimodo, both in the vicinity, were serving as outposts of the festival ... other safehouses in this dangerous world ... and both were featuring top-notch groups. For a quick report on these activities, we turn to Free Jazz Blog colleague Sarah "Flake" Grosser, with a panoptic view of the goings on at Quasimodo...
There's no line, but the sold-out venue is truly packed. A couple hundred patient and attentive jazz lovers stand to attention as Tim, Tom, and Gregg wail away on stage, commanding the club to take notice. Barely anyone is moving, mesmerized by the frenzy. It's rapid, and busy; crunchy guitar and high tootling sax with Tom's intuitive accompaniment on drums. It goes down a treat and the crowd whoops and cheers once it's over.
From the back, there is still a pretty good unobstructed view, even for shrimps, but the sound quality and mix are well balanced. Even through light conversation, the music is nicely audible. Tim demands attention both musically and literally, asking a few rowdier patrons over at the bar: "What's German for 'Shut the fuck up'? It's really hard to play while you're talking…" Granted, it’s quite late at night, and people have had a few drinks at this point. The crowd is not offended, even laughing along with Tim’s American bluntness. Regardless of his question being rhetorical, in true German tradition, the fans offer practical suggestions back: “Halt die Fresse?”(Shut your face?) ”Schnauze? (muzzle/snout?)." Tim’s musical response is raw and unapologetic; an anarchic breath of fresh air.
Gregg Belisle-Chi – electric guitar Tim Berne – alto saxophone Tom Rainey – drums
***
Friday @ Festspiele (Paul)
Friday evening and the Lina Allemano Four
were hitting the small stage at A-Trane. This was happening just as the main stage was heating up at the Berliner Festspiele. In an effort to keep things
simple, I stuck to the main hall, but really, how unfair this burning world
is!
Saxophonist Signe Emmeluth's Banshee, whose self-titled debut recordiing is out on
Motvind Records, is a multi-headed, genre-bending, free-form group that is
hard to categorize. Emmeluth's profile has been on the rise in recent years
as a fierce, free saxophonist and with Banshee she both doubles down and
confounds. Drawing on a a-list roster of Norway's young, burgeoning experimental scene, Banshee features Guoste Tamulynaite on keys, Jennifer Torrence on
percussion, Guro Skumsnes Moe on bass, Heiða Karine Jóhannesdóttir Mobeck on
electrified tuba, Anne Efternøler on trumpet and the scintillating Maja S.
K. Ratkje on voice, electronics and violin. Everyone, in fact, is credited
with voice, which proved to be a central piece of the work. The piece began
promising with a blend of vocalizations and a progressive groove. Rhythmic ideas interwove as the leader interjected energetic lines.
Then, following a noisy-laden musical breakdown, they group began to wander and
for a little too long. Eventually, an emerging pulse helped point the way out,
which culminated in the arrival of the banshee. Pained wailing at first, then an
emergent, folkloric melody formed, giving new shape as a blend of zombie
sounds, melodic shapes and diffuse grooves rode the piece out.
The contrast with the next group could not have been greater. Woodwindist
David Murray, a veteran of the venerated NYC Loft-Scene of the 1970s and a
prolific player whose style straddles avant-garde and traditional jazz,
appeared with his current quartet and provided a set to soothe unsettled
souls. Murray, who plays tenor saxophone and bass clarinet, ripped on both
as he presented the music from his latest Impulse! recording Birdly Serenade (2025) with pianist Marta Sánchez, bassist Luke Stewart, and drummer Chris Beck. A
more than capable quartet, it was perhaps Sanchez who stood out the most,
with an early solo that added a bright energy to the pulsating rhythm.
Murray proved spry and versatile throughout, shifting effortlessly between
bopping melody and outside lines. The penultimate piece featured artist Francesca Cinelli, who also happens to be Murray's wife, dramatically
reciting her lyrics to the song 'Oiseau Du Paradis' (Bird of Paradise),
ending with saxophonist and poet trading-eights.
The final act at the main stage was a more recent ascendant to in the modern
jazz scene, drummer Makaya McCraven. Another contrast to the evening, the
quartet of McCraven on drums, Junius Paul on electric bass, Matt Gold on
guitar and Marquis Hill on trumpet, played a CTI-reminiscent set that
offered glimmers of inspiration. Stand out was Gold, whose guitar work
offered interesting melodic twists and rousing solo turns. Generally groove
oriented, Paul did a wonderful job interjecting unexpected rhythmic accents
and impulses. Coming back for a rare festival encore, they were a crowd
favorite.
However, while it is over at the main hall, the youngsters are still keeping it going at Quasimodo. We turn again to our intrepid reporter in the field, Sarah "Flake" Grosser for an update from the fringes...
Back at the club across town, away from the packed Festspiele, a different kind of packed show was taking place. The atmosphere here was entirely different - adventurous, playful, and free-spirited. I’m not sure what gave The Young Mothers their special sheen. Perhaps it was the combination of instruments or the colourful combination of characters onstage. Maybe it was the uplifting, catchy melodies. When everyone sings along in chorus: “It is better if you let it,” it’s such a happy sound and I can’t get the smile off my face. The crowd is immersed in the bright aura of the beautiful music, far from the mainstream, and wonderfully creative. Jonathan F. Horne whips out a violin bow and starts going to town with it on his guitar, giving a double meaning to the term “shredding.” It’s most entertaining keeping an eye on Stefan González the percussionist, pivoting from pretty vibraphone articulations to intense black metal blast beats on the drum kit, and throaty growling. It sounds almost schizophrenic on paper, but the transitions between the metal segments were seamless and fit the mood, which also shifted via a fusion of genres from jazz, to hip-hop to rock and beyond. It felt like a party - one I never wanted to end.
Jawwaad Taylor – trumpet, rhymes, electronics, programming Jason Jackson – tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone Stefan González – vibraphone, drums, percussion, voice Jonathan F. Horne – guitar Ingebrigt Håker Flaten – double bass, electric bass Frank Rosaly – drums, electronics, programming
Aerodynamics is the newest release from ‘psychoacoustic
clarinettist’ Kai Fagaschinski. This record contains two tracks: the first,
‘Welcome to the 20 th Century’, is a 30-minute piece performed by
The Paranormal Clarinet Society, although recorded in two sessions in June
2023 and January 2024; the second, ‘Surrounded by Idiots’, is a nine-part
improvisation, each improvisation recorded separately by Fagaschinski.
‘Psychoacoustics’ is the best way to understand the music: it is about the
sound and how it is perceived by the listener, perhaps more than the music
as such.
Unlike Fagaschinski’s duo The International Nothing, ‘Welcome to the 20
th Century’ largely eschews extended techniques, instead focusing
on the possibilities of simply putting eight clarinets in a room together –
as Fagaschinski writes, to use ‘simple language’ only. But by no means does
that make this a conventional recording, especially as the clarinets creep
perilously close to one other, causing the frequencies to beat together
furiously, before moving apart again. The music certainly requires a good
set of headphones to properly appreciate: the sound of breath or clacking of
keys is as much a part of the music as the notes, making you feel like
you’ve walked right into the middle of a clarinet coven – which I expect is
exactly the effect Fagaschinski wishes to create.
The track was recorded in two sessions, and I found the change quite jarring
when it occurs (it isn’t subtle). I would have preferred to separate the two
sessions, rather than suggest they form a cohesive whole, which doesn’t seem
the case here. Nonetheless, the slow pace of change and intricacy of sonic
detail make this an interesting listen.
The second track, ‘Surrounded by Idiots’, is an improvisational experiment.
Fagaschinski recorded nine improvisations, each 35 minutes and 19 seconds
long exactly, whilst imagining that he is improvising with the other eight
incarnations of himself, and reacting as such to these imagined sounds.
Again, it is a very intimate recording, the microphones picking up every
intake of breath, the transformations taking place measuredly. The
experiment itself is an exercise I have tried on occasion – although never
in nine parts! – and it demonstrates how improvised music has its own
recognised structures and expectations. On the whole, it works: there are
moments of surprising synchronicity and textures that are unique because of
their independence. But when Fagaschinski’s whole approach is so subtle, it
was never likely that it would produce much incongruity, and it did make me
question whether as a whole this achieves something that couldn’t be done to
greater effect by actually improvising with eight other musicians.
This record is a fascinating listen for clarinet players like myself, who
will want to listen closely to how Fagaschinski uses the instrument so
creatively. But it is best as a psychoacoustic document, absorbing in its
precision and its intimacy, that will reward any listener willing to give it
their attention.
How could I pass on this album? It has a wildly enigmatic title with a
horror movie vibe. (I’ll bet you didn’t know “werewolf” could be used as a
verb.) And it has Jörg A. Schneider on drums.
I first discovered Jörg Schneider through the band Roji, a duo with bassist
Gonçalo Almeida. Their first album The Hundred Headed Women is a
favorite of mine, as is the follow-up Oni. Their music lives
somewhere in the intersection of harsh noise, thumping metal and improvised
music. It’s a pretty great intersection.
Schneider seems to especially enjoy duos with guitarists. There’s his 2025
album This Ain’t My First Rodeo, Pal! with Michel Kristof, the
project The Nude Spur with Thomas Kranefeld and his pair of albums
with Dirk Serries, Schneider-Serries I & II. The
Schneider-Serries
albums in particular are year-end list calibre good.
But perhaps his most significant drum-guitar duo is his ongoing project with
Sebastian Fäth, called Teen Prime. They have 10 releases, helpfully
numbered 1 through 10. Listening to some random tracks off their bandcamp
page, I hear fine examples of the great variety of music that can be made
with this simple combination of instruments. At times, I hear Derek Bailey
in one of his many duos with drummers. Then maybe a Gang Of Four
riff. Then maybe a bit of Steve Reich’s Electric Guitar Phase.
That brings us to Let’s Just Werewolf Them. Jörg and Sebastian had
recorded what was intended to be a Teen Prime album. But they
realized that what they had produced was a “more intimate, low-key
gathering” than a typical Teen Prime recording. So they invited
Yvonne Nussbaum, who had previously worked with Jörg on the projects
Skim
and Wolfskull, to overdub her piano playing. It was a great
decision.
The track “a single life in a single body” is beautiful. Schneider’s
drumming skitters in the background while Fäth’s guitar style is almost
ambient. Nussbaum’s pensive and plaintive piano feels like the completion of
a thought. On the final track “as for parameter”, Fäth’s guitar starts off
repeating a simple, minimalist riff which he then builds up in complexity
and intensity, with Schneider matching him along the way. Nussbaum’s
peaceful piano is keeping the listener grounded, until eventually the album
ends on her playing a final few quiet notes.
The whole album contains depths I am still finding. Highly recommended.
Sei Miguel passed away on November 11 in Lisbon, aged 64. A trumpeter,
composer, and bandleader, he was one of the foremost figures of the
Portuguese musical avant-garde and the author of highly original music.
Born in Paris in 1961, he lived in Brazil before returning to Paris, and
later moved to Portugal, where he began developing musical ensembles from
1986 onwards. He started with the group Moeda Noise, which already included
Fala Mariam (trombone), his lifelong collaborator. He became known for his
use of the pocket trumpet, and his discography began in 1988 with the album
Breaker, where he lead a septet that included a young Rodrigo Amado on
saxophone. In the following two years, he released
Songs Against Love and Terrorism
and The Blue Record — these first three albums were issued by the
Ama Romanta label.
Throughout a career that never made compromises, he
collaborated with musicians such as Rafael Toral, Manuel Mota, César Burago,
Bruno Silva, among others, in different formations. In the orchestrations
for his groups, he worked with systems of graphic notation, preparing a
general score for each piece and a specific score for each musician,
complete with detailed instructions. He described himself as a “jazzman”,
although his relationship with the genre was not straightforward. As he said
in an interview: “The ever more institutionalized jazz, the pseudo-global
jazz of the European Union Rule-Spewers, doesn’t want me. And I, given what
it has become, don’t want it either. What matters to me is true jazz.”
From
2010 onwards, he established a connection with Pedro Costa’s Clean Feed
label, which gave new momentum to his recording career, releasing albums
such as Esfíngico — Suite for a Jazz Combo (2010),
Salvation Modes
(2014), (Five) Stories Untold (2016), and
The Original Drum
(2023). One of his most unusual albums is Turbina Anthem (No
Business), a sparse and melancholic jazz/folk duo with Pedro Gomes. An
important project in recent years was O Carro de Fogo de Sei Miguel, a
“small orchestra of all fusions,” as he called it. They released a
self-titled album in 2019 (Clean Feed), followed in 2023 by their second
record, Um Um Um E Não Há Forma De Morrer (Shhpuma). His final
release was Panorama (ezz-thetics), recorded in a trio with Fala
Mariam and cellist Daniel Levin.
Beyond being a profoundly original
musician, Sei Miguel was also a fascinating personality — marked by deep
intelligence — who left a lasting impression on all who knew him.
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