A L`armé! XII Finale (Day 2)

By Martin Schray

The second day of the festival started with Louis Rastig’s last festival introduction, and this is another fact that can make you wistful, because Rastig’s announcements were always pleasantly different from those at other festivals. This one, in which he summed up the entire program for the day and which was naturally a little longer, was the man in a nutshell, so to speak. Again and again he took breaks in which he seemed to lose the thread, but that has always been part of the program, because it resulted in almost cabaret-like passages, which always provided laughter and excitement. The fact that he always paid attention to the correct pronunciation of the artists’ names and always introduced even the members of the largest orchestras perfectly was an added bonus. However, he also made it clear - despite his appreciation of the sponsors - that the funding would not have been enough to keep the festival at this level in the coming years.

Økse

 The day got off to a musical start with Økse, an eagerly awaited band with Savannah Harris (drums), Petter Eldh (bass and electronics), Val Jeanty (electronics) and Mette Rasmussen (alto saxophone). The quartet, founded by Harris and Rasmussen in 2022 on the occasion of the Saalfelden Jazz Festival, guarantees through its name (it’s Danish for “axe“) that they want to let it rip here. In addition, the day was the release date of their first album, on which the quartet collaborates with some of the hottest hip-hop artists at the moment, namely Elucid and billy woods (aka Armand Hammer), and fellow Brooklynites Maassai, and Cavalier. Musically, despite the electronic reference and a certain volume, the music seemed more accessible than the noise attacks from Day 1. The strongest moments of the gig were when Eldh relentlessly stuck to his bass loops and Rasmussen was able to improvise over them. Then the band almost played themselves into a frenzy. In the best moments, listeners could lose themselves in a witches’ brew of hip-hop beats, dub splinters, free jazz solos, samples and techno. But of course it would also have been interesting to have the rappers on board. 

Then the audience had their first move to the neighboring hall, where Ephemeral Fragments & 1:∞ Gordoa/Czerniawska were already waiting, seated in a circle (Lena Czerniawska was unfortunately unable to attend for personal reasons). In terms of their musical philosophy and seating arrangement, the quartet was indeed more reminiscent of a string quartet playing new classical music. This ultimately made it clear that this day was to be about other musical contents than the day before, as the focus here was more on subtlety and close listening. Synthesizer virtuoso Korhan Erel, Florian Walter on the Tubax, some sort of contrabass sax, and cellist Emily Wittbrodt came together at a spontaneous performance about five years ago and were joined here by Emilio Gordoa, a vibraphonist who has been an integral part of the Berlin Echtzeit scene for years. The music of the project was carried by the slightly shimmering drones of tubax and cello, which gave the whole thing an otherworldliness that could almost be described as spiritual. In addition, it lived from the very different timbres of the instruments, which ultimately made one think of the music of the spheres or the compositions of György Ligeti. 

Although the temperatures in Berlin are pleasant, the audience rushed outside because - it has to be said - the ventilation, especially in the hall, did actually not exist. It was brutally hot and stuffy. Nevertheless, after an excursion into the fresh air and the necessary hydration, we returned to the hall, because I Like To Sleep (a Norwegian trio consisting of Amund Storløkken Åse on vibraphone and electronics, Nicolas Leirtrø on baritone guitar and Øyvind Leitø on drums) were also eagerly awaited. From the very first second, it was clear that the musical diversity of the evening would be expanded by another splash of color - jazz rock hasn’t been heard on this year’s festival. The baritone guitar literally made the floor shake and the grooves were danceable almost throughout. A fact that the audience accepted very gratefully, even if the volume and sound frequencies of the mellotron and vibraphone in particular were borderline. The music was reminiscent of Bushman’s Revenge, Black Sabbath, Tool, but also jazz/krautrock bands such as Fire! or Steamboat Switzerland, the solos and feedbacks were sometimes heavily overdriven, heavy rock chords and drum eruptions did the rest. But there were always recognizable melodies, which the band cleverly hid. However, the highlights were not so much the speed metal attacks, but the quieter pieces that presented the band’s musicality. What was more, there was a nice moment at the end of the set. Leitø’s drums slipped and he asked the others to continue playing just to skillfully maneuver himself back into the piece. The set was definitely a crowd favorite. 

The fourth set of the evening brought the surprise of the first day back on stage: Baritone saxophonist Sofía Salvo, who held her own against Kenji Haino and Paal Nilssen-Love, presented her latest project, Yexxen, and the band celebrated its world premiere on A L'armé! In Yexxen, Salvo bundles further energies with Claire Nico on guitar, Guido Kohn on bass and Bobby Glew on drums and electronics. The band literally makes no compromises and brings a punk approach to the jazz/noise/metal they play. The fact that Bobby Glew shouted like crazy also added a touch of madness to the whole thing. The project is therefore similar to the Boredoms, the Flying Luttenbachers or New York No Wave bands from the 1980s. Although the music was quite stressful, the audience liked it a lot. 

As is sometimes the case at festivals, however, some people have no resources left for the after-show set. Naaljos Ljom, a Norwegian duo that develops its music from the interplay of mouth organ and the zither-like Langeleik with electric guitar, synthesizers and drum computer, was highly recommended by Louis Rastig in his introduction. The band themselves call their music “folk-synth-dance music“. Unfortunately, it fell victim to my exhaustion. But I’m sure the remaining party people had a great time. 

##

See: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3