Record Reviews

PASCAL NIGGENKEMPER / LE 7EME CONTINENT ~ TALKING TRASH CLEAN FEED 373 (Barcode: 5609063003734) ~ GERMANY ~ Avant-Garde Jazz Recorded: 2014 - 2016 Released: 2016 This is the debut album by the ensemble Le 7eme ContinentFind albums by this artist, led by German-French resident in NY bassist / composer Pascal NiggenkemperFind albums by this artist. The ensemble also called sextet, double trio and triple duo includes two pianists: Eve RisserFind albums by this artist and Philip ZoubekFind albums by this artist (who both play prepared piano), two clarinetists: Joris RuhlFind albums by this artist and Joachim BadenhorstFind albums by this artist and Spanish flautist Julian ElviraFind albums by this artist who plays the pronomos flute he invented and the sub-contrabass flute. Bassist Constantin HerzogFind albums by this artist guests on one track. Together the ensemble plays nine original compositions, all by Niggenkemper. The music is a wonderfully weird extreme Avant Garde amalgamation of sounds that seem completely random at first, but start making sense soon enough, after attentive listening. The individual instruments do not produce any "normal" notes one might expect to hear from them, but rather generate an ambient wall of sound with small variations and monotonic almost motionless ambience. There is little development within each of the "tunes" and even within the entire album, as the sound changes with an excruciatingly slow rate, requiring the listener to enter a meditative state of sorts in order to submit to the music. There is no intellectual analyzing needed here, just complete Zen like acquiescence. The only piece on the album, which comes remotely close to what most people consider as music is the title track, where finally one may hear the piano, flute and clarinet producing almost "normal" notes in a group improvisation environment. One must admit that this music would be probably deemed completely unlistenable by the vast majority of the inhabitants of this planet, but sadly the same applies to most of Avant Garde art at any given moment in the human history. Thank God some people have the courage to think differently and disregard the norms, in their quest for the unknown, like the musicians involved in the making of this music. The aesthetics involved might be shocking or even repulsive to some, but highly inspiring to others and only time can tell if this music had any significant impact on the development of the music Art Form. I invite the open minded and courageous music lovers to embrace this music, even if it does not offer the instantaneous satisfaction we are all conditioned to expect from everything around us. There are treasures to be discovered here, even if it takes time and effort. No instant gratification is to be found herein, but once we are able to penetrate the seemingly uninviting exterior, the essence makes perfect sense even without melody, harmony or steady rhythm. Although Niggenkemper lives in NY, the team assembled here is all European and it seems that the audience for this kind of music is also mostly European based. I wonder why he decided to move to the US; surely not for musical openness.

Updated: 17/12/2018Posted: 09/07/2016

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Z3 ~ PALE FIRE WHYPLAYJAZZ 014 (Barcode: 4050486906163) ~ AUSTRIA ~ Jazz Recorded: 2013 Released: 2014 This is the debut album by the trio called Z3Find albums by this artist, led by Austrian pianist / composer Philip ZoubekFind albums by this artist and including German clarinetist Benjamin WeidekampFind albums by this artist and Swiss bassist Christian WeberFind albums by this artist. The album presents seven original compositions, all by Zoubek. Zoubek points to the legendary Jimmy GiuffreFind albums by this artist trio with pianist Paul BleyFind albums by this artist and bassists Steve SwallowFind albums by this artist as the source of inspiration to create this trio, and many points of reference are indeed present, although there is no attempt to directly follow or copy the work of Giuffre and his cohorts. The piano "plays the first fiddle" on this album, clearly navigating the music towards a melodic progression, which is followed by the clarinet and bass in a series of tête-à-tête and ménage a trios encounters. The overall atmosphere is completely relaxed and non-aggressive, which always helps in an Improvised Music environment, creating a true close encounter between the trio members. Weidekamp plays magnificently here and his beautiful tone reminds me of the performances by my beloved Harold RubinFind albums by this artist. Short phrases and delicate breathing-like uttering, little melodic statements and fragile triplets create an ornate aura around the piano stating the melody and the overall result is simply magical. Weber, who is one of the busiest and most prolific bassists on the European Improvised Music scene, with three solo albums and dozens of recordings to his credit, displays a certain measure of respect and distance, playing sparingly but superbly on time and exactly where his contribution is needed. This kind of subtle support is amongst the most difficult contributions a musician can offer to his partners. Together the trio creates a continuous flow of excellent and fascinating music, which keeps the listener on his toes from start to finish. In fact this is definitely one of the best releases on the first-rate WhyPlayJazzFind albums on this label label to date. There is definitely nothing pale about the fire found on this album, I assure you!

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PHILIP ZOUBEK ~ AIR WHYPLAYJAZZ 024 (Barcode: 4050486942987) ~ AUSTRIA ~ Avant-Garde Jazz Recorded: 2014 Released: 2015 This is a solo piano album by the Austrian pianist / composer Philip ZoubekFind albums by this artist, performed on prepared piano, i.e. a piano that produces sounds which are not normally heard when a piano is played, achieved by putting different stuff inside the instrument on the strings and hammers. The album presents eight original compositions, all by Zoubek. Zoubek manages to create a plethora of wonderfully weird sounds, which are then weaved into tapestries of sound, gently flowing in the time / space continuum, like chimes in a gentle breeze. Although completely devoid of melodic or harmonic structure, this music, or collection of sounds, is a manifestation of the Artist´s vision at the particular moment of creation. These Avant-Garde sound vistas are beautifully non-offensive and non-aggressive, which works in favor of the relationship between the aesthetic content and the potential listener. When faced by such gentle and civil manifestation of sound, an open minded listener is much more open to spare his attention to this offering than to a barrage of angry notes, which brings on a defensive mechanism and closure. This album is probably way too strange for most music connoisseurs, but honestly it deserves to be heard as it could be able to communicate with a much wider audience that one might expect. I personally had great fun listening to it, although I might understand how this might be rejected by others. Since air is the medium, in which sound travels before it reaches our ears, it becomes in fact an integral part of the sound phenomenon, and as such deserves to serve as this album´s title. This is another bold release by the wonderful WhyPlayJazzFind albums on this label label, which emerges as one of the most significant sources of excellent New Music in the last few years, and which deserves to be watched closely by fearless music lovers.

Updated: 12/04/2019Posted: 14/06/2016

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