Record Reviews

KALUZA / MAJEWSKI / MAZUR / SUCHAR ~ TONE HUNTING CLEAN FEED 285 (Barcode: 5609063002850) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2012 Released: 2013 This is the debut album by the Improvising Music quartet, which consists of German saxophonist Anna KaluzaFind albums by this artist and three Polish musicians: trumpeter Artur MajewskiFind albums by this artist, acoustic bass guitarist Rafal MazurFind albums by this artist and drummer Kuba SucharFind albums by this artist. Majewski and Suchar are or course known as the excellent duo MikrokolektywFind albums by this artist and Mazur is a member of the TRC TrioFind albums by this artist. The album presents five extended improvisations, credited to all quartet members and was released by the excellent Portuguese Clean FeedFind albums on this label label. The music is a great example of the vitality of the Polish / European Improvising Music scene, which is enjoying a tremendous Renaissance and involves a new generation of players and enthusiasts. These four musicians are among the most innovative and interesting representatives of the genre and have been already recognized internationally as important creative forces. Listening to this album clearly shows why they deserve such recognition. Although improvised, the music presents a diverse stylistic collage of sound vistas, from minimalistic and delicate breathing tones to expressive collective forceful statements. Most of the sounds and tones heard on this album are quite remote from what one would expect from the conventional usage of the instruments involved, and yet they somehow make all perfect sense and create a wonderful amalgam, which is obviously unlike almost anything heard before. In most cases the quartet members produce a series of rapid staccato sounds, which then are all intermixed into one sonic whole. In contrast to most "conventional" music, which once stated becomes unwavering in consequent listening encounters, this music is constantly alive and chameleonic, changing each time one listens to it. That elusiveness and constant ability to be transformed is of course what makes this music so fascinating. Obviously this is definitely not something for a casual listener and its overall accessibility is limited to connoisseurs of the genre, but as such, it is unquestionably one of its finest exhibits.

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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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MOUNT MEANDER ~ MOUNT MEANDER CLEAN FEED 375 (Barcode: 5609063003758) ~ LATVIA ~ Free Jazz / Improvised Music Recorded: 2015 Released: 2016 This is the debut album by a young European Jazz quartet Mount MeanderFind albums by this artist comprising of musicians from different countries: Latvian saxophonist Karlis AuzinsFind albums by this artist, German pianist Lucas LeidingerFind albums by this artist, Polish bassist Tomo JacobsonFind albums by this artist and German drummer Thomas SauerbornFind albums by this artist, who all studied in Copenhagen, Denmark where their paths converged. Together they perform nine pieces, all attributed collectively to the quartet members and recorded during one recording session. The music offers a solid but fragmented melodic background on occasion, which serves as basis for extended free improvisations. There is a continuous conversation between the quartet members, which helps the music to move forward, although at times it is painfully slow and hesitant. Auzins is taking most of the soloing duty upon his shoulders and his playing is always impressive, similarly to his work on other recordings. Leidinger keeps mostly to the role of accompanist and collaborator. Jacobson plays some very interesting passages, often presented as if on a separate plain from the rest of the quartet. Sauerborn keeps a low key, avoiding rhythmic patterns at all cost but supporting his cohorts with bursts of percussive madness. Overall this music makes sense even though its level of communication with the listeners is very limited. As many Improvised Music creations, this music is a very personal statement with most of its meaningfulness related to the musicians rather than the listeners, which of course is both its blessing and its curse. The most important thing about this album is the fact that young European musicians make albums like this one today, while the majority of their contemporaries are producing loads of brainless excrement. The sheer personal courage to make a statement, regardless of how it will be accepted by others is the essence. Personally I´d love to hear these musicians in a slightly more rigorous setting, since abandoning all rules and regulation so early in life might result at reaching a creative brick wall all too soon. But all things considered, this is a fine debut effort and hopefully more will be heard of these young Jazz heralds in the future.

Updated: 13/09/2016Posted: 13/09/2016

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MODULAR STRING TRIO ~ ANTS, BEES AND BUTTERFLIES CLEAN FEED 377 (Barcode: 5609063003772) ~ POLAND ~ Free Jazz / Improvised Music Recorded: 2014 Released: 2016 This is the second album by Polish / Ukrainian Improvised Music ensemble Modular String TrioFind albums by this artist, recorded live at the legendary Warsaw Pardon To Tu club, the home base of the Polish Avant-Garde scene. Contrary to its name the ensemble is not a trio but a quartet, and includes a string trio: violinist Sergiy OkhrimchukFind albums by this artist, cellist Robert JedrzejewskiFind albums by this artist and bassist Jacek MazurkiewiczFind albums by this artist, but also the modular synthesizer / electronics manipulator Lukasz KacperczykFind albums by this artist. Together they perform eight improvised pieces, which are co-credited to the quartet members and are nameless, but cryptically sequentially numbered. The music ranges between completely free and open improvisations and more structured, either rhythmically or melodically, pieces. For listeners unfamiliar with Improvised Music this is probably beyond bearable, but connoisseurs of the genre should find this music quite fascinating. It combines the Jazz and Classical Music elements unlike the music of other such ensembles, due to the specific string trio sound and interplay, and as such is pretty unique. There is a distinct mutual understanding and a high level of musical conversation between the ensemble members, which results in a coherent and plausible musical progression, which the listener is able to follow. Mazurkiewicz is definitely the anchor of the music, supplying the basic pulsations, without which the music would have become way to abstract. As usual the important question is if this music is communicative enough to contribute beyond the closed circle of the musicians involved in making it. The quandary as to the existence of a listener who would like to listen to this music more than once or even repeatedly remains open of course. Personally I enjoyed listening to this music, but I hope these still young musicians will eventually find a middle way between total and unconditional freedom and some form or structure, to make their music closer to the listeners without compromising their artistic vision. Radicalism for the sake of radicalism is usually the problem rather than the solution.

Updated: 12/04/2019Posted: 12/10/2016

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