Readers of the blog may know the work of the Slovenian drummer Zlatko
Kaučič, especially his recorded collaborations with European
heavyweight improvisers such as Peter Brötzmann, Evan Parker, Agustí
Fernández. Ab Baars, Phil Minton, Barry Guy, and Maya Homburger.
Kaučič single handedly fostered a scene for free music in the newly
founded Slovenia, mentored younger musicians, ran venues, organized
local festivals, and always encouraged all around him to keep pushing
their boundaries. Now, a bit about his music...
Zlatko Kaučič - Diversity (Not Two, 2018) ****½
The Polish label Not Two has released, since its inception, special box sets that have celebrated special projects from Ken Vandermark (including DKV Trio & Joe McPhee), Mats Gustafsson, and Barry Guy, as well as important
anniversaries such as celebrating 40 years of Joëlle Léandre's professional career as a musician, and more recently that of Kaučič, who celebrated last year
his 65th birthday. The 5-disc box Diversity encompasses a series of
intimate, free-improvised meetings with old and new comrades, all
highlight his idiosyncratic percussive language, focused on his own set
of ground drums, percussion devices and his distinct playing of the
electric zither.
Diversity begins with a live recording - a trio with Catalan pianist
Agustí Fernández and British tenor sax master Evan Parker, captured at
Sound Disobedience Festival, Ljubljana, Slovenia, on October 2016, and
titled Butterfly Wings. Kaučič recorded before duets with Parker (Round
About One O’Clock, Not Two, 2011) and Fernández (Sonic Party, Not Two,
2014), while Parker and Fernández have collaborated regularly since the
mid-nineties as a duo, as well as in Parker’s Electro-Acoustic Ensemble and Octet, and in a quartet with Barry Guy and Paul Lytton; however, this is the first
recording of this trio. Kaučič colors the abstract, free-formed
interplay with imaginative kinetic energy. He resonates Fernández
inside-the-piano playing with subtle zither sounds on '#2', offers
minimalist, poetic interventions to the tranquil and mysterious duet of
Parker and Fernández on '#3', sings peacefully with his percussive
devices on '#4', and sketches inventive, quiet percussive sounds on the
last, dark and enigmatic '#7'.
The second disc, Kras, is a duet with Parker, recorded live at Jazz
& Wine of Peace Festival in San Michele del Carso, Italy, in
October 2016, two days before the trio with Fernández. Parker plays the
tenor sax while Kaučič adds the drum set to his percussion devices and
the electric zither. Both Parker and Kaučič have mastered the sax-drums
format and here opted for reserved yet highly conversational, free jazz
dynamics that explores twisted, melodic themes and minimalist textures.
The 20-minutes “#2” distils best their profound connection. Kaučič
begins with ripples of meditative zither sounds, Parker answers with
beautiful, lyrical ideas and Kaučič continues coloring this
conversation with powerful, rhythmic drive. The following #3” deepens
the delicate, fragile vein of the zither and the sax and the short
encore “#5” is the most expressive piece here.
.
Kaučič calls playing solo “a necessary evil” as he is forced to “lay
yourself bare and expose your true self”, and the third disc, Rainbow
Solitude, is exactly that. Kaučič was recorded at studio Input Level,
San Biagio di Callalta, Italy on April 2016, playing ground drums,
various percussion instruments and devices and the electric zither. The
short nine pieces stress his unique melodic approach, often contrasted
with the distorted and otherworldly sounds of the zither, and encompass
broad range of sonic references that are apparent in his meetings with
other musicians. You can find traces of gamelan on “Drive Through
Obstacles”, delicate touches of cymbals on the meditative “Tonal Flow”,
peaceful layers of resonant sounds on “Memories”, noise machines on
“Sip Of Story”, disturbing cinematic tension on “Pokrovček”, meditative
and ceremonial sounds on “My Home”, cheap sci-fi sounds on “Himna Za
Mojo Teto Karlo”, a dramatic story on “Predor” and a playful, folky
song on “Mlin”.
The fourth disc, Anima, recorded at Saint Martin's Church, Šmartno,
Slovenia, on September 2016, with Danish tenor, alto and soprano sax
player Lotte Anker and Polish trumpeter Artur Majewski and acoustic
bass guitar player Rafał Mazur, both recorded later with Fernández
(Spontaneous Soundscapes, Not Two, 2017), and all appeared on Anker’s
recording from the same location (Plodi, Klopotec, 2017). Kaučič plays
the ground drums, percussion and the electric zither. The atmosphere of
this meeting is, again, minimalist and peaceful, focused on patient
structuring of nuanced, fluid textures. Anker plays in an impressive
subtle and poetic manner here, especially on “Iconic Thoughts”, “Unison
Creation” and “Trte”, where she cleverly contrasts the urgent attacks
of Majewski, while Kaučič comments and steers this quiet yet expressive
commotion with delicate touches of the cymbals, skins and the zither.
The last disc collects two duos. The first is 'Med-Ana' with late German
trombonist Johannes Bauer, recorded at the Old Movie Theatre, Medana,
Slovenia, on September 2012; the second, Šmartno Suite, in memory
of Bauer, with British vocal artist Phil Minton, recorded at Brda
Contemporary Music Festival, Italy, in September 2014. 'Med-Ana' is a
beautiful homage to one of the greatest free-improvisers of the
European scene, emphasizing his passionate, highly playful and
talkative interplay with Kaučič. Both sound like close friends who enjoy sharing amusing secrets and wild stories. Kaučič adds some subtle dadaist
percussive inventions and interventions to Minton's vocal gymnastics but
eventually manages to discipline the stream of Minton’s whispers,
moans, whistles and overtones.
Massimo De Mattia SuonoMadre - Ethnoshock! (Caligola Records, 2018) ***½
Kaučič plays here in on a live recording from the Italian quartet of flutist
Massimo De Mattia, featuring vibes-balafon-electronics player Luigi
Vitale and keyboardist Giorgio Pacorig, captured at Piazza Metteotti,
Udine, Italy in July 2017. The cover photos and the liner notes are from Italian reeds player Marco Colonna (with whom Kaučič recorded a trio
with Agustí Fernández, Agrakal, Not Two, 2018) relate to the movement
of immigrants from the Middle East and Africa to Europe and calls for
listening, respect, acceptance, maturity and welcoming. This quartet
suggests that music paves the way for such compassionate values.
The quartet equates the unpredictable mass movement of people to the
unpredictable elements in any free-improvised meeting and demonstrates
that society and music face the same issues. But, at least, with this
inventive quartet, the future sounds more promising. 'SuonoMadre' insists
that there is a place to all sounds, old, new and futuristic, acoustic
and electronic, jazz-tinged and more traditional sounds. Chaos forces
all out of their comfort zone and offers dynamics and solutions, You
still need open ears and minds but then the music flows, almost as by
its own will. Then, the different, individual languages of the four
musicians melt organically into a new sensual, seductive language. A
language that spreads playful, melodic chants that can drive away the
old demons of hate and fear. Free-improvisation is indeed a political
practice and a very humane and compassionate one.
Cene Resnik Watch the Dogs Trio - Shades of Colors (Not Two, 2017) ****½
This great album somehow slipped beneath the radar. It brings together
fellow-Slovenian tenor sax player Cene Resnik, a frequent collaborator
of Kaučič, with another of his close collaborators, Italian double
bass player Giovanni Meier. The trio was recorded in “beautiful old
church” - St. Mary of the Annunciation - in Crngrob, Slovenia, in September 2016.
Resnik a soft and gentle voice, often a lyrical one, rooted in jazz
legacy but totally free. Maier and Kaučič are perfect partners for this
kind of chamber, intimate - a collection of “Conversations That Never
Stop” as the last piece is titled. Both color the searching yet
harmonious phrases of Resnik and his careful and patient investigation
of overtones and multiphonics with minimalist but precise touches,
offering great timbral sensitivity. Kaučič work with the cymbals and
inventive percussive sounds throughout the extended pieces “Zemlja
(Suite of Crngrob)”, “Thieves Came Quietly”, “Satellites” and the last
piece is truly remarkable, always enriching the deep melodic veins of
Resnik with great senses of imagination and invention.
0 comments:
Post a Comment