Slovenian master drummer-percussionist and seminal free improviser Zlatko Kaučič celebrated his 70th anniversary two years ago, but it is never too late to enjoy this occasion with a box set of four live performances with a few of his favorite improvisers, and with personal dedications from like-minded comrades like Joëlle Léandre, Elisabeth Harnik.
The first album, VENČKO (wreath in Slovenian) documents the first-ever recorded duo with Norwegian tenor and soprano sax player Torben Snekkestad (a close collaborator of double bass master Barry Guy), recorded at the BCMF Festival in Šmartno-Brda, Slovenia, in September 2019, and dedicated to Venceslav Pajntar-Venčko. This 40-minute set stresses Kaučič qualities as a deep listener with sharp and fast instincts, but also as a powerful, commanding improviser who can ignite intimate dynamics with a few blows on the drum set. The level of communication and synergy between Kaučič and Snekkestad is so profound, varied and imaginative, moving seamlessly between contemplative conversations that reference contemporary music, delicate and poetic timbral explorations and free jazz-tingerd energetic fireworks, that organically gravitate into instant compositions and a cohesive narrative, as if they have been playing as a duo for many years.
The second album was recorded at the same festival, four years later, and features Kaučič with fellow Slovenian and long-time collaborator, double bass player Tomaž Grom, and German experimental trumpeter Axel Dörner, in a 36-minute piece “Tiha misel zablestela/a silent thought sined-suit”. This is an uncompromising and unpredictable, radical sound-oriented improvisation that explores an array of extended breathing, bowing and percussive techniques and investigates how the unorthodox sounds of these resourceful improvisers resonate with each other and create a raw, often noisy but always enigmatic sonic entity.
The third album documents the first-ever duo recording of Kaučič with Portuguese tenor sax master Rodrigo Amado, at the 2020 edition of the same festival., titled “Free Fall” (and no connection to Jimmy Guiffre Trio’s seminal album by the same name). Amado says that Kaučič has created “a profoundly unique sound cosmos that inspires me again and again”. This inspired performance is rooted in the free jazz legacy and alternates between a muscular, fast muscular improvisation, relying on short melodic themes and fast-shifting grooves that push both Kaučič and Amado to the most extreme territories, but with an immediate, deep, and almost telepathic interplay, and poetic, contemplative, and soulful conversations. Eventually, as expected, this energetic duo unleashes its volcanic energy and spirals into dense, cathartic, and stratospheric skies. Hopefully, this set marks the beginning of a long relationship.
The fourth and last album documents a performance of Kaučič with soul mates - or inklings, as the five improvised pieces are titled - Catalan master pianist Agustí Fernández (for his 70th birthday, FSR dedicated another box set of seven performances, Aesthetic of Prisms, 2024)and British double bass master Barry Guy (who is 78 years old and plays a 5-string double bass), at the 64. Jazz Festival Ljubljana in Slovenia in July 2023, five months after Kaučič’s 70th birthday. Fernández composed two more pieces. Guy describes Kaučič as one of the warmest, kindest musicians he has ever met, with whom he has “a beautiful friendship based on who he is, both as a person and as a musician”. This is a masterful demonstration of the art of the moment by a few of the most gifted, restless, and imaginative sound poets-painters, who keep enriching their poetic yet intense and stormy sonic palettes with deeper, mysterious nuances. Fernández’ two most beautiful ballads highlight the trio's profound, lyrical side.
Watch: https://365.rtvslo.si/arhiv/dokumentarni-portret/174942547 (in Slovenian)
Kaučič / Furlan - Father, Son & Holy Sound (Klopotec, 2024)
Kaučič’s drums and percussion duo with fellow, young Slovenian Gal Furlan (b. 1990) was recorded live on Kaučič's 70th birthday at Klub Štala in Lokavec, Slovenia, in February 2023. The album's title references Albert Ayler’s claim that “Trane was the Father, Pharoah was the Son, I am the Holy Ghost”. Kaučič and Forlan do not have any messianic ambitions but they have a holy sound. A highly immersive sound, at the beginning delicate and mezditative but later propulsive and hypnotic. The 40-minute, free improvised piece can be experienced as an irreverent, purifying ritual comprised of delicate, caressing and resonant sounds that suggest the colorful and suggestive sonic spectrum of these resourceful improvisers.
1 comments:
The album with Rodrigo Amado is a killer. I'll have to check out the rest. Thanks for the review.
Post a Comment