Two string instruments and a pair of woodwinds improvising simultaneously can result in either cacophony or, in the hands of virtuosos, brilliance. Fortunately, the international quartet that created Heavy Handed consists of intrepid musicians with a shared vision. Violist Joanna Mattrey, flutist Camilo Ángeles, saxophonist Camila Nebbia, and cellist Violeta García recorded this thrilling seven-piece exploration of sound and harmony live at the Jazzwerkstatt Bern, Germany, in March of 2024.
The opening track “I” starts with a riotous four-way repartee. Mattrey and Garcia alternate furious bowing with dense pizzicato while Nebbia and Ángeles blow with abandon. Nebbia’s brassy lines bounce off the band’s refrains while Ángeles’ breathy flute darkly floats over them. Mattrey and Garcia embrace delightful dissonance and fearlessly push their instruments' boundaries. The interplay goes from fiery and energetic to eerie and nocturnesque with a dark ambiance. Within it, Garcia’s plucked notes echo in silent pauses as the reeds and Mattrey weave a mystical backdrop. Gradually, each ensemble member increases the tempo and returns the piece to its starting exuberance, albeit one tinged with melancholy.
On more serene passages, such as “IV” the innovation and the experimental spirit remain unabated. Long, languid collective phrases pierce the quiet like howling winds. The soft yet expectant overlapping extemporizations build an otherworldly atmosphere in which a stimulating storm brews. The contrast between the somberness of the first part and the rumbling, thundering tones of the second is exquisite, hypnotizing, and unsettling at the same time. Intriguingly, the short piece “V” serves as a coda to its predecessor, expanding on the same ideas and concluding them on a dramatic tone.
The concluding “VII” continues the cinematic collective performance. Short phrases form Nebboa and Ángeles spar with Mattrey’s wailing viola and Garcia’s reverberating tones. Four distinct and complementary expressions interweave to form a dynamic, captivating sonic tapestry. Within it melodic fragments shimmer wistfully and hauntingly.
Heavy Handed is not only a sublime example of artistic camaraderie. It is also an absorbing and provocative mosaic that clearly demonstrates the ingenuity of this group both as a unit and as individual musicians.
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