Yuri Yaremchuk, Ilia Belorukov, Andrij Orel - Conditions (re:konstruKt, 2010) ****

Going beyond jazz, entering a gentle and improvised dialogue of sound and timbral explorations, this album shows the direction for many of new albums to come, from this band and others. The sounds are gentle, as described by the musicians themselves "careful and carefree", like a pointillist painting, with simple and soft colored dots creating a broad-sweeping yet intimate landscape, but here in a purely abstract context. There is no discernable melody nor rhythm, yet the whole album is relatively accessible. Yuri Yaremchuk plays tenor & soprano saxophones, and bass clarinet, Ilia Belorukov plays alto saxophone, and Andrij Orel plays "cheap acoustic guitar", and other objects. The music is inherently creative, and holds the middle between meditative pieces and free improv, very direct yet sensitive and surprising, with a strange aesthetic beauty. Despite its avant-garde and innovative approach, it is all very inviting.

Listen at Last.fm and buy from re:konstruKt.
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