Record Reviews

FRED LONBERG-HOLM / PIOTR MELECH ~ COARSE DAY MULTIKULTI MPI 014 (Barcode: 5907529223147) ~ USA ~ Free Jazz / Improvised Music Recorded: 2009 Released: 2011 This is the debut album by the experimental duo, which consists of American cellist / composer Fred Lonberg-HolmFind albums by this artist and Polish clarinetists / composer Piotr MelechFind albums by this artist. The album presents eight original compositions / improvisations co-credited to both musicians. The music presents extreme Avant Garde, which has very little to do with Jazz or any other form of music, and which is spontaneously improvised and recorded in real time. There is no melody, no harmony and no rhythm, which of course makes it difficult to consider this kind of expression in standard terms of reference applied to music. It is all about freedom and conversation between the musicians at the moment of creation. The question whether this music is a form of anarchy is also relevant. This kind of music may have some validity performed live, but in its recorded form is actually pretty irrelevant, since it is questionable if anybody would play this album repeatedly actually listening to it. Therefore completely valid as a form of expression, it has little meaning beyond the documentation of the meeting and mutual exchange of ideas between the musicians involved. Of course Lonberg Holm and (in retrospect) Melech have created many valuable contributions in music, this album is definitely not one of them. Nothing beyond self-indulgence I´m afraid.

Updated: 17/12/2018Posted: 29/04/2017

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MELECH / LONBERG-HOLM / OLESZAK / GOLEBIEWSKI ~ DIVIDED BY 4 MULTIKULTI 023 (Barcode: 5907529223239) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2012 Released: 2012 This is the debut album by Improvised Music quartet comprising of three Polish musicians: clarinetist Piotr MelechFind albums by this artist, pianist Witold OleszakFind albums by this artist and drummer Adam GolebiewskiFind albums by this artist, who are joined by US cellist Fred Lonberg-HolmFind albums by this artist. The album was recorded in one day, as appropriate for this kind of music, and the nine consecutively numbered improvisations are separated into the album´s nine tracks. All music is co-credited to the four musicians. Spontaneously improvised music, as the one presented here, has a very limited appeal to most music listeners and is usually considered as part of the "wild" Avant-Garde, inhibiting the extreme margins of the Jazz scene. Therefore the Polish Avant-Garde / Improvised Music scene, which is experiencing a remarkable Renaissance in the last decade, is an amazing phenomenon. Recordings, concerts, festivals and other activities, which happen in several cities across Poland, manage to draw listeners and enthusiasts from the native Poland, from all over Europe and even from across the pond. There is no logical explanation to the above, but the facts speak for themselves. Perhaps it is the longing for Freedom, which has always been a very "Polish" characteristic, emphasized by hundreds of years of political enslavement, created the proper intellectual ground in the Polish Culture to pursue Freedom, wherever possible? The greatest problem with Improvised Music is the fact that is can transform in an instant from a cultural dialogue to an orgy, from a coherent sound structure into cacophony. The limits and boundaries are thin and flexible, and they probably differ from listener to listener. Therefore whatever makes sense to one listener can be completely confusing to another one. The only way to treat an album like this one is therefore to listen to it and decide for oneself. Personally the most important factor in making Improvised Music recordings is the very fact they are made at all. Such recordings are obviously completely non-commercial (anti-commercial?) and there is no money to be made from them and therefore documenting the fact that such music was made becomes the only reason for them to be made at all. That and of course the intellectual pleasure of hearing four individuals communicating non-verbally on a "higher plane", if that is you "cup of tea". Improvised Music fanatics will find this extremely interesting, most other will find it unlistenable, but who cares about the "most" anyway. The majority is always wrong ;).

Updated: 12/04/2019Posted:

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