Peter K. Frey, Jan Schlegel, Daniel Studer, Christian Weber – Tetrapylon (Leo Records, 2023)

By Nick Ostrum

For those besotted by the low end of things.

In ways, Tetrapylon is what one might expect from this all-star cast of bassists: Peter K. Frey, Daniel Studer, Christian Weber and Jan Schlegel. It is abstract, heavy, vibratory, almost overwhelming at points. It is also somewhat different from the buzz-saw, scritch-scratch rattling that Studer and Frey, in particular, have perfected over the last couple decades. Rather than primarily extended techniques, this release embraces more of the idiomatic sounds the bass can produce and, through that, has a fuller, but not crowded, sound.

Far be it from me to determine who is doing what at any given moment. One hears a lot of plucking, both dead-tones and full notes. Schlegel, the sole e-bass in the lot, adds some interesting contrast in stray electrified notes and ringing amidst the wooden clicks and tinny strings. Technically, this is electro-acoustic, though the acoustic also lends much of that curious background I often associate with such phrases. In short, they are all filling in that bubbling, crackling, grinding ambient background so often generated through effects. Any effects here, however, are generated with raw matter, and that knowledge lends a unique depth to this music. Some of that depth comes through in the sparse Briefly Drawn, the soundscaped Jurassic Lullaby and almost harsh-noise of Klunka Chunka. The real centerpieces, however, are the first and final tracks, the 28- and 16-minute Fluid I and II. On these, Frey, Studer, Weber and Schlegel really get to spread out and explore their instruments at length. In the process, they engage in some rollicking pizzicato duels, glimmering experiments extended techniques, quiet passages when the players seem to be volleying ideas in formation and, more generally, processes of exploration and discovery as they search for those moments of collective improvisation that just click. Naturally, this fumbling and stumbling into moments of bliss is what an improvisational quartet does. It just sounds different coming from four basses and in these four musicians’ trained hands.

I think I have said this before. And, if not, I should have. Frey and Studer have an immaculate rapport, honed over years of collaboration, often as a due. Add to that two more bassists of like-mind and talents and you get Tetraplyon,a monument to the possibilities of the bass quartet.

Tetrapylonis available as a download and CD from Leo Records. Get it while you can.