Jeff Platz, Max Goldman & Brendan Carniaux - With Orbit (Self, 2021) ****

By Stef Gijssels

In the early and mid 90s, some twenty years ago, I was a big fan of Seatlle-based band Babkas, a trio with Brad Shepik on guitar, Briggan Kraus on sax and Aaron Alexander on drums. The sound was raw, adventurous despite the obvious composed part of it, and open to musical ideas from outside jazz. The absence of a bass made the sound just a touch harder. 

I have the same feeling and appreciation of this trio with Jeff Platz on guitar, Brendan Carniaux on sax and clarinet and Max Goldman on drums. The music is direct, nervous, energetic and combines raw tones with moments of lyricism. It's not really violent, aggressive or fast, just raw and fresh, stripped of all outward sophistication and finesse, yet driven by some brutal sense of authenticity and honesty. And strangely enough also friendly, close and intimate. 

Platz is in my opinion a guitarist and musician who deserves wider attention, as he is both technically strong and has interesting musical ideas. He does not make his guitar sound like anybody else, and limiting his pedals to accentuate or emphasise tone rather than to distort them, resulting in a jazzy sound with a sometimes brutal grunge approach. Interested readers should check out his two solo albums of last year, one more gentle ("Yo Como Solo") and one more harsh and experimental ("Unknown Year"). Over the years Platz has performed with musicians such as Daniel Carter, Stephen Haynes and Jan Klare. 

Drummer Max Goldman is less known, and to our readers possibly as the drummer of the Danny Fox Trio. Brendan Carniaux is even lesser known, at least to me, and he also deserves wider attention. His approach to the sax fits perfectly with the intense and raw musical vision of the trio. The three musicians met as the result of the Covid pandemic. 

I think the resulting album is excellent: it is at the same time a musical statement, as well as great fun to listen to. 

Listen and download from Bandcamp. 

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Asunder Trio (Paul Dunmall, Mark Sanders, Hasse Poulsen) - The Lamp (Kilogram Records, 2012) ****

By Paul Acquaro

The sax-bass-drum trio is a particularly favorite combination of mine. The flexibility of the unit, the space that is filled by the three instruments and both the power and finesse that it can achieve is inspiring. However, I am also pretty partial to the sax-guitar-drum configuration as well. It's different, the bottom end is more likely to fall to the bass drum, but the canvas of sound in the middle is rife with possibility.  This is exactly there where the Asunder Trio pulls off passages that can coo in your ear and sand blast your face. Single note lines and blurted chords contrast with restraint and melodic intent, it's a trio of musicians who say a lot in their improvisations. 

On the first song, Asunder, the guitar builds incredible tension and darkness over which Dunmall delivers some ferocious lines. Mark Sander's percussion rumbles menacingly below, ensuring plenty of momentum. Dunmall's lines entwine and encircle the guitar and drums foundation, twisting and turning endlessly. For the introduction to the second song, The Lamp, Hasse Poulsen's acoustic guitar plays a little more traditional of a role, introducing the song with strained arpeggios and striking syncopations. The drums clatter below and the percussion lends texture rather than a steady rhythm. Dunmall's sax is introduced through a bunch of squeaks and squeals while the tune builds in intensity. The song is an engaging improvisation that follows its own stream of consciousness logic. 

The last song, For Tony Levin, is dedicated to the late percussionist with whom Dunmall had a long musical partnership. The song has an amazingly subtle build up and is moody soundscape that has palpable restraint. The tension though is not without reward -- but it's not an ecstatic climax the song reaches, rather it's a feeling of gravity, one that captures the feeling of loss tempered by the joy of making music.

Overall, The Lamp is an effective and affective recording.

© stef

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Bigoni, Solborg and Brow - Hopscotch (Ilk Records 2011) ***½

Reviewed by Joe Higham

Maybe the first place to start with this album is to introduce the musicians. Bigoni, Solborg and Brow's full names are Francesco Bigoni (sax), Mark Solborg (guitar), Kevin Brow (drums). Since we don't always get much information with the CDs it's difficult to know whether (in this case) it's a group project, or someones specific group. However, listening to the album it doesn't take long to realize that this powerful trio produces some very accessible but challenging music. The three musicians compliment each other perfectly with no one musician standing alone but all acting together. The music veers between a sort of nu-jazz and semi-free, not unlike (if you know them) Trio AAB, Matthieu Donarier Trio, Hyperactive Kid and of course the long forgotten Human Feel (bless their cotton socks), in fact on first listen one cold possibly mistake Franceso Bigoni's playing for that of Chris Speed.

The album's 10 pieces have a nice mix of improvised and written themes that at times almost rock the house as opposed to the ballads which lean towards the melancholic ethereal feel that Jim Black's Alasnoaxis favors. The group blows up a powerful wind on tunes such as 'Elope Soon' (tk2), a rocking tune with a minimalistic pounding guitar/sax theme which also sets the scene for the tunes that follow. 'Brainwashing' (tk4) is a high powered shuffle tune that turns towards some excellent free form improvisation after the theme. 'Meet Mr Green'(tk5) a contrapuntal melody that uses the same idea for the solo with the sax and guitar shadowing each other closely. However not all the tunes race along at high speed, 'Almost' (tk6) is a gentle ballad type melody that is tender and sparse. What's interesting about this tune is that the melody and improvisation meld together almost without one noticing.

All the players have strong voices. Bigoni's sax almost cries at times such as on the lovely frail sounding '2' (tk1) and his tune 'Not Interesting, But True' (tk9). Here he repeats some very simple melodic ideas that the group builds on gradually giving the impression that each musician is searching for a new melody, very effective! But it is probably Mark Solborg's guitar which most links together the three players. His playing is particularly strong with a wide sonic pallet that comes up with a new solution for every tune. His playing is discreet yet utterly compelling. All in all this is very clearly a band which is a product of the post downtown movement, mixing jazz, rock and improv into a highly listenable mix which has a broad appeal…..well X-Factor listeners' should maybe be warned!

Buy from Ilk Records

© stef

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