Wolfram Trio – Wolfram (Va Fongool, 2012) ****

By Daniel Sorrells

Wolfram Trio’s opening statement is also their longest. In just over six minutes, the trio unfurls the first of ten short blasts of their tense, knotted brand of free improvisation. Wolfram is the group’s debut album, and the touchpoints are easy enough: punk rock, 60s free jazz, maybe even the ambiguous, churning energy of Norwegian black metal. Much like Brötzmann in his younger years, the group seems to function at the very threshold of chaos, tersely handling each idea before restlessly pushing forward.

The resoundingly youthful appearance of saxophonist Halvor Meling, bassist Fredrik Luhr Dietrichson, and drummer Jan Martin Gismervik is worth noting. Despite their fresh faces, the three have been playing together since 2008 and sport a relatively mature sound that in many ways sums up the current state of improvised music. Their style can evoke the British greats: Evan Parker and John Edwards often come to mind. Fellow Norseman Frode Gjerstad, who produced the album, must also see some of his own frenetic energy in the group. Wolfram Trio are often noisy, pushing beyond notes and beats into pulsing clouds of sound. Meling has a rough, searching tone that can be more like a menacing vocal extension than a musical instrument. But Wolfram is not without its hushed moments, too. Tracks five and eight illustrate an understanding of the uneasy weight that can be implied through space and silence.

Wolfram is an exciting debut. Young and eager, the band has already indicated their next offering will be released later this year. Clearly they’ve spent a lot of time studying the maps laid down by generations of improvisers before them. And now,  it’s just as clear they’re headed toward the dark perimeters, and the places that have yet to be illuminated.

Listen:



Wolfram is available through emusic among others, or can be streamed on Spotify.


© stef

Jooklo Duo & Bill Nace – Scratch (Holidays Records) ****1/2

By Tom Burris

Early last year, Jooklo Duo released a 7” record (“The Warrior” on the Northern Spy label) consisting of two bite-sized blasts that were, if not refined, then at least condensed representations of their unique take on the duo lineup.  The format lent itself to the idea that Virginia Genta (tenor sax, mainly) and David Vanzan (percussion, mainly) could lean into the noise-rock realm as readily as it had previously under the free jazz model.

In June 2011, the Italian duo toured the U.S. with NYC avant-noise guitarist Bill Nace in tow, furthering the sonic possibilities of their foray into snuff jazz.  In that same month, evidently before they set out for the boonies and burgs of the U.S. - (I saw them in Lafayette, Indiana!) – they recorded “Scratch,” an LP limited to 350 copies on multi-colored vinyl, which is a very fine representation of their stateside summer onstage collision course.

Trust me; this is not merely a buy-and-file-away collectible record.  The trio opens with a blast that is both open to any and all musical possibilities and compressed with tightly-wound energy.  When Vanzan drops out about halfway through the first side, there is a short moment of metal machine music from Genta and Nace, and then all three somehow manage to elevate the intensity, while eventually Genta emerges from the flames playing ecstatic Pharoah-type figures.

Side 2 opens with a continuation of the firestorm, inconceivably ascending to even crazier heights, before the splatter percussion drops out and Genta belts out insane pterodactyl shrieks from her sax.  Suddenly the whole thing opens up, with Vanzan – playing beautiful mallet percussion – doing a short duet with Nace before a brief moment of Genta’s bamboo flute comes floating overhead.  Then suddenly she picks up the sax for some gorgeous runs dripped in occasional multi-phonics.

The storm finally clears with Vanzan’s gentle mallet work, Genta on melodica, and Nace gently bowing the guitar strings.  Then Vanzan picks up the flute and all three swirl around in a fog that sounds a bit like the Sun Ra Arkestra’s take on a Nino Rota score.  It becomes more airy as it goes, leaving the trio to play the spaces as much as the instruments.

A surprising coda appears with Nace punching in some reverb and strumming an open chord, followed by Genta on bombarda.  Then the finish: Nace playing percussive figures on the treated guitar, while Genta’s figures spiral above and Vanzan’s mallets swagger until resolution – which sounds to these ears like the attainment of intuitive nirvana.


Listen:




Watch:




Buy:

http://www.holidaysrecords.it/

© stef

Fire! with Jim O´Rourke: Released! -- Looking from a different perspective?

As you can imagine we (the team) all get to hear the same records, and who reviews what basically works out as 'whoever fancies writing a review .... is welcome'. This of course means that you can get beaten to the post by another reviewer. As happened with me once, Stef was so interested by what I wrote he listened to the album and wrote a second review, which he then posted next to mine. It was an interesting experience to see two (more or less same) opinions, or one could say looking at the same thing from two viewpoints! Here, is a second, no third take on the 'Fire!' record with Jim O'Rourke.

Fire! with Jim O´Rourke: Released! (Rune 2011) ***

 

Reviewed by Joe

A short review of this small offering from Rune Records which could easily slip by without anybody noticing. This 10" EP (I think it's a very limited pressing!) with music by the undefinable Jim O'Rourke is 11 minutes of uncluttered (improvised?) music that passes you by within the blink of an eye. I'm not sure what the story behind this recording is but it's a shame there's not more of it, or at least I wonder what would of happened if they'd developed it a little further. To my mind it sounds like a sketch for a larger project which it is, and that's what makes it (for me) a slightly 'unfinished' sounding record. The group as you'll see below is a classic quartet line-up, however the music isn't easily classifiable. On 'Certainly those older and released...' (Tk1) you get to hear sampled and manipulated sounds mixed with guitar, minimal repeated bass riff and simple drum fills which develop gradually into a mournful melody played on sax which leads us out. On Tk2 'Particular local and plastic wrapped' the group builds in intensity with Gustafsson leading the troupes into battle over a repetitive bass riff with the other instruments following on gradually building in intensity, subsiding only as the sax steps aside. In fact you could sum up the basic idea of both sides of this EP as music which pulsates over a simple harmonic base.

There's not much else to say about the music as at the very moment it starts to take off the track runs out, or should I say the record stops. But what is here is quite interesting, it's just there isn't much of it. I guess if you're a Jim O'Rourke or Matts Gustafsson completist you may want this one in your vinyl collection, otherwise I'd pass this one over and wait for a fully fledged recording, which I hope will materialize one of these days.   

The Group : Mats Gustafsson baritone saxophone, fender rhodes, live electronics, Andreas Werliin drums, percussion, Johan Berthling electric bass, Jim O'Rourke electric guitar, synthesizer, harmonica.

Just to add to the fun here's the other two reviews (it seems we all reviewed it!) ....
Review (March 2012) - This is Paul's take on the record. As you can see he reviewed with a bunch of other records in the Matts Gustafsson section, always a good thing (name) to start a discussion!

Review (June 2011) - this is a review of the original album that has the rest of the material from the above release. I hadn't done my homework and only read this review after writing mine. However, I imagined that there was more material and of course there is. Read the Review March 2011 for more info.


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© stef

Charles Gayle Trio - Streets (Northern Spy, 2012) ****

By DentiAlligator

The title of the new Charles Gayle studio record, Streets, doesn't refer to the asphalt roadways on which Gayle used to play his saxophone; it refers to the clown-mime persona Gayle sometimes adopts in performance. Of course, by way of immediate association, the figure of Streets also reminds us of the streets where this persona was born: Streets the Clown, a near-homeless performer (as indeed Gayle was before he was “discovered”) living in the concrete jungle of New York, turning his sadness, pain, and perseverance into art. There's Gayle as Streets on the cover, looking forlorn, but staring right at us.

How are we to respond to this gesture? The album’s Christian-themed titles suggest “Compassion” might be appropriate. But there’s always the sense that such humility will come to nothing. Indeed, the movement of the record is from alternating versions of “Compassion” to the final “Tribulations,” the noisiest and unruliest of the bunch. This might be Gayle’s narrative: humble compassion will inevitably have to confront an apocalyptic upheaval. In this context, the performer is none other than a clown who attempts to bring joy, but in a world faced with constant travail must resign himself to being overlooked or forgotten. His melancholy-turned-(out)rage is the plight of the outsider artist—the free jazz musician in a nutshell.

Gayle is now in his 70s, but he is as intense as ever. His choice of trio and the exclusive use of the tenor may remind listeners of his most well-known record, Touchin' on Trane. And yet, surely in part due to the different rhythm section, Gayle does not repeat himself here: the Ayler-infused Coltrane sound of that album is not as prominent. Gayle trades those lengthy, lyrical lines for halting, disjointed outbursts. On this record his playing is much closer to the tortured, jagged wails that can be found on the extraordinary More Live album that was recorded in New York the year Touchin' on Trane was released—19 years ago.

The rhythm section on Streets is superb. Larry Roland plays the upright bass, and Michael TA Thompson is on drums. Both of them are accomplished musicians, and both are given ample time to show that. Each player has a solo on all but one track, and, most importantly, both of them are recorded extremely well. The subtleties of their interactions with each other and with Gayle are clearly distinguished in the mix, making it even more of a delight to listen to them.

The record is about an hour long, and features seven tracks ranging 5-10 minutes in length. Some pieces are more forceful and blustering; others ruminative yet still afflicted. Gayle’s overblown squeals often sound like he’s holding something back, that the high-pitched yelps are the symptoms of restraint, as if always about to explode into deeper, more violent attacks. And these outbursts come, sometimes ratcheting up the trio’s intensity to a peaking point. The ten-minute title track is especially effective, with Roland bowing his instrument (as he does on only one other piece) and featuring a musical theme that sounds like a lament. "March of April" begins with military-style syncopation on the drums, with the bass soon following 'in step.' Gayle enters and at first follows this lock-step rhythm, but in a few minutes it's clear the roles have been reversed: Thompson and Roland are now following Gayle's lead as he pulls the rhythm section away from any regulated beat and into a free textured flow. At the end the trio settles back into the military march for the final minute. This frame works beautifully and powerfully showcases Gayle's musical range. It's a fantastic piece, maybe the best on the record.

Don't let my rating deter you. I am a little stingier in rewarding the highest star-ratings than my fellow bloggers. But so far this is my favorite record of the year: soulful, deeply moving and powerfully delivered free jazz by one of the masters. Highly recommended.

Buy from Instantjazz. 

© stef

Wild Chamber Trio – “10.000 Leaves” (Nottwo, 2012) ****

By Steve Mossberg

With a dry slap of the tongue and the warble of a Japanese bamboo flute, soprano saxophonist Gianni Mimmo leads the way into “Atomic Heart.” Clementine Gasser’s 5-string cello rustles the leaves, brushing against the pianistic wind chimes of Elisabeth Harnik. We are drawn into a protean soundscape that is brash, lawless, frequently off-putting, but consistently engaging.

Such is the nature of “10.000 Leaves”, the premiere recording from the Wild Chamber Trio, a cross-European meeting of the Italian Mimmo, Swiss Gasser, and Austrian Harnik. This is the freely improvised sound of three great musicians on a 52-minute joyride through the land of jazz energy and classical sonority without a road map.

The idea of playing improvised music in a “chamber” setting dates back to the early 60s, when cool-jazz reed player Jimmy Giuffre stepped further away from convention in the company of the then-young now-legendary Steve Swallow and Paul Bley. Compared to the explosive, confrontational, blues-steeped flights of his more-famous contemporary Ornette Coleman, Giuffre’s drumless music was one of an intimate, boundless, searching dialogue.

Fifty years later, the Vienna-based group continues the conversation. For the duration of the recording, the trio navigates music of considerable variety and surprising originality. All three constituents possess the prerequisite musical skills for high-level free improvisation. They have the musical ears and brains to pick up and instantly expound upon the most abstract statements of their partners, and the physical ability to execute each impulse seamlessly.

The real liberating factor in the group, however, is the huge range of effects the musicians conjure from their actual instruments. The possibilities for new textures expand with each successive track. In “Shade Multiplication,” Mimmo’s soprano wheezes mechanically in and out of unison with the harsh overtones of Gasser’s 5-string. He often blows into the instrument until it distorts and warps like the vision of asphalt on a hot highway.  On “Radiance,” while the cello rumbles ominously and tonelessly, Harnik’s piano strings ping and resonate ethereally against the metal objects placed upon them. Within the blink of an eye, her instrument shifts from temple bells to bone rattle to the strained yowl of scraped cord.

When the trio deals in notes, their dialogues show deep invention and expert cohesion, but when they play with sounds, they attain near-telepathy. The improvisations open with powerful collective statements of atmosphere, such as the scrambling animal footfalls of “Fire Code,” the marshy bubbling and quacking of the title track, the dying fluorescent-light hum of “Remaining Words” and the military stomps, slams, and wordless vocalizing of “Kitty Hawk.” At moments of climax, the ensemble sound is an overwhelmingly rich cacophony. In the recording’s final minutes, it is one of vaguely mumbled questions and scurrying half-heard protests.

“10.000 Leaves” is an exciting debut, a reminder of the vitality of “chamber” improvisation, and a document of masterful free music making.

Highly recommended.

Buy from Instantjazz. 




© stef

Mockuno NuClear - Drop it (No Business, 2012) ***

Reviewed by Joe

Anyone who reads my reviews on here will know that I really like improvised music and in particular when it embraces written elements - ex : Atomic, Motif, The Engines, Ken Vandemark etc. That's maybe a contradiction in words - written and improvised - but the idea that the two can possibly cohabit the same space (musically) does lead to new ideas and colourful music (*). Mockuno NuClear fall into this category sitting somewhere in-between the two ideas, trying to please both camps at the same time.

This is a record which at the beginning shines like a bright star. The music is wonderfully played and (as mentioned) slides between the composed and the improvised with great ease. Saxophonist Liudas Mockunas plays some fantastic lines on the opening tracks which glide gracefully into semi romantic classical themes with the piano. It's not really clear if Prelude (Tk1) and Prelude Variation (Tk2), or Tk3, The Cursed (Prelude Variation) are actually linked musically, although one doesn't have to worry too much as these three tracks clearly hold together as one idea. In fact after hearing these three pieces I was very excited to hear what the rest of the record would reveal.

(What follows) .... after the opening pieces the record almost splits into two areas, something that I hadn't counted on, and certainly not hinted at the beginning. Tracks 1, 2, 3, 5 and 8 are loose yet intimate pieces working round a more acoustic ethic, whilst tracks 4, 6 and 7 seem to be another group (although not necessarily different musicians) leaning towards groove based improvisations. Elephant Tango (Tk6) is a lovely theme, an almost semi pastiche of a tango style which bursts with energy yet seems totally out of place on the record. Track 4 - The Dark Side/The Bright Side (The Bright Side is dedicated to Andrew Hill) is another hard blowing tune, something one could imagine Matts Gustafsson playing with complete abandon. Here the group rocks away with Rhodes piano, grooving drum and bass riffing away and baritone sax in full attack mode! Great stuff I can assure you, but again a little unexpected.

Finally, it's this conflictual aspect which is slightly off putting as there are several records here, all probably very good. What is audibly an excellent group with some very positive and good musical ideas seems to not really know which side to express first, in fact putting all this into one record leaves the listener confused as to when best to listen to this record. Having said that I think anyone who is curious will probably find much of interest and will also be rewarded on repeated listens. I suspect that the group seen live would be very compelling, let's hope that the next record will clarify some of their very exciting ideas. 

  

Personnel: Liudas Mockunas: soprano, tenor and baritone saxophones; Dmitrij Golovanov: piano and keyboards; Marijus Aleksa: drums; Vytis Nivinskas: bass (5, 6); Darius Rudis: drums (7).

(*) = The other possibility being totally improvised, or of course the more traditional 'theme' with identifiable chord progressions used as an improvisational vehicle.

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© stef

Marty Ehrlich's Rites Quartet - Frog Leg Logic (Clean Feed) 2011 ****

By Philip Coombs

The title track from Marty Ehrlich's second Julius Hemphill inspired 'Rites Quartet' release, Frog Leg Logic, triggered a memory.

It transported me back to my university days when the album I was listening to had to be louder than the one my neighbor was listening to. His music would get louder so I turned mine up. Then something magical happened. The two songs, for some reason sounded really good together, creating something new. Ironically, the separating wall provided what it took to unite them. The track Frog Leg Logic is what that would sound like. There is something so creativity distracting about Hank Roberts' cello, like he is playing a different song in another room. But it works so well. I can't stop listening to it and luckily the joy continues throughout, whether it is bowed, strummed, plucked, or when borrowing from jazz, classical, and world music.

Ehrlich guides Roberts, James Zollar (trumpet) and Michael Sarin (drums) through this big jazz record. In many places it is much bigger than the sum of its parts. There is some big production with compressed drums and deep reverb. This is a big history lesson but it also carries a big flashlight to look ahead.

Walk Along the Way is a lesson in deconstruction and rebirth. What starts with a walk along the countryside quickly erodes into being lost in the forest. Roberts and Sarin grab the flashlight and forge on, providing a sinister backdrop for Ehrlich to play some darker passages over as Zollar blows some wind directly into your ear. Once safety is spotted, the group compose themselves and slowly put all the pieces back together until they are all again standing on stable ground.

The album takes an unexpected but pleasant turn on My Song; a duo of sax and cello. Ehrlich imitates the cello with warm tones and a convincing vibrato. Roberts returns the favor with some trills of his own. Both instruments fall into a dance of mutual respect while never becoming confrontational. Their history together is very obvious on this track. Definitely one of my favorite songs on the album.

Granted, there are a few moments that are not to my taste, but these are the things that question what it is I like about jazz in the first place. It makes my want to listen to more Julius Hemphill and further enjoy Ehrlich's journey to here. For that alone, I am glad I gave this album a closer listen.

Can be purchased from Instantjazz or downloaded through eMusic.

© stef