Paul Lovens/Florian Stoffner - Tetratne (ezz-thetics, 2020) ****½

By Martin Schray

After 23 seconds, it’s there for the first time: a huge, deep boooom. Paul Lovens, the veteran drummer of German free jazz, uses his bass drum like a massive, ultra-low kettledrum. On the one hand he achieves this effect by tuning th e bass drum very low and on the other hand by using a very soft lambskin mallet on the foot pedal. Moreover, the bass drum is not only tuned very deep - also both heads are completely unmuffled, no hole is allowed to be cut into the front-head and if blankets and cushions are found inside the drum they are rigorously removed*. The contrast with his shrill cymbal work, his extended materials and rim shots of the toms and snare is striking (and something I haven't noticed in his music so prominent before). Moreover, these deep, drone-like thumps structure the improvisation, propelling it, slowing it down, dragging it forward again and pumping it up - especially in the first and second parts of the recording.

The duo while playing the music you hear on this CD. Photo by Marcandrea.

Tetratne documents a performance by Lovens and Swiss guitarist Florian Stoffner at the 2019 Sound Disobedience Festival in Ljubljana, it’s their second collaboration apart from their trio album Mein Freund der Baum with Rudi Mahall. The album’s name refers to quadruple structures and thus a physical polyphony - both musicians use all four limbs. For drummers that’s obvious, but Stoffner also uses his legs/feet to operate his effects devices. He also integrates different guitar tunings as an alternative approach to improvisation, making him an ideal accomplishment to Lovens, who also likes to tune his drumheads in an extravagant manner.

In general, the set is a cornucopia of wonderful and exciting ideas. In some passages Lovens really chops and cuts up the music (at the beginning of “Tetratne III“, for example). Sometimes he seems to climb down scales on his kit until he reaches the very bottom (at the aforementioned bass drum). In addition, the two musicians almost echo each other here and there (“Tetratne 1“), as if they were searching for orientation in a huge cave (even coughing noises are used). However, the greatest quality of this album is the fact that Lovens and Stoffner form a real unit, able to play the balls back and forth almost blindly. Stoffner knows to complement Lovens’s finely chiselled play with his sounds. His notes shoot through the room like bullets, bounce off the walls, stretch the space, seem to tumble down stairs. At the right moment, the guitar is like a friendly adversary to the hectic drum sounds and Stoffner lets himself be carried away by Lovens. What is more, the two have a feel for the architecture of the improvisation: The beginning of “Tetratne IV“ is a breather, when the duo incorporates a folk-like theme, before they pick up the pace again towards the end. In the exquisite liner notes Evan Parker puts it like this: “Given the presupposition that telepathy is involved, however deeply in the subconscious, and that these brain states are also electrical, then wavelengths are indeed involved but perhaps they are entrained in some way, like the multiplex signals that allow signals to pass in both directions down the same cable“. Very true indeed. Paul Lovens told me that he was glad that he met Florian Stoffner. Me too. Apart from Olaf Rupp’s and Rudi Fischerlehner’s Xenofox this is my favourite guitar/drum duo at the moment.

*Paul Lovens told me that he was lucky that the recording engineer followed his suggestion to place only one omnidirectional above his right knee instead of the usual overhead microphones plus front microphone in front of the bass drum. From there, all drum parts are heard equally clearly, the bass drum sounds the way he hears it. That’s one reason why he likes the recording a lot (s. picture above).

Tetratne is available as a CD.

Watch them at a show at Museu Nacional de Machado de Castro im Coimbra/Portugal:

       

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Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt - Brace Up! (Palilalia, 2018) ****½

By Nick Metzger

I generally buy anything Bill Orcutt releases for better or worse, and I’ve been both genuinely throttled and slightly disappointed by his steady stream of releases. Some of his work plays like an exorcism, some of it feels inane (perhaps the result of being so prolific), but it’s always full of activity and the passion can’t be denied. His unique guitar playing style has become his own distinct language that he’s used to reconstruct punk, folk, and the blues into something else, is own exclusive ‘other’. No one sounds like Bill Orcutt sounds and that’s why I buy them all. His collaborations with Chris Corsano are some of my favorites, as Corsano has a way of ushering out the best in his cohorts (see any of his mind-blowing work with Paul Flaherty for testament) and is one of the best free improvising drummers active (I’d put him in the top 5 without batting an eyelash). This is their fourth release as a duo if I’m counting correctly, and it’s their first studio album, which removes some of the grit of their live recordings and gives a nice hi-fidelity look into their dynamics.

The record kicks right into high gear on the title track driven by Orcutt’s plunky cluster bombs and Corsano’s everything-and-the-kitchen-sink rhythms. It’s over before you can even process it. Similarly, Amp vs Drum has the underpinnings of a sonic water-balloon fight; it’s a brief but fantastic display of ecstatic give and take from the duo. On Double Bind the pair allows themselves to spread it out a bit more. Orcutt’s guttural vocalizing shows out a bit here, although it’s not nearly as audible as on his acoustic material. The song takes the form of an abstracted free punk/blues blowout that is pummeled into the red by Corsano, who sounds as good here as he’s ever sounded anywhere. She Punched a Hole in the Moon for Me is next, and takes a more probing stance from the outset and builds slowly in intensity. Orcutt’s free vocals are used to good effect here to ratchet up the tension as is his guitar playing, which goes from bluesy and sparse to full-on shred. Corsano follows his lead, providing peaks and valleys of roiling percussion for the guitarist to improvise over.

Poundland Frenzy , Clapton’s Complaint, Bargain Sounds, and Paranoid Time are all brief-but-furious bursts of energy, each lasting well under a minute. They are bite-sized morsels of twangy rhythmic goodness that burn a white hot path to The Secret Engine of History, where the duo again takes on a wonderfully varied and extended improvisation. Love and Open Windows is another longer piece and perhaps the most introspective number on the record. Orcutt’s spacious guitar playing takes on an undeniably Americana-esque inflection, reprocessed via his intrinsic jumble and worry, while Corsano takes on the similarly reflective tenor, offering up more open spaces between his rolls and clusters. The bedlam resumes on the wonderfully titled He Do the Police in Different Voices. The incendiary guitar takes to the fore and drives wild riffs and runs atop Orcutt’s spittle-pocked yelps and gut-hollers. The record ends with Paris Spleen, a choppy avant-blues that becomes more and more prickly, culminating in a percussive explosion of worming, wiry guitar and churning drums.

This is by far the most cohesive sounding album from the duo yet. I’m not sure if it’s the studio environment and good mics or whether after all these years of playing together they’ve just gelled on a whole other level (maybe a little bit of both), but it sounds fantastic. Orcutt has exhibited a refinement in his playing on his last two albums (both studio affairs) that has brought a clarity missing from his other electric material. Yes the music is still frenetic and noisy, but it’s much easier now to see where he’s going and the impossible heights he’s reaching for. And here he has Corsano to give him a boost.



Bill Orcutt and Chris Corsano at Les Ateliers Claus, Brussels, 2018:

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Cosmic Violence

By Stef

Outer space has been an inspiration for many artists and musicians. For some it gives a cosmic unity and the need for a universal spirituality, for others it offers an exploration into the nature of nature itself, with its paradoxes, infinite un-understandability and sense of wonder. And then you have the ones who see in outer space nothing but violent energy, erupting solar flares, exploding stars and all-consuming black holes.

Two such albums are reviewed here.


The End - Closer To The Sun (Petit Label, 2017) ***½

The first one is by the French power trio Fabien Duscombs on drums, Heddy Boubaker on bass and Mathieu Werchowski on violin. Needless to say that the bass and the violin are linked to amps and pedals. The first track is still a kind introduction to the rest of the album. It's repetitive and with a reasonable level of noise, which changes with the twenty-seven minute long second track, which draws you into an incredibly violent piece of music, relentlessly, repetitively in a kind of psychedelic nightmare of increasing volume, distortion and power, alternated with a quiet moment of feedback and tiny quantum particles of sound flying about, but rest assured (or not!) but the violence and the volume return in full force, as the band ventures deeper and deeper into the blackness of the universe. And so it goes with the last track: slow start, explorative sounds, until gradually all hell breaks loose again, with heavy punk-like rhythms and heavily distorted violin.

This will surely not be to everybody's taste, and I wonder how many people stayed in the audience of this live performance, but the ones who did, definitely got their money's worth. This is not for everyday consumption, yet I can only admire the drive and the power behind it.



Marc Edwards & Mick Barr Duo - The Bowels Of Jupiter (Gaffer, 2017) ***½

The second space travel brings us to Jupiter, and is performed by Marc Edwards on drums and Mick Barr on guitar. Edwards, known from his own quartets and trios, from Slipstream Time Travel, and from his collaborations with Sabir Mateen, David S. Ware, Paul Flaherty and many more, is a great jazz drummer, seemingly more than happy here to become more hard-hitting.

Mick Barr on the other hand, is a heavy metal guitarist (sorry for the dumb description - I'm sure there's some more sophisticated name for his brand of metal), known from bands such as Crom-Tech and Orthrelm, or under his other moniker Octis or Ocrilim. The only other 'jazz' album that he's performed on is on the album "I Don't Hear Nothin' But The Blues, Vol. 2, Appalachian Haze" in a trio with Jon Irabagon and Mike Pride (on which a lot can be heard except the blues).

This duo is also high energy, full power, with a no-holds-barred and take-no-prisoners approach. The speed and the sheer intensity of both drumming and guitar are so fascinating that you really feel propulsed through the universe, and the only thing you hope is that you don't encounter a comet on your path. Luckily, some of the tracks offer some respite, a welcome break. There is also a tongue-in-cheek title with "Deep Space African Drums", on which Edwards sets the tone with some wonderful drumming over which Barr slowly improvises a chordal arrangement, yet the next "Solar Flares" brings us back to the incedible force of both drummer and guitarist to go beyond the normal. Just listening to it is exhausting, let alone perform it.

Like the other album reviewed here, it's hard to call this jazz, unless maybe in its original definition of "energy" in the positive defintion or "noise" as understood by its critics.

And again, you can only admire the total lack of compromise, the willingness to go to the extreme and keep going for it, with no afterthoughts or hesitations.

Safe travels!

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Thurston Moore / Adam Gołębiewski - Disarm (Endless Happiness, 2017) ***½

By Eyal Hareuveni

Iconic experimental guitarist Thurston Moore explained recently what is his own Rock n Roll consciousness, the title of his recent solo album (Ecstatic Peace, 2017). Rock n Roll consciousness is actually about sex. When Moore’s defunct group Sonic Youth visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum, he learned that the term Rock N’ Roll was an African-American slang for having sex. It took Moore some time to absorb this kind of realization and in a recent interview to Rolling Stone he already identified with this kind of logic: “sex is nature, and nature is everything, and then rock & roll is everything.”

Moore brings this kind of Rock n’ Roll consciousness to a series of free-improvisations with Polish experimental drummer Adam Gołębiewski. Indeed there is no doubt that they were channeling the passion, emotional intensity and the totality of the experience in the halls of Warsaw and Gołębiewski’s hometown, Poznan, in May 2014, when these sessions were recorded.

Moore and Gołębiewski met and played together for the first time in 2013, in a trio with Yoko Ono. Gołębiewski had already played with innovative improvisers as reeds player Ken Vandermark, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, trumpeter Mazen Kerbaj and Moore’s frequent collaborator, sax titan Mats Gustafsson. Like Moore, Gołębiewski seeks to extend and expand the sonic possibilities of his chosen instrument.

Moore sets the atmosphere of the first piece “Disarm” with free-associative, series of thorny, feedback-laden sonic collisions. All Gołębiewski attempts to discipline this abstract flow of fast-shifting collisions with some loose, rhythmic coherence fail and this improvisation heads into more physical and more brutal confrontations. But Moore and Gołębiewski did not lost faith in each other. Soon on the following “Distend” both calibrate on an immediate, noisy frequency and act as one wild, freakish entity that threatens to crash all on its way. The short and sparse “Disturb” serves as a suggestive, teasing interlude before Moore and Gołębiewski race after each other in another set of intense physical collisions, some explosive ones, others surprisingly comforting and caressing, all totally exhausting. The last piece, “Dislodge”, summarizes the essence of Moore and Gołębiewski's interactions - stormy, dissonant and noisy but at the same time attentive, curious and urgent.

 

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Ross Hammond and Sameer Gupta - Upward (Prescott, 2016) ***½

By Paul Acquaro

Last year's Flight found guitarist Ross Hammond in a contemplative mood - documenting his solo guitar works. This year, he has teamed up with tabla player Sameer Gupta to expand that vision with an ear towards the more rhythmically complex.

The duo has a sound that perhaps recalls a bit of Ralph Towner circa Solo/Trios (ECM, 1973) and maybe a bit of Steve Tibbets' acoustic work on Big Map Idea (ECM, 1994). However, those are just mere associations, as Hammond's approach is uniquely his own blend of roots and influences. While Upward is wholly original, it is also somehow familiar, there is something deeply satisfying about the rich acoustic sounds of the acoustic 12-string's open tuning and slide work ringing out along side the clear precise tones of the tabla.

The album is a mix of worlds - a mélange of Americana and excellent neo-traditional sounding percussion work. The tracks pour forth like a crystal clear brook passing swiftly over rocks rounded over by time's eternal flow.

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Han Bennink & Jaak Sooäär – Beach Party (Barefoot, 2013) ****

By Tom Burris

Beach Party is the result of a March 2012 concert of percussion legend Han Bennink in a duo format featuring Estonian guitarist Jaak Sooaar.  They have a fairly rigid format for a couple of free wildmen, which is “let’s have a bunch of fun and improvise until we feel like playing a standard we both like.”  You’d have to be a real party pooper to not have a good time here.

It is a thrill to hear Sooaar playing without a bass line in the way, sounding a bit like Sonny Sharrock doing Charlie Christian on “On The Sunny Side Of The Street.”  They follow this up with another improvisational outburst that rolls into “I Got Rhythm” with a Misha Mengelberg composition thrown in at the end.  Bennink swings like hell and is his usual entertaining, brilliant self; while Sooaar’s playing has a sharp rockist edge to it, matching Bennink’s carefully reckless choreography with enough well-placed distortion to make the Zappa nerds cry.

“Tartuu Marss” is an Estonian traditional piece of music that is preceeded by a bit of early 70s Miles wah-wah stomps.  Bennink is definitely in his element.  They manage to smash two composed pieces together, matching Monk’s “Pannonica,” on which Sooaar plays gorgeously, with the lone original composition here, the funky butt-kicking “Beach Party.”  They attack “Darn That Dream” in total free-jazz mode, which in breaking the improv/standard formula becomes a bit of a mash-up.

Not surreal enough for ya?  They play “O Sole Mio” with a straight-ahead groove that somehow comes off sounding like the White Stripes!  This is followed by a monster freakout that leads into another Estonian standard called “Pistoda Laul,” a beautiful piece of melancholia.  Short Attention Span Theater possessed by genius.

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The Moon - Good And Evil (577 Records, 2013) ***½

We praised the Adam Caine trio some years ago for their "Thousandfold" album on the No Business label, and now the New York guitarist is back with a duo recording together with Federico Ughi on drums.

Like on the trio album, the fully improvised music is as direct as can be, with rock-influenced playing, but jazz in nature. On the opening track the guitar is raw, with feedback piercing through, and the drums are energetic and powerful, violent even, as on tracks like "Primal Scene/Sister Fight" for instance.

The duo also has another side, closer to free improv, with in-the-moment sounds bouncing of strings and skins - as on "Cardboard" - or more elaborated soundscapes as in "Floyd", or more exploratory of new melodic sounds in "Dawn At The Edge Of The Universe".

Despite the limited line-up, the approach is quite varied, with interesting new ideas, but that's possibly also its weakness, because the less violent pieces somehow hesitate and linger too much to my taste.

Fans of modern guitar improvisation will love it ....

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Joey Baron - Just Listen (Relative Pitch, 2013) ****

By Stef   

In 2006 Jack DeJohnette and Bill Frisell issued "The Elephant Sleeps But Still Remembers", a nice album of guitar and drums interplay, led by a drummer, although suffering a little bit from a lack of musical coherence, ranging from clean - though adventurous - banjo playing to heavily distorted guitars and electronics, making the listener shift from intimacy to wall-of-sound approaches. 

This duo performance between Joey Baron and Frisell is of a different nature. Baron is the leader, as was the task of the performers at the Forum festival in Bonn, Germany, in 2008 : "the point of view is that of the drummer. The drummer's special musical form is the theme of the festival : structuring, refracting, driving, pulsing, grooving (most important, grooving)". 

Baron was invited and asked Frisell to join him. And the result is one of those little gems of jazz. The music does not break boundaries, nor does it create subliminal listening experiences, yet the sheer quality of the playing, the incredible skills of both musicians, and the incredible joy resulting from the interaction, make this a wonderful album. 

The fun of the musicians is infectious and the audience reacts enthusiastically, as we all should. The first track starts with a duo improvisation that gradually shifts into Benny Goodman's "Benny's Bugle", indeed a real grooving tune that allows Baron to shine. Then, interestingly, the second track brings an almost avant-garde exploration for guitar and percussion, with light touches of sound percolating from space evolving into an abstract theme. 

Despite their excellent musicianship, both artists have this kind of natural sentimental mellowness in their compositions, which is usually not my kind of thing, but luckily they don't overdo it on this album. Yes, there is the slow "Mood" by Ron Carter, or a bluesy "A Change Is Gonna Come", on which Frisells turns this sweet tune into overdrive at the end of the track, yet it's intimate and straightforward (without the sugar and cheap sentiments).

The real treat is to be found in the more groovy tracks, like "Cherokee", or in Charlie Parker's "My Little Suede Shoes", on which Baron again demonstrates how subtle drumming can be. On the last track, Frisell lets go of the intimacy of the previous tracks and goes berserk on John McLaughlin's "Follow Your Heart", switching on all his pedals and turning op the volume for some boyish delight. 

Pure fun! Great fun!



The album can be bought from instantjazz.com.

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Markus Pesonen & Hakon Berre - Hautullin! (Barefoot, 2013) ****

Guitar Week

By stef

If Genghis Khan had played electric guitar, he may have sounded like Markus Pesonen on "Klein Bleus", the opening track of this album. Put it on full blast and entire populations will flee in anguish for his burn and destroy approach, adequately supported by Hakon Berre on drums.

Yet before you know it, the duo illustrates the subtlety of contrasting sounds with "Joutoma", brought by sensitive slide guitar, and thanks to the great percussion and electronics an overall sentiment of sadness and doom is maintained.

"Night At The Toy Factory" is more bizarre, with electronics and distorted sounds creating an odd soundscape full of unexpected events.

In essence, every track shows how the limited line-up of guitar and drums can bring completely different approaches, but thanks to the great artistry of both musicians it remains a coherent story, with a unique atmosphere and sound that maintains its focus despite the variation. You can hear fluid Indian sounds on "Mjölne", crispy electronics on "Monkey Rat Attack", , rage on "Quantum Foam" and "Short Circuit", space-age signals on "Tarantula Nebula", a more rockish style on "Discothèque", tintillating freshness on "Brahmanda", and slow undistorted beauty on "Nuts", which ends the album in an atmosphere of peace.

Even if this is in essence a guitar-percussion duo, both musicians use every kind of tool but the kitchen sink - although coming close to the latter by not only using ringing bells and chains but also tin pans, pot lids, tea towels, forks and chop sticks.

The great thing on this album is the music, no matter how it is brought, yet the unconventional approach adds new textures and offers at times fascinating listening moments.

Rage and gentleness - all on one dish : enjoy!


Watch on Youtube or listen on Bandcamp.

© stef

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Ken Aldcroft & Dave Clark - Hat & Beard /The Music Of Thelonious Monk (Trio Recordings, 2011) ****

By Paul Acquaro

Hat & Beard's album 'Live at Somewhere There' is a joyful romp through the Thelonious Monk song book. Each tune is lovingly delivered to what sounds like an audience of five, which simply adds to the recording's intimate private concert atmosphere.

Taking their duo's name from Eric Dolphy's tribute to Monk, guitarist Ken Aldcroft and percussionist Dave Clark deliver an impassioned set. The spare instrumentation gives each note and beat intense focus, and for this music, it's a perfect setting. The emotion of the players comes through clearly, emphases, syncopations and variations in volume and texture become just as meaningful as the notes. Clark is more a conversationalist than a rhythm section and Aldcroft doesn't overplay to fill the space between them either -- what isn't there is just as important as what is.

The opening tune '52nd Street Theme' kicks things off with high energy and lays out the agenda for the program of music to follow. Both precise and somewhat (purposefully) chaotic melodic leads lay atop the vibrant percussion, tonal clusters and notes pop up unexpectedly. A big crescendo and pounding percussion during 'Green Chimneys' juxtaposes the well known jaunty melody with a quiet ending. 'Nutty's' quirky melody is given a more standard chord/melody treatment until the toys start coming out ... I'll say no more about that. I'm cherry picking just a couple examples here because each song is engaging and enjoyable in its own way, showcasing an empathetic musical partnership.

My only critical comment is that though the amount of variation they get is inspiring, at times the instrumentation feels a little limited. However, the playing and arrangements are so engaging that it's a minor issue. This is an enjoyable recording and one I'm glad to have stumbled upon.

Available from the artist's website.

© stef

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Swimmer (Bandcamp, 2011) ****

By Paul Acquaro

'Swimmer' is a new release from a group of the same name hailing from Chicago. I'm not entirely sure how I came across this group, but I downloaded a copy of their debut from bandcamp.com and have been enjoying the fruits of their labor over the past few days. Swimmer, the band, is comprised of the guitar and drum duo of Dave Miller and Cory Healey, who, along with their respective instruments, employ some technologies to enhance their compositions. 'Swimmer', the album, is a collection of free improvisations that really showcases a mastery of a very personal and interactive musical language.

The guitar in the opening tune of 'Answer Tomorrow' invokes melodic snippets, mostly comprised of single note lines with chordal accents, all wonderfully scattered amongst the animated percussion. 'Conduit' features percussion, beginning with scratches, rattles and a subtle sonic backdrop. Slowly building, a great amount space is afforded to the extended and ethereal melodic line, layered over a wash of sound. A quick fade drops us into 'Phoebe', which is more frenetically paced, with percussion and guitar talking back and forth in time. Soon the guitar develops a simple repetitive figure and is joined by a second line in harmony, then a third -- Miller is using a real time looper to great effect. Healey plays with timing, accents and beat placement behind the stack of guitar layers.

I find this approach to music very interesting, very much a product of the technology that allows musicians to loop themselves and create compositional stacks that move both upward and outward at the same time. Of course there is a danger here in drowning listener in too many layers of a similar tonality or too much repetition, but Miller pulls it off very well.

After the crescendo of layers, there is rather seamlessly segue to a dense cluster of chords to finish off the song. 'Montrozier' begins with slightly demented arpeggios to connect some angular and innovative melodic ideas. The 8 minute 'Lifter' is like a minimalist Nels Cline sound collage. As the conversations continue on the recording, each one employs a different approaches, keeping it fresh and interesting.

Defying simple categorization, the unique approach to music construction and the effective use of time makes this duo recording a really compelling album.

Download from Bandcamp.

  

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Creatures in black and white and music ....

Dom Minasi Quintet  - The Bird, the Girl and the Donkey - (Re:Konstrukt, 2010)

 Joe Morris & Luther Gray - Creatures - (Not Two, 2010)

By Paul Acquaro

A black and white cartoon panel series with their conversation bubbles empty graces The Girl, the Bird and the Donkey, while Creatures presents a black and white pattern of birds in flight. Both of these covers represent well the sounds within, musical explorations taking flight with the musicians collectively making up stories that are never told the same way twice.

Dom Minasi's The Bird, the Girl and the Donkey begins with a swirl of tenor and alto sax, the guitar fluttering below, a little deeper in the mix, and the percussion providing a rhythmic net. Soon the bass becomes more prominent, lending a new voice to the proceedings. The interplay never lets up, group improv leading to a single voice rising above the others, only to be subsumed back into the melodic stream below. On this album New York guitarist Minasi teams up with Blaise Siwula on alto sax, Ras Moshe on tenor, Albey Balgochian on bass and Jay Rosen on the drums. This ensemble's interplay is intensely enjoyable to follow, inviting you to jump in almost at any point to be treated to fiery sax lines or Minasi's own imaginative improvisations. In fact, the session leader often takes a backseat to the dominant voices of Siwula and Moshe. The drums keep the group together, giving and taking enough energy and volume to keep each collective ideas happening.

Guitarist Joe Morris and drummer Luther Grey's Creatures, a stripped down ensemble of just guitar and drums, kicks off with the guitar spinning a melody in the lower register, the drums providing subdued accompaniment. As the stream of consciousness of the tune unfolds, the interplay between the two instruments becomes more and more complex. These songs, more like conversations, reveal an impressive rapport between the two musicians -- they are fraught with tension and tacit understanding. It is a treat to listen as the songs evolve from meandering melodies to knotty thickets of ideas.

While the instrumentation has some similarities - both have percussion that serve the conversation and a clean toned guitar unafraid to produce some heady melodies - there is something else that connects these two recent releases. Perhaps it is that though they both are entirely improvised, neither recording is overindulgent or uninviting. Also, there seems to be an underlying logical progression to the music as it expands, builds and releases at the right times. On improvisational recordings like these, where the music that is made is made but once, and structure is of the moment, I find hard to comment on the songs individually, rather I would recommend blocking out a solid chunk of time to approach each album as a singular experience.

These two albums are performed by masters of their craft. The spontaneous creations of these tunes expose a raw beauty, regardless of the number of musicians involved.  Morris and Gray's duo outing cover a lot of sonic ground and Minasi's larger ensemble makes compelling collective music with each individual voice distinct and integral. Both of these albums are well worth a good deep listen.

    

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Mike Nord & Georg Hoffmann - The Flow, Music For Improvised Dance (Leo Records, 2010) ****

Guitarist Mike Nord and percussionist Georg Hofmann had played before, for 25 years even, and already released earlier on Leo with a quartet. Here they improvise for over an hour in one go, recorded at a dance performance of Hideto Heshiki and Nurya Egger, and it all sounds very seamless, very calculated even at times, despite the total lack of preconceptions. The music is minimalist, but rhythmic, full of lyricism and quite accessible. Don't expect melodies or structures : as the title suggests, it all flows, the sounds of the guitar are sustained, full of deep reverb, loops and electronic live alterations, yet they are crystal clear at the same time.

As Nord describes in the liner notes: "Flow is a state where the outside world disappears behind the intense focus and commitment of the performance moment". The end result has a kind of primal feel, very expansive, with the guitar adding layers of sustained sound, accentuated with often hypnotic rhythms, like the creation of time itself.

A really strong performance, and despite the nature of the music, full of variation.

Watch their "Footprints" performance on Youtube



© stef

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Quick reviews - simplicity and complexity

How to find the right middle ground between simplicity and complexity? Too much elaborated pieces tend to be stifling for direct emotional delivery and spontaneous interventions, but you have the expectional results of some bands that prove the contrary (Little Huey Orchestra, Exploding Star Orchestra), and if it's too simple, you need to be a fantastic instrumentalist too keep the attention going. Think of some of Wadada Leo Smith's albums or Peter Evans. What the extremes show, is that when you do, you have to go all the way, diving into those regions of unexplored music that touch the soul and the heart directly and differently, leading to a gripping listening experience. If you get stuck in the middle-ground, hesitating between the two approaches, you risk to get caught in the vast majority of records that are published, and that are interesting at best. Sometimes, a few get above the mowing line, mixing both, and the ideas and inventive musicianship make them noteworthy.

Tintinabulum - Not The Wind, Not The Flag (Barnyard, 2009) ***

You will rarely have heard an album that starts so slowly yet full of determination as this one. Colin Fisher's guitar chords ring every few seconds without moving too much, and when after six minutes Brandon Validivia makes his cymbals sing, you know you're in for something special. Just one track of close to thirty-nine minutes, ending quite dark and intense. The gradual increase of power is of course an often used effect, but well, ... it still works.

David Crowell Ensemble - Spectrum (Innova, 2009) ***

Alto saxophonist David Crowell is joined by Grey Mcmurray on guitar, Mike Chiavaro on electric bass, and Jason Nazary on drums. Crowell played with Philip Glass and that can be heard on some of the tracks where repetitive themes shift over rhythm, but he also varies well with powerful uptempo pieces built along long unison lines. Lots of ideas by this young band, still a little struggling to find its own voice.


Ryan Blotnick - Everything Forgets (Songlines, 2008) ***

On his second album, guitarist Ryan Blotnick moves into a kind of post-jazz era, playing more rock-ish rhythms, and a ligt sweet sensitivity that almost sounds poppish. With Joachim Badenhorst on sax and clarinet, Simon Jermyn on electric bass, Jeff Williams and Joe Smith on drums, Perry Wortman on bass. Stylistic and refined.

Tony Wilson Sextet - The People Look Like Flowers At Last (Drip Audio, 2009) ***

Guitarist Tony Wilson brings together a great band of some of today's best Canadian musicians, with Kevin Elaschuk on flugelhorn and trumpet, Dave Say on saxes and flute, Peggy Lee on cello, Paul Blaney on double bass, and Dylan van der Schyff on drums. The music on the album brings a mixture of hauntingly beautiful pieces, with sometimes too fusion-oriented modern jazz. Wilson does not shy away from complexity, and the first part of the album is actually a reworking of Benjamin Britten's "Lachrymae" (unfortunately misspelled on the album sleeve), but I have the impression that the musical formalism is too much of an objective in itself, rather than an inspiration to develop new listening experience. Still, the album has its great moments.

Mysterium - An Electric Soundpainting Septet (Eavesdrop Music, 2009) ***

Based on the "Soundpainting" improvisation technique of Walter Thompson, the pieces by this septet sound very composed, and even well arranged. Mixing many jazz styles into one very coherent whole, making this a quite entertaining ane enyoyable album. With Eric John Eigner on drumset, James Ilgenfritz on electric bass, Adam Caine on electric guitar, Sam Kulik on trombone, Jeremy Danneman on alto sax, Lorenzo Sanguedolce on tenor sax, and Evan Mazunik as the soundpainter.

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Eyal Maoz & Asaf Sirkis - Elementary Dialogues (Ayler, 2009) ***½

The "Elementary Dialogues" in the title refers to the most limited combination imaginable : a melodic instrument accompanied by percussion, in this case Eyal Maoz on electric guitar and Asaf Sirkis on drums. I only know Maoz from his Tzadik releases, but here he sounds different: harsher, raw, less melodic, dissonant, but very rhythmic. The first piece, called "Reggae", sets the tone well : a composed melody is used as a pretext to improvise, but then full of rhythm and boundary-breaking sounds, yet very focused and relatively accessible. It is not as "out there" as Nels Cline and Greg Bendian's rendition of Coltrane's Interstellar Space, but it goes in that direction, with the exception of "Miniature", a sweet and melodic piece. To both musicians' credit, they're creating something authentic and powerful, and the music is great, it must be said. No pyrotechnics for the sake of demonstrating skills, nor noise to make noise, but just raw and intense high energy dialogues of a screeching guitar and relentless drumming, but both with a story to tell, with moments of humor even. Not bad at all.

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Mark O'Leary & Sunny Murray - Ode To Albert Ayler (Ayler Records, 2009) ***½

This is the second duo recording of Irish guitarist Mark O'Leary on Ayler Records, the previous was with Han Bennink, this one with Sunny Murray, two totally different drummers in terms of style. Murray has surely more souplesse and is surely less hard-hitting, playing a more supporting role than Bennink did on "Television". The recording itself goes back to 2002, during a tour of Ireland. The album consists of three long tracks, with two short pieces in between. O'Leary has developed his music in the meantime, but there are some fantastic moments here. Especially when the spirit of Ayler descends on him. Ayler was raw, wild, fierce, brutal even at times, tearing down all the elements in music that could hinder any direct straight-from-the-heart authenticity, and by doing so, he created a spiritual sensitivity, ripped to its barest essence. O'Leary and Murray do that too, to a certain extent, and that's when they are at their best: when there is an unrelenting drive, as on "Albert", the first track, together with the last one the best piece on the album. O'Leary really goes wild here, especially towards the end, sounding more like McLaughlin in his early period than Ayler, but well, it's certainly great. "Body Politik" is more jazzy, more gentle, until halfway, when some distorted guitar brings about a change in the piece, speeding up the pace, moving more into rapid-fire fusion-like guitar. '"Spiritualized" is a short acoustic piece, offering a kind of breathing pauze, before the pièce-the-résistance begins, called "Axiom", a pieces that starts slowly again, with nice polyrhythmics from Murray, and gentle, sensitive playing by O'Leary, but then tension rises, as does the tempo and the speed, with both musicians going totally giving themselves. So, while the music is not bad, the format is a little repetitive, and some of O'Leary's phrasing too. As said, he has grown better since then.

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Mark O'Leary & Han Bennink - Television (Ayler Records, 2008) ***

I'm a great fan of Mark O'Leary, but not everything he does is magic. As is this CD, which gives a duo improvization between O'Leary and Dutch master drummer Han Bennink, recorded in 2001. The great thing about the album is the interaction between two free minds, mostly in very nervous staccato conversation, with rapid-fire attacks and reactions between O'Leary's low-toned guitar and Bennink's special drumming, with the exception of one track "For Bernie", which is more traditional in it's down-tempo work-out. The rest of the album is all within the same range of music, rapid, precise and creative, but still far removed from the more adventurous and impactful voice he developed in the last two years. There are no special effects here, just down-to-earth naked guitar and drums. Some (most!) of the tracks are technically awe-inspiring, like "Woodcuts" on which Bennink's drumming is maniacally hard, precise and with a sustained energy that is hard to fathom. That being said, all tracks bring a little too much of the same, with not enough variation, and the sound quality is not superb either, especially for the drums (but that's unfortunately too often the case with Ayler releases). The album gives a great demonstration of O'Leary's skills on the guitar, his real talents as an artist will blossom some years later in his career. Fans of O'Leary and Bennink will appreciate this release by Ayler, for those who don't know him, it may be worthwhile to start with his more recent work.

You can listen and download from Ayler Records (only available as a download).

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Mark O'Leary & Terje Isungset - Shamanic Voices (FMR, 2007) ****

Earlier in 2007, in one of my reviews, I combined two new albums by Mark O'Leary, and I will do it again now, because the Irish guitarist is as prolific as Ken Vandermark or Satoko Fujii, releasing no less than seven (7) albums in 2007 (Waiting, with Cuong Vu and Tom Rainey, Radio Free Europa with John Herndon and Matt Lux, On the Shore with Alex Cline, John Fumo and Jeff Kaiser, Signs with Alex Cline and Steuart Liebig, Skyshifter with Gunter Muller, an appearance on the White Night Festival CD with Slava Ganelin and Arkady Gotesman). And then now Shamanic voices with Terje Isungset, released on November 28. The great thing about O'Leary is that he is versatile and comfortable in so many different styles, yet manages to keep his own musical language, i.e. he is not showing off his skills, he creates music. And for this project, "ice man" Terje Isungset proves to be an interesting counterpart. Isungset is a percussionist, rather than a drummer, using all kinds of materials to create the most unusual sounds with both extreme clarity or ongoing bustle, which is at the same time rhythmic and a-rhythmic, when his performance sounds like percussive avalanches. He is clearly as interested in the creation of sound as of rhythm. His instruments include stones, bells, wood, gongs, jews harp, next to the more usual instruments. As on Isungset's other albums, this creates a "tribal" feel, and the shamanic incantations are hence obvious through the music, but also very explicit on some tracks when Isungset does some worldless singing. O'Leary alternates between acoustic and electric guitar, playing wonderful and eery plucked chords, with at times surprising harmonics, emphasizing spiritual moments, or speed-of-light electric solos of great intensity but in combination with the drumming, no less spiritual, or he uses the e-bow and electronics for lengthy soundscapes, vaguely reminiscent of Terje Rypdal in his most spacy efforts, over which Isungset creates long-sounding bell-rings and stone-tones. Some of the music is overdubbed, with several layers of percussion and guitar, leading to moments of high energetic and nervous intensity, a perfect counterbalance to the more meditative pieces. Although both musicians keep their own recognizable musical voice, their playing together creates some real innovative sounds and possibilities.

Mark O'Leary - Signs (FMR, 2007) ***½

On "Signs", which was released exactly a year ago, he plays with Steuart Leibig on 6-string electric contrabass and Alex Cline on drums and percussion. The music also bears the O'Leary trademark, but is more jazzy, a little more fusion, especially on "Tilt", the appropriately titled long opening track, on which he unleashes all the speed he can muster, but always in a free-flowing manner, deep-toned, subtle and emotional. But on "Falling", the second track, the mood changes to minimalistic chord progressions of slow single notes, emphasizing each one as if it was something unique and precious, requiring full attention by itself, as if you see a feather or a leaf slowly descending through space, contrasting again with the short chaotic skronk of the next piece. The title song is a long nervous low-toned improvization, with the three musicians at their best, reacting fast, propulsing each other forward, great to hear. The other tracks alternate between more abstract meditative pieces and high-speed fusion, but then of the clever kind, going beyond the usual guitar hero acrobatics.

There are many excellent guitar-players around, but there are very few with the talent to perfectly master the instrument, to have a distinct voice and a clear musical vision at the same time. O'Leary is a musician with a story to tell. That makes listening to him captivating, and well ... he can keep on releasing albums at this pace as far as I'm concerned, because with new sparring partners for each CD he manages to tell a new exciting story, generating through the other players innovative elements each time.

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