Will Mason Quartet - Hemlocks, Peacocks (New Focus Recordings, 2025) *****

By Stef Gijssels

I have been listening almost exclusively to this album over the last few weeks. It is wonderful. An incredibly creative, compelling and carefully crafted gem that transcends the boundaries of style and genre. The quartet are Will Mason - the leader and composer - on drums, Anna Webber on tenor, Daniel Fisher-Lochhead on alto, and deVon Russell Gray on keyboards. All seven tracks are carefully composed with room for improvisation. 

It is avant-garde classical music in its essence, exploring La Monte Young's tuning system from his "Well-Tuned Piano" classic from 1974. You can read more about La Monte Young's "Well-Tuned Piano" here or watch a performance here. I'll share two technical paragraphs from the liner notes to give the reader/listener an idea about the concept of the music and especially its strange sonic quality. 

"Mason’s exploration (...) began because of Young’s elegant solution to mapping just intonation onto the piano. Young’s 12-note scale omits the fifth harmonic, resulting in an absence of justly-tuned major (5:4) and minor (6:5) thirds. One way of approaching the resulting scale is as a pentatonic scale with several shadings available of each pitch; another would be to construct a scale out of the septimal major (9:7, 35 cents wider than an equal-tempered major third) and minor (7:6, 33 cents narrower than an equal-tempered minor third) thirds. Young’s keyboard layout makes both approaches fairly intuitive; some familiar hand shapes, like the perfect fifth or octave, typically sound like a perfect fifth or octave. By contrast, a span of a minor 9th might sound beautifully consonant, and a major second might produce shrill beating."

"In Hemlocks, Peacocks the just intonation tuning system of Young’s The Well Tuned Piano is set at two pitch levels on two separate keyboards, one rooted on C and the other on 436Hz (a slightly flat A). This allows for the use of the 5/4 just major third, which Young’s tuning system deliberately omitted. But it also allows for an array of clusters and shadings of pitches. Especially in the improvisational context of much of this music, this lends the keyboard a flexibility and expressivity that is not normally available to performers."

The result is a very accessible microtonal, polyrhythmic and polyphonic delight. Anna Webber is the perfect saxophonist in this context, equally interested in microtonal playing, she is at once very controlled when required and exuberant at other moments, breaking through the confines of classical music and adding a free jazz accent to the overall sound. I just give a quick impression on some tracks, but leave it to the reader to further explore. 

"Hemlocks", the opening track is available on video, and will let you enjoy here below. It sets the tone for the album's overall sound. 

"Hymn" is a long piece on the keyboards by deVon Russell Gray, with Mason adding percussive touches. The sound is off-center, yet gentle and eery at the same time. The minimalist keyboard touches resonate in the open space of the Cole Memorial Chapel in Norton, Massachusetts, were the album was recorded. 

"Turned in Fire", starts as a free jazz piece with its tenor and drums intro, brought back into harmonic order by the keyboards. It's one of the highlights of the album, with its increasing tempo and unexpected changes. "Planets" also starts with the seemingly very free intro by the two saxes and the drums, only to shift into a tender and fragile piece. 

"Peacocks", the track that ends the album is possibly the most composed, and it is of an incredible beauty, with a hypnotic rhythmic and the two saxes spiralling ever upward, and when the drumming gets more volume, they leave their patterned playing for more improvisational work, with an exceptional interaction between the two saxes. 

You can admire the technicalities of the harmonies, and the rhythms and the tuning of the instruments, but the only thing that actually counts is the quality of the music itself, its intensity, its emotional power, its atmospheric mysteriousness, its artistic vision, the listening experience ... and this album ticks all these boxes. 

If you like music, whatever your tastes, you should check it out. 

Listen and download from Bandcamp.

Watch a video of the recording of the first track. 

Read More

Garth Knox & The Saltarello Trio - Leonard, The Book Of Angels, Vol. 30 (Tzadik, 2017)

By Stef

In late 2005, John Zorn started with his Book of Angels project, as part of his Tzadik label's Archival Series. In the series, he offers other musicians the opportunity to present their take on his Masada songbook. The second release was the excellent Azazel by the Masada String Trio with Greg Cohen, Mark Feldman and Erik Friedlander, who actually already performed as an ensemble on the album "The Circle Maker" in 1998, and later on Zorn's 50th birthday celebration series in 2004. The music offers this wonderful mixture of klezmer, classical chamber music and jazz sensitivities.

Now, so many years later, there is another string ensemble taking up the challenge: Garth Knox and the Sartarello Trio, with the leader on viola and viola d'amore, Sylvain Lemêtre on percussion, Julia Robert on viola and viola d'amore, and Agnès Vesterman on cello. Knox is better known from his classical work with the Arditti Quartet and the Ensemble InterContemporain.

Knox takes the Masada material and infuses it with classical sound purity, together with medieval, baroque, classical and contempary music as a wonderful counterbalance to the melancholy klezmer scales and melodies. The result is music full of variation and sudden changes in tonality and mood, full of drama, playfulness, some sadness and darkness but brought with an overall smooth and welcoming warmth.

The Book of Angels series remain a little too programmatic, so this is far from the raw authenticity of the music we tend to review, but it sounds fresh, well performed and arranged, not very demanding for the listener and a real pleasure for the ear.

On a side-note, the album is called Leonard, which does not sound like a very biblical name for a (fallen) angel, since it comes from the old German "Lewenhart" (Leeuwenhart in Dutch, Lionheart in English), yet there is a demon with that name, the three-horned goat from the Dictionnaire Infernal, published in 1818, a book that may be a further source for more Book of Angels to come ...

Read More

Strings of Strings

By Stef

The Octopus - Subzo(o)ne (Leo, 2016)

Four cellos, three Germans and one French, two men and two women: Nathan Bontrager, Elisabeth Coudoux, Nora Krahl and Hugues Vincent. One of the distinctive features of an octopus, is that it has neurons spread throughout its tentacles, which allows the arms to work kind of autonomously from the small central brain without entangling its arms in knots. And that's how the music kind of works. Improvisations leads to structure. Ideas get launched and are taken up by the others, not messed up, or shaping a chaos of conflicting ideas, but rather a common forward moving approach. The arms may play different styles, and even musical genres, and even that works well. They take an angle of approach and develop it, and the result can be playful, austere, mysterious, eery music, full of wild tension or quiet contemplation, with ever shifting tonal colours and timbres, but it is the interplay that is the most amazing, the collective creation of patterns that get picked up by the musicians to play as if rehearsed, delivering a kind of simultaneous and subconscious understanding that they are in the same music, just bringing it to life together. This common concentrated focus on the co-creation and the wonderful control of total freedom seem like a paradox, and it can only be explained by a perfect knowledge of the instrument and the like-mindedness of the four artists.

The band has performed together since 2013, and made the soundtrack for the award-winning Turkish movie "Time Worm" (2014). This is their first album.


Nuova Camerata - Chant (Improvising Beings, 2016)

This is a little bit of cheating in our string of strings reviews, because Pedro Carneiro plays marimba on this album, with Carlos Zingaro on violin, João Camões on viola, Ulrich Mitzlaff on cello, and Miguel Leiria Pereira on double bass. Just like "Subzo(o)ne", this album breaks all boundaries of genre, hovering somewhere in the sonic environment of classical avant-garde if it were not totally improvised, with lots of open space - some instruments stay silent at times to let the others play. 

Chant 1 is a short chimaeric exploration of sonic space, with short bursts and attempts to dialogue
Chant 2 is a longer piece with alternating moods, dark bass and high-pitched violin, with the marimba adding accents, then the bows move into a repetitive single-note frenzy, over which the violin keeps singing short and forlorn phrases, then it moves to even sparser and deeper regions, dark and foreboding
Chant 3 offers different voices consecutively, duo interactions, echoing, dialoguing, then the whole quintet stirs up a disturbed movement, leading into Chant 4.
Chant 4 starts calm then becomes agitated, nervous, dissonant, full of inherent drama and gravitas
Chant 5 brings hesitating madness, with little sounds colliding in a timeless space
Chant 6 is dark, ominous and hypnotic, with repetitive phrases shifting through ever darker shades and oscillating intensity
Chant 7 is long and equally dark, with sudden changes in tonality and density and with the distant hammering of the marimba adding eery touches, and with the strings weird interactions like a dance of lost souls. 

Apologies for the enumeration and description. I just wanted to illustrate the breadth and variety in approaches, the incredible musicianship that creates something deep and resonating by pushing their ideas and instrumental prowess beyond known borders. 

It sounds like a chant of despair, like the cover art, this is not a colourful spring day with birds twittering from the green leaves in the trees, this is not a chant of celebration, not even a chant of protest. It requires close listening. 



Iridium String Quartet - Iridium (Creative Sources, 2016)

Also from Portugal, but then of a totally different nature, is the Iridium String Quartet. Here there are no sudden bursts of energy, or agitated changes of nervous interaction, or big intervals between high and low registers, but two long gliding improvisations with subtle and minor changes in tone, but a wealth of timbral changes and shifts in sound color and intensity.

The quartet are Maria da Rocha on violin, Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, and Miguel Mira on double bass. Despite the horizontal structure around a single tone, the music is not slow of flat, it keeps shimmering and changing in intensity, like some raw organic process taking place, and then the album's title comes to mind: Iridium is a metal that is among the most dense and difficult to work of all known substances. The titles of the two tracks refer to the boiling point (4428°C) and its melting point (2466°) and maybe that's what you hear, the slow transformation of something unwieldy into something else, into another substance by adding energy to it, adding fire to hard matter and to gradually make it change, to make it soundshift in front of your ears, to create sonic vapours out of hard compounds, to create sonic fluids out of the very foundations of our existence. It sounds like a churning cauldron of redblack turbulence. It is fascinating and as usual, beyond any known musical category. Calling it minimal or even drone would do the music injustice, because it's too rich for that. The instruments work in different layers and change constantly despite the strong tonal centre. They add, they withdraw, they deliver piercing overtones or carefully paced plucking or endless bowed murmurs. 

To listeners not familiar with the work of Ernesto Rodrigues, I can only recommend them to give it a try, and to listen a lot to this album, with undivided attention. Each listen will make it richer and more lively and deeper than before. 

Read More

Chamber 4 – City of Light (Clean Feed Records, 2017) ****1/2

By Rick Joines

City of Light is the second album by French brothers Théo Ceccaldi (violin and voice) and Valentin Ceccaldi (cello and voice) with the Portuguese musicians Luís Vicente (trumpet) and Marcelo dos Reis (acoustic and prepared guitars, and voice). Recorded live on April 28th, 2016, at Les Soirées Tricot Festival in Paris, City of Light is fifty minutes of improvised chamber music. Clean Feed Records proclaims there were “no scores, no structures of any kind, no previous discussions about what to do or not to do or any type of conceptual reasoning,” yet the three movements impress as if they were a single impassioned composer’s carefully-constructed thoughts concentrated and immortalized in a written score. Each musician effortlessly nourishes an intimate exchange of tonal and rhythmic ideas and subtle alterations. Their first album together, in 2015, was praised as “most beautiful” by Stef Gijssels. This one is, I think, even more beautiful.

What if Paris—the City of Light—were translated into music? Its shifting moods—from dawn to dusk—given voice, and with all the hurly-burly in between? And how would it sound as it settles down for the night, and when it dreams? It may be foolish to imagine a narrative for the three improvised movements of City of Light, but the reference to Paris might allow an impressionistic one.

“Part 1” begins quietly, with the brothers Ceccaldi bowing broad strokes on violin and cello as if the city is waking at sunrise. Reis ping-pongs harmonics, keeping a lulling sort of 4/4 time, and lingers on a diffident finger-picked chord. Vicente probably horrifies his music teachers: he enters with some deftly-controlled “bad” embouchure—rushing air and smearing and shredding some nearly toneless rips. His polyphonic partly-valved dissonant tone clusters are choked, pinched, and constricted until he opens up with some plunger-mute vocalizing and fluttering glissandi. Half way into the first part, everyone plays with an ecstatic enthusiasm—if you want see some chamber music headbanging, watch the video. Reis strums flamenco style and finger picks out of regular time. The guitar and cello become drum kits and beat out a tribal rhythm. There is a low, lone voice, saying “Oooooh.” The Ceccaldis’ weave through each other’s arco until they drop out, leaving Vicente and Reis to finish in counterpoint.

“Part 2” begins as if the raucous city was already running full tilt. Everyone plays fortissimo and at once—strumming, drumming, blowing, the strings cutting jagged whorls. Four minutes into this metropolitan effusion, the quartet slows. Vincente puffs for air, inserts a mute. The cello and violin stretch low draping hammocks of sound. Reis interrupts their siesta, scraping and slapping his guitar like bongos, then he stomps a tube screamer pedal and heads into overdrive. At this point, I feel I should provide a spoiler alert—unusual things are about to happen; frightening things. Yet even if I ruin the surprise, you’re still going to jump out of your shorts when you hear it. A voice rises above the floor of sound singing an easy “ahhh” that grows louder, then quieter, then becomes an undulating “woooing” ululation. Almost involuntarily, the players begin to harmonize with this human voice—it orders their reactions. They skitter around it and instinctively accompany it. As the volume of each increases, there comes an unpredictable series of four absolutely blood-curdling screams. Each one is harrowing every time. Then all three on stringed instruments are singing vibrato oooos and shaping other terrifying growls with beastly transformations of their jaws and lips. If there really was no pre-planning before the playing began, I wonder if the berserker screaming scared the other three as effectively as he unsettles the audience. Following that maniacal vocal section, Théo Ceccaldi saws away on the violin as if leading a barn dance; Reis strums and flicks a tango, then pedals a wah-wah. Vicente wah-wahs back with a plunger mute. The cello turns drum, and Reis winds it all down, plinking on the bridge.

The business of the City of Light slows down in “Part 3.” The Ceccaldis gently sway; Vincente with a plunger mute echoes some shimmering phantasms of Dixieland; Reis resists the dying of the light with flamenco flourishes before drubbing away on a prepared acoustic guitar. For a while the quartet seems to play at cross purposes—as if there is a profuse confusion of unresolved thoughts as dusk falls. For a moment, they all seem to find the tonic, and by the end, the playing of each is sparse and snoozy as if fading into dreams.

In Wallace Stevens’ poem “The Idea of Order at Key West,” the speaker and pale Ramon Fernandez walk the beach listening to the crashing waves of the ocean and the singing of a woman, who also walks there. Her song—that human art—seems to accompany and translate nature, giving order and meaning to the incoherent “constant cry . . . of the veritable ocean,” which is “sound alone.” The speaker marvels at the woman’s ability to translate eternal, inhuman chaos, to harmonize with it to reveal order where there was only chaos. As we listen to Chamber 4’s City of Light, we, too, can muse about their mediation between us and the city’s pandemonium. Experience overwhelms us. Perhaps it only makes sense when shaped by human art. The effect of artfully-achieved music persists, even after the notes have faded, “arranging, deepening, enchanting night.” Chamber 4’s improvisations may provide only a fleeting sense of order to the hullabaloo of the City of Light, but like the singer on the beach in Key West, what they played is what they heard, and through them, this cannot help be anything besides beautiful.

Video for much of “City of Light, Pt. 1” can be viewed here:

Listen on Bandcamp:

Read More

Mark Solborg & Herb Robertson: Tuesday Prayers (ILK, 2016) ****

By Joe

This seems to have been a year of duos, or is it that I've been listening to many recently? It is indeed one way of presenting music in a format where musicians cannot hide behind each other, always exposed, forcing them into a performance situation that helps concentrate the mind musically. This new record from Solborg and Robertson is one such piece, placing the two musicians in a church in down-town Copenhagen, as the records title says, on a Tuesday night. This is a record where you really feel the two musicians in total synchronicity, any sound or disturbance from outside would have felt like an intrusion. The music the duo produces in this way is highly focused and is indeed like a meditation that could, as the title says, be likened to prayers.

Solborg and Robertson don't need much introduction added to that they've also already worked together previously. One fine collaboration, reviewed here a few years back, featured Herb Robertson with Evan Parker (The Trees), highlighted Solborg's work with a larger ensemble which produced high quality music that was dense and probing. Here the duo achieve quite the opposite, full of space, this music takes advantage of the peaceful acoustic of the church, creating pure improvised music which relies on the quickness of thought and musicality of each player.

This isn't a ground breaking record, or at least there's nothing outrageously new in their playing styles. Robertson and Solborg look for ways to produce music which is melodic, and at times jagged, which often hangs motionless in the air. Solborg's (Frisellian) sustaining chords, textures, or simple melodic lines, help produce the meditative quality mentioned earlier. His playing is gentle and searching, using simple repeated ideas as if looking for a way out of a musical maze. His style is, in my opinion, very much anchored in blues, using dissonance in a melodic way which helps keep the music listenable. His partner, Robertson, brings in subtle ideas built up with an almost childlike simplicity, coaxing Solborg out into the open where the two find common ground. The duo dance around each other, magically leaving just the right amount of space where needed to produce some very magical and delicate musical moments.      

As for the way the material is presented, the record has an interesting make up of six pieces/tracks, and two sections. Section #1 is titled: PREPARATIONS, made up of two short pieces, followed by section #2, CONCERT with four individual tracks. I imagine that the first two pieces are a sort of rehearsal/sound-check(?), but this doesn't make any real difference to the playing/presentation as the record works just fine as a one-sitting listening session and is best taken that way. 

If you'd like to find out more, or interested to pick up a copy, head over to ILK's site. Highly Recommended!
 

Read More

Kit Downes and Tom Challenger: Vyamanikal (Slip, 2016) ****

By Joe

This is the second offering from the duo of Kit Downes and Tom Challenger, the first being "Wedding Music", an album of pipe organ and tenor saxophone duets using a conventional idea of melody and improvisation. "Vyamanikal", their new album, takes a sharp left turn musically, giving us a very interesting new perspective on the duos musical thinking. On "Wedding Music" Kit and Tom concentrated on their instruments as the main sound producing sources, on this release the duo have taken all aspects of their performance into account. Using everything around them to create a truly original musical vision which includes not only the two instruments, but also the ambience of each church and the sounds that filter into them. Recorded in 5 different churches in Suffolk, England, the duos label describes it as "[...] a collection of transcendent improvisations where the primordial moans and whistles of remote organs meld with gossamer saxophone.", and indeed they are!

Listening to this album a few names came to mind, ambient musician, Biosphere, the sound artists Tim Hecker or even the work of Ben Frost. Although this acoustic duo's music is far from the sonic world of the aforementioned artists, it does have some similarities. Downes and Challenger's music is made up in real time, with no electronic manipulation, but their interest in capturing, and using, the space that they perform in does come through. The sound of the pumps or vibrations produced from the different organs used, gives the music an effect like being in the engine room of a ship. Apart from these sounds you can also hear birds singing away (inside the church?), giving a very live feeling to what you are hearing.

The music itself is far from the bold melodic statements that came with "Wedding Music".  On this record everything is very minimal, low organ drones swirl around dissonant chords that hover in the air, rarely resolving in any logical sense. The saxophone of Tom Challenger almost caresses these rich organ sounds in a way that feels like he is coaxing a mythical beast (of some sort) out into the open! The two musicians build gradually on these strange and almost unnatural atmospheres throughout the seven pieces, finding imperfections and reflections in the church's acoustics which they develop into their drone quality improvisations. The result of this is that the duo has really brought together their musical vision in a very original, and although I speak of monsters and unnatural sounds the music is in its own way better described as spiritual and hypnotic.

Speaking of 'spiritual' may explain the title "Vyamanikal", which, as we're told, comes from an adaptation of early 20th century Sanskrit texts talking about aerospace technology and flying vehicles in ancient Sanskrit epics. Whatever the meaning, the music the duo makes is magical, or even spellbinding, in the true sense of the word.

Lastly, you'll have noticed I haven't described the individual tracks as, if you're curious, you'd do better to visit Slip's Bandcamp site where you can hear the album, meditate on the music, and even buy it - its a limited edition CD and/or cassette version.   

Highly Recommended!

Note: I'm not sure if there's physical CDs for sale, but, Slip kindly sent me a copy which comes in an intriguing presentation, and certainly well worth getting if you're interested in hard digital versions.  

Read More

Franz Koglmann, Arcari & Pasztor - G(ood)luck (Cracked Anegg, 2015) ****

By Stef

This album is not free improvisation, yet it's so special that I wanted to bring it to our readers' attention : it's a mixture of classical music with 50s jazz, soundtracks and more modern avant-garde innovative approaches. The band are Franz Koglmann on trumpet and flugelhorn, Mario Arcari on English horn and oboe, and Attila Pasztor on cello. The format itself is quite unusual, yet it works to perfection.

Koglmann has never shied away from musical adventures, bringing new ideas to music, having played with musicians with very different backgrounds and styles, such as Bill Dixon, Lee Konitz, Steve Lacy, Misha Mengelberg, Paul Bley, Loll Coxhill and Andrea Centazzo, yet on the other hand he's also released albums that bring classical music in an avant-garde form, such as his orchestral and iconoclastic "Nocturnal Walks" with music by Joseph Haydn.

The inspiration for the music on this album comes from the German opera composer Christoph Willibald Gluck, which also explains the album's title, and equally inspired by the movies of Michelangelo Antonioni. Why is it so special? Because it merges the different musical influences into something fresh and appealing, warm and austere at the same time, playful and solemn.  Is it new per se? No, it is not. But the arrangements of this classical music in a new, more eclectic format, the purity of the performance and the wonderful interaction among the three musicians make this a rea treat.

Enjoy!

Read More

Hugues Vincent, Kudryavtsev & Logofet - Free Trees (Leo, 2014) ****

By Stef

If you think that the Masada String Trio is the ultimate string trio in new music, think again. Here is another great example of the same line-up, with Hugues Vincent on cello, Vladimir Kudryavtsev on bass, and Maria Logofet on violin.

On no less than twenty-one compositions, they bring an eclectic mix of free music with influences from all genres the musicians master, and that is a lot. As Kudryavtsev explains in the liner notes, the freedom of the tree to grow into something unique and unrepeatable, is the result of its roots being firmly planted in the ground, representing the influences and education we have received.

That being said, the trio indeed uses all these influences to deliver something with more ramifications than the freedom of a tree. Classical sounds of intense purity, mostly by Logofet's violin, are counterbalanced with the more extended techniques of the cello, with Kudryavtsev's bass occupying the middle ground to keep the whole tree steady.

This is really an amazing album, and if you're open to this form of avant-garde, I can strongly recommend it.

Read More

Albrecht Maurer, Lucian Ban & Mat Maneri - Fantasm (Nemu, 2015) ****

By Stef

The great thing about improvised music is its openness to other genres and styles, its basic inclusiveness often resulting in new and fascinating music, as on this wonderful album, an adjective to be taken in its original sense of being "full of wonder", offered to us here by Albrecht Maurer on violin, Mat Maneri on viola and Lucian Ban on piano, hailing respectively from Germany, the United States and Romania. All three musicians have made a comparable musical journey starting with a classical education, then shifting to the more open ground of jazz and modern classical music, atonal composition or experimental music.

The result is that all three find each other blindly, speaking the same language and easily shifting from one style to another in a seamless fashion, presenting music as a great whole without distinctions, offering us romantic moments interspersed with more hectic microtonal excursions or intense adventures into new realms. The basis is always a minimal agreement on a theme and a structure, but then they move this theme forward, expand on it, and make it all sound so natural, with beautiful improvised passages flowing organically forward, often in relatively compact pieces of around four to five minutes, each with their own character and approach.

As said, a 'wonderful' album full of musical treats.

Read More

Luis Vicente, Theo Ceccaldi, Valentin Ceccaldi & Marcelo Dos Reis - Chamber 4 (FMR, 2015) *****

By Stef

This is no doubt the most beautiful album I have heard this year, and maybe even in many years. It is a chamber jazz quartet with Luis Vicente on trumpet, Theo Ceccaldi on violin and viola, Valentin Ceccaldi on cello and voice, and Marcelo Dos Reis on guitar and prepared guitar. You will recognise the similarity with the band "Deux Maisons" who already released "For Sale", a magnificent album, earlier this year, but now we have the minor change of percussion being exchanged for guitar.

What I wrote some years ago for "Clocks & Clouds" another band with Luis Vicente, is also valid for this one : "You can rationalise it any way you want, but some people just have 'it', and this 'it' is the unnameable gene of musical sensitivity, the undecipherable element of sonic quality, the unfathomable depth of creative art, the enigmatic possession of sound, the ineffable mysticism of spontaneous interaction, the puzzling poetry of polychromatic pointillism, the baffling blasts of beatic beauty, the hermetic harmonies of hoarse hymns, the syncretic swing of soaring songs. You get it. These guys have it. In spades."

On "Green Leafs" (sic), the three string instruments offer a backdrop of hypnotic intensity for the soaring trumpet, if they are not engaged in some fierce battles around a tonal center.

"Timber Bells" starts with melancholy or even romantic violin, with sparse plucked cello sounds, opening a strange vibrating and hesitating dialogue with the trumpet, slowly evolving into "Some Trees", on which muted and highly resonating attacks on the acoustic guitar change the nature of the music, allowing the dark cello in with more voice and power, while the violin keeps on its eery high flight. Contrasts between light and darkness emerge, between vulnerability and solidity, a context which turns completely into a wild frenetic collision between all four instruments, wild and energetic.

"Wooden Floor" is more abstract, beginning with an intro with high intervals, supported by arpeggiated chords on the guitar, and when violin and trumpet find each other in high repetitive and almost identical phrases, the tension mounts, the energy builds up, as if agony and despair drive the sounds inexorably forward, unwilling but relentlessly, turning into some magnificent symphony of purity with the soaring violin trying to escape the dark undercurrent created by the other instruments, then the intensity disappears and muted horn and muted guitar strings dialogue over a bowed cello, full of deep emotions and quiet resignation, almost bluesy and one of the most beautiful trumpet-cello duets ever heard, until the trumpet goes into mute squeals of pain, and guitar and violin join again, again altering the atmosphere into a more soothing and appeasing finale of subtle low density interaction.

"Lumber Voice", the last track, starts with viola, and the acoustic guitar offers a rhythmic and harmonic foundation for the trumpet to join. The intensity increases, as do the emotions, especially because of Vicente's wonderful and soulful trumpet playing, contrasting strongly with Theo Ceccaldi's repetitive and austere viola phrases. And then, all of a sudden, a human voice comes up, no two voices, wordless and serene and solemn, humanising the improvisation even more, increasing the pitch and intensity into high wails, the crying of humanity, utterly devastating and unnerving.

What more can I say? This is one of the best albums I've heard in many years, an incredibly strong combination of avant-garde form with deep and soulful emotions, full of rich ideas, superb musicianship and interaction. It is relatively unique in its musical vision, full of contrasts of light and darkness, tight interplay and incredible focus within the improvisations. The combination of classical sounds with jazz, all brought in a free improv mode, and turning it all into something new, something unheard, is amazing. I seem to run out of superlatives to describe what I'm hearing.

You wish this music could go on forever.

Don't miss it!



Listen and download from Bandcamp.

Read More

Sylvaine Hélary: Spring Roll ▪ Printemps (Ayler Records, 2015) *****

[b]By Joe[/b]


It may be difficult to make a better introduction to this album than Stephane Berland does in his press notes to this quite spectacular release:

"First created in 2011 at l'Atelier du Plateau in Paris, the concert/performance "Printemps" offered audiences a hybrid between theatre, music, sound poetry and political manifesto - for it was focused on the "Arab Spring" in Egypt, among other things - where the intertwined words and voices of Julien Boudart, Xavier Papies and Egyptian blogger Aalam Wassef created a reflection on the magic of the (new) beginnings."  

This double CD album is another strong offering from the Ayler label, and this time presents us with an amalgam of modern jazz mixed with quasi contemporary classical music. This highly sophisticated music blends improvised sections which flow quite effortlessly with written instrumental passages and recited texts. The main group is made up of a quartet (see below), giving the music a chamber-jazz quality. Having said that the ensemble is in no way a polite tea-dance group, they really attack the complex music with amazing precision and energy. 

Printemps (CD1) has the main bulk of the texts. These are concentrated (when read) into a couple of the pieces. The texts follow the first 15 letters of the Arabic alphabet - read out before each short passage. The music is precisely composed around these vocal interludes, the detailed interplay between the spoken text and the music is mind boggling. The instrumental sections are sort of bridges between these piece, however there are plenty of extended writing in these also. Although there are solos, much of the music on Printemps I would guess is composed. However the marvellous writing (composition/orchestration) carry you along in a way that made me think of Stravinsky's L'Histoire de Soldat. 

The second CD Spring Roll is a shorter affair. It has a wonderful opening duet (tenor sax/flute) sounding not unlike Warne Marsh and Lee Konitz*. The main bulk of Spring Roll is instrumental, although there are some vocal interludes, some of them sung (Île, tk5). Although the music is very complex there are in this piece moments where soloists get a chance to improvise, often whilst the ensemble supports them. In track 3 there's two wonderful sections, one featuring the piano, the other another improvised duet, but this time between piano and tenor sax. Overall Spring Roll certainly gives much space to the individual instruments. Bruissements du monde gives us a chance to hear Sylvaine Hilary alone - playing a wonderful extended solo flute introduction. L'esquive (tk6) has a nice blend of synths, percussion & piano accompanying a fiery sax solo. The track then passes via some complex contrapuntal writing before settling down before leading into a narrated passage in German (Jean Chaize).

This is a highly recommended album, and certainly 5 stars if ever there was one. The work and detail put into these two compositions is quite spectacular, and if you like contemporary jazz meets classical you'll find a lot of very interesting music here, and I would add there's most definitely "never a dull moment".       

The main ensemble is: Sylvaine Hélary, flutes, voice; Antonin Rayon, piano, synthesizer; Hugues Mayot, saxophones, clarinets & Sylvain Lemêtre, vibraphone, percussion. The guests are: Julien Boudard, ms20 synthesiser (printemps); Aalam Wassef, voice (printemps); Xavier Papaïs, voice (printemps); Yumiko Nakamura, voice (spring roll) & Jean Chaize, voice (spring roll).

Translations and transcriptions of the texts (original French texts and English translations) can be found on the Ayler website.

* = Lee Konitz being an alto player, not a flautist.

Read More

Maniscalco, Bigoni & Solborg (ILK, 2015) *****

By Joe Higham

This is an intriguing new trio comprised of Emanuele Maniscalco (piano), Francesco Bigoni (sax and clarinet) and the ever searching Mark Solborg (guitar). All three met in Denmark, where it seems they are all resident. Francesco Bigoni and Mark Solborg have already made several (excellent) records together - ex: "On Dog" and "Hopscotch". Solborg is constantly producing and working in different projects, most of which are certainly worthwhile checking out (several records can be found on this blog). The pianist Emanuele Maniscalco is a new name for me. His biography reveals a fascinating past, not only is he a pianist, as on this recording, but also a drummer! His discography which more recently is certainly 'pianistic', also shows records made as a drummer. Enrico Rava, and the excellent Emanuele Cisi, are two such recordings out of dozens that he made as a beater of skins. 

The group seemingly keep the music, and their playing, to a bare minimum throughout, leading me to characterize the group's approach as "less is more". With this in mind a point of reference to describe the music could be the Jimmy Giuffre trio (with Bley and Swallow), except there's no double bass in this group. The trio skilfully use their compositions and improvisations, both of which are equally sparse, in way which gradually weave their way under your skin. To quote the groups publicity print-out: "The trio is about knowing the music well enough to navigate freely and improvise as a unit, with and around the material", and indeed that is what they do.

The album's open piece sets the mood with Blomme. This fragile melody, a sort of two minute introduction, gently introduces us to the minimalist style of the album to follow. As the other pieces reveal themselves one starts to become aware of the subtleties that the trio is working towards. Each piece has its own atmosphere, the catchy Boardwalks, a quirky melody, is plainly stated and repeated whilst the group add simple, but effective, atonal splashes of colour. Dogfood leads off with a group improvisation slowly but surely before introducing a menacing theme, which could easily be placed in a film noir. In fact several pieces have a certain 'ominous' feel, in part due to the space used by the group in their improvisations. Standstill (Extended version) is one such track which trades on the play between intervals, letting the sounds of one instrument fade before the next musician adds his ideas. 

The album's last two pieces Rye and Sometime leave you ready to start again, in fact you're surprised the album has drawn to a close without ever noticing the passage of time. This is probably due to the strength of the writing, something that really stands out on this excellent release. The beautifully composed themes which flirt with the music of silence, nostalgia and serenity, mean that I will surely be returning to this fine album for many years to come.

To find out more head over to: ilkmusic.com

Read More

Alexander Hawkins: Song Singular (Babel Label, 2013) ****½

Reviewed by Joe

Piano solo albums are one of those mediums that reveal much about the composer, probably because there's really no place to hide! "Song Singular" is a new album out on the Babel label from the composer/pianist Alexander Hawkins made up of ten pieces. It shows off not only his very quirky, but catchy, compositions, but also what a top level pianist Hawkins is. Stylistically it's difficult to place him in any one camp but if you're familiar with the solo albums of pianists Randy Weston, Matthew Shipp, Misha Mengleberg, Craig Taborn or Myra Melford then you have an idea of the type of playing and musical direction the music takes. In particular, like Randy Weston, his use of a strong bass note rhythms, Hawkins manages to create complex melodies which even if abstract are also accesible.

There are ten titles on the record, one of them a re-worked version of "Take the A Train" (Billy Strayhorn). The music borders between a contemporary classical feel, not unlike Henri Dutilleux, and bright powerful Monk type spiky melodies built around intervalic leaps and a stumbling time feel. "Stillness from 37,000 ft" (tk4), has a bass line that sounds out of sync. With its melody gradually building up steam, the two lines,  like a conversation, vie for their own space. "Two Dormant, One Active" (tk5) starts with a curious line reminding me of of a standard. This is not surprising, a few tracks later at "Take the A Train" (tk7), you also have the same reaction of "I know this tune, but ...?" Another tune that does this is "Hope Step the Lava Flow" (tk6) which is the closest you get to a regular tune with an almost walking bass line. Maybe it's this which makes the music so interesting. Themes and ideas develop, giving you food for your ears you listen intently, following the maze of notes that unravel. "Early Then, M.A." (tk2) and "Dancing Between Points" (tk8) could be called ballads, playing with time or tempo, and could be called - could one say - rhapsodic. They both use the piano's  full range to create lush chord sounds and rippling arpeggios.
 
This album will be a delight to anyone who enjoys melodic (modern) music that has a direction. On this record you get to hear a pianist developing ideas with no holds barred, creating music and pushing boundaries at the same time.

A quick note: Alexander Hawkins (and his Ensemble) released this album in tandem with "Step Wide, Step Deep", also released on Babel this year. As yet I haven't had time to listen to the ensemble record, but I notice there are a couple of titles which pass between the two albums. We'll keep you posted here on the blog in the next weeks for an update - the album looks very promising!

Read More

Marc Ducret: Tower Vol.3 (Ayler, 2013) ***½

Reviewed by Joe

I've kind of lost my way a bit with the Marc Ducret "Tower" series. We haven't reviewed them all here but a quick look on the Ayler site tells me that "Tower Vol.1" must have been out in 2011, followed by "Vol. 2" later in the same year. We reviewed "Tower Vol.4", a solo performance which appeared in 2012 and now we have "Tower Vol.3", which was recorded before volume four! I should add that according to the Ayler website this may not be the end of the story ... more volumes to appear? Most of the titles are re-interpreted over the four albums, although not every one and not the same order on each CD - look at the Ayler website to make the comparison over the four records.

If you've heard Marc Ducret's music before you'll already have a fair idea of what this record may sound like (musically). Over the years he's built up this very interesting mixture of free jazz and atonal jazz rock that gives at times an almost contemporary classical tinge to his compositions. Working with various brass combinations he makes some highly sophisticated modern day fanfare music - obviously a little more complex than your average marching band. I was really struck by one of his earlier releases "Le Sens de la Marche", a very strong punchy record recorded (as many of his records) live with his ensemble of the same name. This album sort of follows in the same vein except here we have no drums, something that you don't really think about until reading over the list of musicians. Ducret has an amazing way of presenting his music, not unlike someone such as Steve Reich, he is able to combine instrument combinations and lines which together make melody out of rhythm. His use of marimba/xylophone/vibes player (Sylvain Lemêtre) adds to the strong pulse of the music, and helps strengthen the almost Zappa-esque atonal type melodic lines. These drive the music but leave space for a soloist(s) to "do their thing", and do it they indeed do! 
   
It would be difficult to pick out 'the' best tracks, Ducret's music just doesn't work like that. However, it is possible to cite a few sections on the album that somehow stand out. "Real Thing #2" (tk2) has some amazing moments (texturally). After fighting through some dense melodic and rhythmic music the band lapses into a fantastic coda, percussion, bells, tambourine (?), vibes, all combine with the long melody creating an almost Sergio Leone type western music full of tension. "Real Thing #3" (tk3) starts off with huge dissonant brass chords which gradually lead us towards a strange section which sounds not unlike these enormous Tibetan brass horns that sound together across the Himalayas. Finally "Softly Her Tower Crumbled in the Sweet Silent Sun" uses silence as a melody. Strongly hit chords are left to fade away leaving empty spaces. Gradually Ducret introduces one of his long dense contrapuntal melodies, brass, vibes, guitar, piano all move around each other ending up in overlapping notes that create dissonant chords like a scene in a horror film, most tense.

From the sound of  Marc Ducret's music I can imagine him listening to Tim Berne and Frank Zappa, but at the same time his compositional approach also has strong elements of 'spectral' music such as that of Jonathan Harvey. His music really seems to dig inside sound itself and yet manages to stay accessible. For anyone interested in jazz, improvised music, rock and of course maybe contemporary classical music this is fine album which I find reveals new ideas and nuances with each listen.

The line up on this album: Marc Ducret - electric guitar, Fidel Fourneyron - trombone, Sylvain Lemêtre - vibraphone, xylophone, marimba, percussion, Matthias Mahler - trombone, Alexis Persigan - trombone, Antonin Rayon - piano, celesta.

You can  purchase it at instantjazz.com. 

Read More

Tim Berne's Snakeoil - Shadow Man (ECM, 2013) *****

By Paul Acquaro

Saxophonist Tim Berne's compositions are never what you expect -- or rather they are totally what you expect if you are hoping to be led to an unanticipated destination in a circuitous manner. Yet, no matter how unique each adventure is, you know that you'll arrive safely, if somewhat addled.

Snakeoil's first release was a highly lauded event, it topped many critics polls and certainly thrilled me too. Back when it came out, I wrote "right from the first tune there is an assuredness in the intertwining melodies and ever evolving musical ideas. Quiet passages are contrasted by intense ones, and the ebb and flow throughout is seamless",  which stands true, and then some, for this new offering, Shadow Man.

The recording starts out on the quiet side with "Son of Not So Sure." The track takes its time as Matt Mitchell's piano and Ches Smith's vibraphone create a dramatic and somewhat pensive atmosphere. The follow up track 'Static' picks up at a fast clip with melodies and counter-melody climbing and intertwining. Then, over a rather steady piano riff, Berne's sax becomes towering. As I listened, I somehow felt like I wandering around the base of rocky spires in a national park in southern Utah, layers of sound rising up like multihued formations reaching into the crystal skies above. It leaves you panting for air, wondering how something so delicate and beautiful is hewn from such basic elements. 'OC/DC' is a track you can get lost in. Surrounded by the wonderous peaks of saxophone and pathways blazed by the piano, the percussion provides obtuse but delightful trail markers. The dark tension that Oscar Noriega creates on his bass clarinet is captivating, and when the rest of the group picks up, the track 'Sockets' becomes yet another highlight.

Shadow Man is another excellent addition to Berne's discography. Check out a recent clip of Snakeoil's appearance at the Atlas Performing Arts Center in Washington, DC (courtesy of Kevin Reilly):

Read More

Kit Downes & Tom Challenger: Wedding Music (Loop Records, 2013) *****

Reviewed by Joe

Gothic jazz arrives, and in grand style! There aren't many organ and brass/woodwind duos, not that I can think of? One record that comes to mind is the glorious "PIPEDREAM" from Keith Tippett and Mark Charig on Ogun records, another - although I haven't heard it - was Jan Garbarek and Kjell Johnsen on "Aftenland" in 1979. Here from Loop records is "Wedding Music", an apt title for music such as this played by Kit Downs (organ) and Tom Challenger (tenor sax).

From the very start the music is majestic, there's no other way to describe such a sound. "Wedding Music" is exactly that, swirling organ just like one hears coming from the local church on wedding days. Kit Downes manages to coax some extraordinary sounds from the pipes. Clicks, atonal clusters, thuds, throbbing sounds, pulsating sub-woofer noises, they're all in there. I guess a lot of the music is improvised yet the duo manage to introduce melodic content into their music whilst finding some really interesting sounds.

As the album progresses the duo move further into a world of sound that is quite unique. Although the albums starts off (quite) normally with the title track "Wedding Music", the duo start to really experiment with textures over the remaining pieces. "Shos" (tk2) has a very sinister type of melody line, here Kit Downes responds to Tom Challenger's melodic improvisations with some serious sonic blasts which make your whole room rumble! "Optics" (tk3) on the other hand starts with tiny tone clusters which hang in the air. You can really hear the atmosphere of the church (recorded in St Paul’s, Huddersfield, UK) as these delicate tones meld together with the sax sounding like a boat lost way out at sea. By the time you get to "Cooks" (tk4) you're ready for anything, and indeed what sounds like a pneumatic drill is in fact the organ! However, interestingly the duo turn this piece into an intimate sound world with the tenor sax playing some flusters of breathy sound over the gentle but dissonant chordal sound.

The last tracks really come together beautifully in an unexpected way. "Restart" (tk5) has sub-sonic chords that hang so delicately in the air forever. The sax touches at these chords like a painter just adding slight dashes of colour to a canvas, aware that one mark too many could spoil the balance totally. "Rat Catcher", the last track is full of silences that are broken by a wheezing organ, or broken bagpipes, yet the duo manage to squeeze a beautiful major chord right at the last second bringing to an end this unique album.  

A very highly recommended album.  

If you don't know Tom Challenger or Kit Downes it's worthwhile checking out some of the groups they're are involved in (although not together): [Ma], the collective group Outhouse, Troyka, The Golden Age of Steam are just a few names that I know. If you visit the individual websites you'll get to discover a very wide range of interesting musical projects.

You can find the album (only a digital download) on the Loop Collective bandcamp page.

Read More

Dunmall, Hanslip, Gibbs and Ricart: Weeping Idols (FMR Records, 2013) ****

Reviewed by Joe

"Weeping Idols", a new CD out on FMR features two tenor saxophones: Dunmall and Mark Hanslip, and two guitars, Philip Gibbs and Ed Ricart(*), what a line up and what great music! I must say I didn't (to my shame) know the two guitarists, but I'll be looking them up after hearing this one. Mark Hanslip has been on our blog on a couple of occasions, look him up to get a better idea of his various projects which range from an excellent drum/sax duo to a larger mainstream project known as the Twelves. Paul Dunmall needs no introduction, I hope! 

As for the music on the album, well it's a winner all the way through. For such an oddly grouped quartet of two guitars and two saxes the music is incredibly balanced. There's four tracks of varying lengths, the longest being "4 Souls, 8 Eyes" comes in at 20 minutes, all have a variety of approaches and musical ideas. One of my favourites is the second track "Bhutan" which starts with wonderful guitar arpeggios played by hammering on the frets and treated guitar playing together. There's an ethereal quality to the piece, probably why it's called Bhutan. Whilst the guitars do their thing Mark Hanslip's multi-phonic sounds build up creating a new wave of sound letting Paul Dunmall find another layer higher up in the musical spectrum. If you listen on headphones you really hear the four musicians as four separate voices. It's hard (at times) to comprehend how the musicians made such dense music without standing on each others musical toes!

Another highlight is the wonderful opening tenor sax chase on "Better than Words". Hanslip and Dunmall duet like two greyhounds flying out of the traps. They chase each other around for several minutes before letting the guitars in on the fun, here the pace changes to a more abstract style. The last track "Weeping idols" could be a Beefheart tribute (almost), hard hitting guitars scorching away in atonal freedom for an intense duet, maybe a response to what happened before .... and interestingly a horn free ending to a fine album.  

There's much one could say about this record as it's full of delightful playing and surprises. The guitarists have a wonderful complicity, I'd like to know who does what - one works with an almost straight dry sound, whilst the other plays through what I imagine is a delay system (?). Dunmall and Hanslip compliment each other perfectly, both playing in different styles which blend very well. In fact from the sound of "Better than Words" it could even be a starting point for a duet record for two tenors?!

A highly recommended release that will be enjoyed by anyone who likes chamber jazz mixed with free improvisation with real bite. For anyone interested you can try either contacting Mark Hanslip, or via the FMR site.

* = I'm not sure whether Ed's surname name has been misspelt or not, but I've been told that the spelling on the cover is incorrect and should be Ricart not Ricard. However, I've left the album title as it's written as that's what you'll need to look for.

  

Read More

Christian Wallumrød Ensemble: Outstairs (ECM, 2012) ****

Reviewed by Joe

I haven't been a fan of Christian Wallumrød's music for so long, it's a recent fad that seems to have grown on me whilst listening to some live recordings I have of this band. His approach is completely original, if you listen to his other records - trios, the ensemble, solo etc - you'll notice how he's developed his style bit by bit over the years. Moreover, that is what makes it so interesting, one could say it's all the same even! It's a music that works on small details, simple ideas that develop slowly, not unlike a melodically organised version of Skogen's "Ist Gefallen in den Schnee". Interestingly Stef also saw a connection with Wallumrød's collaboration on "Dans Les Arbres", so maybe I'm not dreaming after all!

The texture of the ensemble is of utmost importance to the colour of this music. The original band had Arve Henriksen on trumpet, which may give you a clue to the music stylistically, but since a while Eivind Lønning has been in the trumpet chair. The rest of the group is Gjermund Larsen - violin, hardanger fiddle, viola. Espen Reinertsen - tenor saxophone. Tove Törngren - cello and of course the unstoppable Per Oddvar Johansen on drums and vibraphone, and for all who don't know him, Christian Wallumrød plays piano, harmonium and toy piano. You'll notice there's NO bass and this really makes the music sound somewhere between classical and a sense of world music, which is created via the harmonium and the clever use of drums, often played with the hands. The great use of bass 'movement' via the cello, or sax even gives the music a very special sound. 

"Stille Rock" starts the album like a mournful prelude to the music that follows, Wallumrød's music has that sound, but is in fact uplifting. "Bunadsbangla" is 'the hit' of the album, and believe me he can write some catchy tunes! The album, like most of his work, is best listened to as a whole. There is little space between improvisation and composition, it sounds very organised, but it works well that way. You can make out small sections of improvisation, but don't buy this if you're looking for mind stretching new approaches, it's all about control and the beauty of restraint. There are too many pieces on the album to talk about everything. "Tridili #2" is a baroque piece with saxophone playing overtones and clusters in response to the melody. "Very Slow" is a quite piece (and slow!) using tone clusters. "Folkskiss" is a beautiful ballad that reminds you of a tune you heard long ago, but where - almost Gaelic in feeling! The scrapings and scratchings of "Third Try" could be from a gore movie.

This is a fine album that hangs musically between many worlds of sound. If you love film sound tracks that create space, and if you like organised beauty, then this is certainly one for you. 

    

Read More

Wheelhouse: Boss of the Plains (Aerophonic, 2013) ****

Two new releases from Dave Rempis' Aerophonic Records (Part 2)

To celebrate, and of course publicize, the start of a new label Aerophonic Records, we thought to place the first two releases on consecutive days (see yesterdays review). Anything that has such well thought-out presentation certainly gets a thumbs up from our side. On these first releases the attention paid to details in terms of layout and recording quality is a real pleasure which adds to the whole listening experience, whilst the CD packaging adds to the pleasure of buying it. If you check out their website (see below) you can get a look at the CDs and listen to some sound samples. 

Wheelhouse: Boss of the Plains (Aerophonic, 2013)

Reviewed by Joe

Dave Rempis is off to a running start with the first two releases on his new label. The other record also reviewed here is a continuation from his raunchy Rempis Percussion Quartet - their sixth album? Dave Rempis is not unlike his Chicago sparring mate Ken Vandermark, always developing a new project, or reworking older units, keeping his music fresh. The projects he's involved in are always creative units and often high energy, examples being The Engines, Rempis Percussion Quartet, or Ballister. On this new release, the second on the label, the music is of a more personal nature.

Wheelhouse is a co-operative group and "Boss of the Plains" is their first record. The music they make is as intimate as improvised music can get and I guess could be categorised as chamber free jazz. The direction and sound of the group, a sort of calm searching, reminds me a little of Jimmy Giuffre's trio. However, Wheelhouse's music has no themes, launching themselves into each piece they (I imagine) test-the-waters as they swim. Dave explains in the press release how the trio came about when Nate McBride "relocated to Chicago". The group originally playing compositions gradually moved away from this idea and developed their present improvised concept.

And the music? Well each tune has the word 'Song' in it. We have "Song Sex, Part 1", "Song Hate", "Song For", "Song Juan", "Song Heaven", "Song Tree", 10 pieces in all. As mentioned earlier it is chamber jazz, something to sit down and really listen to. Its intimacy is complimented by the way it's recorded giving the impression that you're sitting 'in' the room with the guys! Being in such close proximity is like watching someone step from stone to stone picking their way across a river. With no drums, the blend of vibes (Jason Adasiewicz), double bass (Nate McBride) and Dave Rempis's saxophones gives the music a chance to breathe.

The musicians take full advantage of this combination, playing off each other in a way that true jazz is meant to be played. Dave's use of either alto or baritone sax on the compositions adds different colours to the music. His playing reminds me at times of Ornette, a sort of strange melodicism, or is that harmolodicism? He also uses his sax in inventive ways adding different shades to the improvisations by over-blowing, multiphonics, or other extended techniques. Jason Adasiewicz and Nate McBride also stay equally inventive, constantly looking for other ways to use their instruments to make music in a creative and supportive way. There are many moments where all three musicians find a sort of symbiosis, seemingly thinking as one, "Song Hate" being a particularly good example.

Certainly a fine album and a group which would be well worth while seeking out live I imagine.  

The albums are available from June, 11th, but you can also order them from instantjazz.com, On their website, you can listen to "Song Sex, Part 1" and "Song Hate".  If you're interested in buying a copy take a look at Aerophonic's 'about' section of their site to see where, and who, is distributing the records in your neck of the woods.


Can be purchased from instantjazz.com.
 

Read More

Vincent Courtois - The Mediums (La Buisonne, 2012) ****

By Stef

French cellist Vincent Courtois goes back to the times of his youth, watching the world and creating stories out of what he sees, trying to understand, fantasising and embellishing or fearing the worst. For this journey he is accompanied by two tenor saxophonists, Daniel Erdmann from Germany and Robin Finker from the UK. An unusual line-up yet one that works well to create this world of intimate feelings, with a scene that is each time beautifully set, cautiously presented, and nicely crafted.

The short pieces offer no time for real wide excursions and expansion, but just like short stories in literature a tension is created, a mood set, and almost naturally the listener gets expectations about the outcome, which are kept undisclosed, like enigmas that remain unsolved, open endings that will keep you a little off-balance, yet in the meantime you have had a glimpse of something new, something fascinating. The titles give some indication about this : "A Disquieting Disappearance", "Rita And The Mediums", "The Woman Without A Body", "The Night Of The Monsters" ....

This is beautiful music, very coherent and unique in its approach of sensitive smallness, full or warmth and wonder for this world that is both magical, mysterious and potentially dangerous.

Read More