Wadada Leo Smith/Amina Claudine Myers - Central Park’s Mosaics of Reservoir, Lake, Paths and Gardens (Red Hook Records 2024)

By Don Phipps

Developed in the mid-19 ^th century, New York City’s Central Park remains a lasting monument – a large “backyard” or “garden” that the whole city can access and enjoy. So dominant is its presence within the city, one might consider it the equivalent of the Eiffel Tower of Paris, the Vatican of Rome, Victoria Peak in Hong Kong, or San Francisco’s Coit Tower. Its beauty is immediate – a wonderful patch of green amidst the overwhelming magnitude of concrete and high-rise buildings. Those that have visited the park frequently know that even though its character changes with the seasons, it always retains its charm and attractiveness.

Clearly trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith and pianist Amina Claudine Myers understand how Central Park can evoke feelings of awe and yet provide intimate reflection. Their album, “Central Park Mosaics of Reservoir, Lake, Paths and Gardens,” offers up a wide array of emotions – from intense yearning to tragic homage. Smith is a cornerstone of free jazz, with contributions that date back to the late sixties when he joined the late Muhal Richard Abrams to create the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), a group that includes such luminaries as Anthony Braxton, Roscoe Mitchell, George Lewis, and Amina Claudine Myers. In addition to her involvement in the AACM, Myers was one of the first women jazz artists to form her own group (I got to see her in Boston in the late 70s – the first time I experienced a jazz ensemble led by a woman).

There is a foreboding mood that pervades much of the music on this album. It is one that evokes deep meditation, a sort of reflection of the various edifices referenced. Take the opening, “Conservatory Gardens,” where Myer’s subtle development stands in contrast to Smith’s full-throated elegy. Or the sadness that is at the heart of “Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir.”

Myer’s touch is on full display in “When Was.” As on the other pieces, this solo effort is marked by her technique of striking notes on the piano with an unerring exactness. The piece also gives Myer’s a chance to open up a bit, as her hands dance lightly on the keys – almost in ballet dance fashion. On “Harlem Meer,” she uses bluesy chords to set just the right mood beneath Smith’s muted trumpet lines.

In “Central Park at Sunset,” Smith’s horn evokes a mighty titan facing a turbulent wind as the sun sets. Smith never shies away from a reflective approach, extracting a microcosm of life in each note, a distillation of all that is meaningful and heartfelt. These singularities are both poignant and whimsical – a tribute to the park and its structures. Crafted with love, Smith explores each tune within a symmetry of joy, awe, and respect.

The last two numbers are especially noteworthy – “Albert Ayler, a Meditation in Light” and “Imagine, a mosaic for John Lennon.” There are episodes of sadness mixed with honor in these compositions – music that speaks to significance and remembrance. Both men were sadly lost to the world at too young an age.

What makes this album noteworthy is its lack of flash – no mad runs along the instruments or hard turn dynamics. Smith and Myers eschew these kinds of outbursts in favor of a poetic yet powerful approach. Those who have experienced Central Park, the seasonal changes, the morning, afternoon and evening moods, and its various monuments, will identify with the music here – a grand requiem to a notable landmark known for its ability to provide a welcoming solace in the middle of a hectic, bustling city. Highly recommended.

Read More

Angelika Niescier - Sunday Interview

 

Photo by Cristina Marx/Photomusix

1. What is your greatest joy in improvised music?
   
   Diving into the unknown, pushing the music to the limits.
   
   
2. What quality do you most admire in the musicians you perform with?
   
   To bear every kind of intensity with me, to lean beyond the boundaries, to be absolutely present in the moment and to play for our lives.
   
   
3. Which historical musician/composer do you admire the most?
   
   ooof, there are so! many!
   Ligeti, Shorter, Stravinsky...
   
   
4. If you could resurrect a musician to perform with, who would it be?
   
   Again: so!many! but I´ll go with the obvious choices: John Coltrane, Elvin Jones
   
   
5. What would you still like to achieve musically in your life?
   
   That's hard to put into words. On a grand level I hope to keep searching and evolving...
   
   
6. Are you interested in popular music and - if yes - what music/artist do you particularly like?
   
   E.g.: Beyoncé, Freddie Mercury, Stevie Wonder, Missy Eliott, Michael Jackson
   
   
7. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
   
   nuttin´
   
   
8. Which of your albums are you most proud of?
   
   Each time the latest album I release.
   
   
9. Once an album of yours is released, do you still listen to it? And how often?
   
   No, not really. By the time the album is released, I´ve listened to this particular music so many time- so I feel like moving on...
   
   
10. Which album (from any musician) have you listened to the most in your life?
    
    I very much think it´s John Coltrane´s Africa Brass and A Love Supreme, right up there with Wayne Shorter´s Juju.
    
    
11. What are you listening to at the moment?
    
    Marta Sanchèz Trio: Perpetual Void w/ Chris Tordini (bass) and Savannah Harris (dr)
    
    
12. What artist outside music inspires you?
    
    The choreographer and dancer Pina Bausch.
    The painter and sculptor Barnett Newman.
    

 

Angelika Niescier on the Free Jazz Blog:

• Jazzdor 16, June 4-7, 2024
• An interview with Clean Feed's Travassos
• Free Jazz Blog's 2023 Top 10 Lists
• Angelika Niescier, Tomeka Reid, Savannah Harris - Beyond Dragons (Intakt Records, 2023)
• Cologne Jazzweek (Day 6)
• Out on Intakt (Day 2 of 2)
• Angelika Niescier - The Berlin Concert (Intakt, 2018) ****½
• MiND GAMeS - Ephemera Obscura (Clean Feed, 2017) ****
• NYC Five – Angelika Niescier—Florian Weber (Intakt Records, 2016) ****
• Now Out from OutNow, Right Now

Read More

Arashi with Takeo Moriyama - Tokuzo (Trost, 2024)

By Eyal Hareuvei

The power trio Arashi (嵐, storm in Japanese) - Japanese reeds legend Akira Sakata, Swedish double bass player Johan Berthling (of Fire! trio, Fire! Orchestra and Gosted) and Norwegian powerhouse drummer Paal Nilssen-Love - was named after the album Arashi of the seminal Yosuke Yamashita Trio and the dance group Dairakudakan (Frasco, 1977). Drummer Takeo Moriyama was a founding member of the legendary Yosuke Yamashita Trio while Sakata joined this trio in 1974, before its first European tour, and both of them played in the Trio’s iconic album Chiasma (MPS, 1976).

Tokuzo, Arashi’s fifth album, was recorded live at Nagoya’s jazz club by the same name in February 2019, and brings back Moriyama and Sakata (both of them were born in 1945) to the same stage. Sakata and Moriyama recorded in 1986 the explosive duo Mitochondria (Trost, 2022). This collaboration was part of a series of collaborations arranged by Sakata for Arashi with some of the most innovative Japanese artists, including experimental dancer Min Tanaka (known for his work with guitarist Derek Bailey and pianist Cecil Taylor) and pianist Yuji Takahashi (known for his interpretations of the works of John Cage, Iannis Xenakis and Toru Takemitsu as well as his albums with Steve Lacy, Joëlle Léandre and Nilssen-Love and Ken Vandermark).

But Arashi's meeting with Moriyama was far from being nostalgic. Since its first performance at the Molde Jazz Festival in Norway in 2013, Arashi has a bold attitude of kicking the often stale sax-drums-bass format forward with such force that it feels completely fresh. Now, having such heavyweight drummers on the same stage promises intense and uncompromising typhoons and Arashi does deliver such propulsive and fiery storms that simply know no limits. Moriyama immediately fit right in and already in the opening piece “Colour Flames”, he and Nilssen-Love keep pushing Sakata to stratospheric realms, and the mid-piece duel of the two drummers proves that the veteran drummer is a worthy match to the younger, authoritative Nilssen-Love. Both drummers melded beautifully, driving the music forward but also clearing space for one another and forging astonishing feats of interactivity. Sakata and Moriyama show no sign of age in this seventy-minute performance.

Arashi is more than just sheer power, or being possessed by such power. The following “Man Came From Strange Kiswahiri”, with Sakata’s inimitable spoken word and lyrical alto sax playing, allows Moriyama, Nilssen-Love and Berthling to offer complex and layered rhythmic patterns. “Clay” takes back the quartet to fiery, free jazz realms, absorbing more history, more ideas, and more energy, with immense and greater concentration and focus than ever, and another, short and masterful drum duel. “Rakuda (Camel Walking)” highlights the crucial, driving force of Berthling’s double bass in Arashi’s rhythm section, before Sakata turns this piece into an open ballad. Tokuzo ends with the emotional, folky “Ondo No Hunauta”, with Sakata’s moving sax and clarinet solos, and an instrumental, anthem-like cover of the beloved Japanese folk song “Hamabe no uta” (song of the Beach), whose lyrics deal with memory and reflection. A perfect conclusion for such a fantastic and inspired collaboration.

Read More

Angles + Elle-Kari – The Death Of Kalypso (Thanatosis Produktion, 2024) *****

By Stef Gijssels

There is music that moves you. There is music that brings you to tears. For me, this music did the latter. 

Swedish composer, saxophonist and band leader Martin Küchen has surprised us before. And this album stretches his own versatility and musical language even further, to some uncharted musical territory. 

For the occasion, his wonderful Angles ensemble has now been extended with a string quartet, bringing the line-up to thirteen musicians. Angles are Magnus Broo on trumpet, Mats Äleklint on trombone, Johan Berthling on double bass, Konrad Agnas on drums, Mattias Ståhl on vibraphone and glockenspiel, Alex Zethson on piano, synth and Hammond organ, Fredrik Ljungkvist on baritone saxophone and clarinet, and Martin Küchen himself on tenor and soprano saxophones. The string quartet are Anna Lindal on violin and octave violin, Eva Lindal on violin and viola, My Hellgren on cello and Brusk Zanganeh on violin. Add the speaking voice of Raed Yassin on one track. 

But this is not your usual Angles album. It's a kind of jazz opera, an incredibly ambitious and genre-bending masterpiece that defies categorisation. That is of course the result of Küchen's wonderful musical vision, but also of the powerfull vocal delivery by Elle-Kari Sander, the - amazingly enough - only singing voice for this opera, which can equally be called a jazz musical or a rock opera, because many of the rythmic and compositional elements also find their tradition in other genres. It is not free jazz - even if some moments are - yet the music will require the open ears of avant-garde jazz fans to fully appreciate its quality. The double vinyl is the result of the painstaking compositional effort and arrangements that Küchen and Zethson worked on: the former on the compositions, the libretto and the wind arrangements, the latter on the string arrangements and some wind arrangements. 

The title story refers to the ancient Greek myth of Kalypso, and especially Homer's story of Oddyseus. Kalypso "was a nymph who lived on the island of Ogygia, where, according to Homer's Odyssey, she detained Odysseus for seven years against his will. She promised Odysseus immortality if he would stay with her, but Odysseus preferred to return home. Eventually, after the intervention of the other gods, Calypso was forced to let Odysseus go", we read on Wikipedia. Despite the ancient mythological references, the music is about humanity today, our self-indulgence, our greed, our lack of ethics and empathy for other people, and of course the ruthless and unjust brutality of today's wars. Küchen's universe of the ancient gods reflects the oppressors of today who have no respect nor any feelings for other humans. Themes that are present in all of Küchen's work. 

The usual attack on the criminals of power and the stupidity that many humans cherish is perfectly balanced with a deep sense of compassion for the fate of that same humanity. As in other Angles albums, the music borrows from traditional and folk sounds, with the attitude of a marching band, of the sharing of the community sentiments of the moment, like a funeral or a celebration. The sweeping movements of the compositions, their infectious sound, their deep resonance with the sorrows and the predicament of humanity, are what makes the music so compelling and accessible and enjoyable, despite the sad undertones. It's exuberant and intimate at the same time. The dark mood of the album also held a personal tragedy for Küchen, by the recent passing away of his own father. 

To turn this core concept of the band's communal emotional music into a much more theatrical performance, with a single singer who plays a role, was clearly an incredible challenge. In an opera or a musical we know that the singers are actors trying to give the impression of the feelings of their characters, as compared to musicians who - in good music - express their personal feelings directly. This potential dichotomy is brilliantly resolved by Elle-Kari Sander's stellar performance. Her vocal timbre requires some getting used to, and she adapts it depending on the text and the piece, but I can only recommend that you keep listening and several times to fully appreciate the quality of her art. 

As I mentioned earlier, when the music was performed for the first time in public a little over a year ago,  this is in my opinion the best jazz opera to be produced since Carla Bley's "Escalator Over the Hill" (1971), and that's a more than solid reference. There are of course major differences in tone and style. This album is less absurd, less iconoclastic, and stylistically much more coherent and compact. The big difference is the mood of the music. 

The mood is one of desparation, of pain, of incomprehension, of powerlessness. Elle-Kari Sander pleads and cries and weeps and mourns and gives expression to a whole wide range of emotions without names even, wonderfully supported by the band that moves her voice like the waves and the wind move the seagull: lonely in a vast expanse that is at once familiar and menacing. 

The album is organised in five acts like the structure of real drama, with subthemes, sometimes with parts of real jazz without vocals, alternated by a string quartet, or music with vocals, often in a more ballad or rock-influenced harmonies. 

The album is a real work of craftmanship. Incredibly balanced, every detail has been carefully prepared and orchestrated, from its structure to the wonderful and mystifying lyrics, the dark and infectious music, the precise arrangements and the incredible musicianship of this band whose every performance is a winner. 

Read these few excerpts from the libretto, that form the liner notes to the double vinyl, and are essential for a good appreciation of the music. 

From "Fetus of Dawn (Kalypso talks to her Son Nausithous and Sings to the Gods):

"I know we were not supposed to see it
not to beg for anything else than to be left alone
But why on earth would you then dig out our souls
and cremate them and our aftermath - like we never existed
We all you asked for and more
please do consider to leave

Please
leave this rain alone
leave this flesh
leave this flesh alone

Please, stay close to me now
Taste the rain
Taste the flesh
Don't you ever leave
me alone anymore
never more
never more
alone

Please, help me break the spell
Make me real
Make me human
and don't you ever leave
me alone anymore
never more
never more
alone"

Or some lines from "A Campaign Of Tragedy": 

"The usurpers from the future had come that night

searching everywhere with a certain light

Took the sundial and its remains

Imprisoned time and put it gently in chains

You unveiled my secrets one by one

You crushed my vanity to the core

But will you ever admit your faults

Seven years and still not done?

We saw our petty life in the mirror of the sky

A God's play in perfect disguise

You left the scene and went for the knife

I vanished and returned to life

Gods at bay

will cast the net

Bring him home

through the ashes

through the labyrinth of death

Gods at sea

will break the curse

Bring him back

through the storms

through the trenches or worse

Gods at sea

will cast the net

Gods at bay

will cast the net

Bring him back

through the ashes

through the labyrinth of death"

Not exactly the lyrics you expect in jazz, but more adapted to ancient tragedies: darkness, pain, isolation, despair, and the powerlessness of the single individual against the forces of nature, of the universe, of the gods. The question that remains is a big why? Why is this so unfair? A why for the injustice? Why now? Why me? Why him? 

You can listen to the album a hundred times. The question will remain, just like the music. Possibly a hundred years. Or more. 

The album is so exceptional that you will hate it or love it. Which is great. Real art should be uncompromising. It will not leave you indifferent. 

Listen and download from Bandcamp ... although I would recommend to buy the vinyl format. 

Read More

Max Koch - Reexamining Roots

 By Paul Acquaro

Max Koch - Ten Bulls (Jazzwerkstatt, 2023)

The opening moments of guitarist Max Koch's 2023 debut Ten Bulls is pure listening pleasure. There is a slight insistence to Stephan Deller's acoustic bass and Bill Elgart lithe drumming. For just a moment, I get the feeling the same feeling that comes every time I listen to the opening moments of Gateway's first album, essentially, a gut feeling that this is going to be good.

And it has been. Ten Bulls has been near the top of my playlist since it first landed in my hands late last year. Too long really without mention if it, if I do say so myself. Between then and now, I caught Koch in concert at the end of the year, and have had the chance to hear him in some different contexts other than this great collection of slightly askew self-penned tunes that invoke ghosts of jazz past and eagerly re-invent them.

 

After the first glistening moments of the opener, 'Sidetrack,' Max Arsava's piano playing opens up the sonic curtains, letting in some light and color. It stays cool, building slightly, carefully, arpeggiated lines from the keyboard adding relief - then comes Max Hirth's tenor sax and Koch with a tandem line, it is a quick detail, but one which opens the playing space even more. The legato melodic lines mix with harmonic guitar swirls, the mood has become more 'spiritual' like and Hirth begins spinning an arcing solo riddled with yearning. The intensity has coalesced and the space is aglow. It's more than half-way into the track that Koch comes to the fore. He plays a single note lines with an abrupt attack, using an approach to guitar that is both melodic and textural. The song soon spins into a chaotic whirl before returning back to a fractalized piano solo. As the group convenes for the outro, it suddenly becomes apparent that some of the inspiration for the piece likely derives from Ornette Coleman's 'Lonely Woman.' 

 

The follow-up, 'Sneezes in a Row', begins with a pointillist melody that Koch delivers with his clean toned electric guitar. His approach straddles a line between melodic and entropic, the syncopated lines almost crumbling into atonality, but never quite. Never dominating, it fits the music perfectly, providing accompaniment or playing solo. The following 'Fifteen Minutes of Fame' begins with Elgart's unaccompanied drums. The elder statesman in the group - these other guys are young - brings a reservedness to the percussion that allows the music to unfold unhurriedly. This is the most experimental of the music, free but controlled, concentrating say the exuberance of Hirth's circular breathing solo.

 

The final two tracks do not lose any of the momentum of the recording. The title track has a see-sawing melody that has a bit of Prime-Time feel to it. The 'harmolodic' aspect can be felt in the shifting time of the piano and drums, which then gives way to 'time' - the bass begins walking and the sax and piano solos that follow are somewhat grounded in tradition before letting it go towards the end. The final track is in fact by Ornette, a rendition of the track 'W.R.U.' off of Ornette! from 1962. A quick side-by-side reveals a reverent reading of the initial head, although the trumpet/sax duo of the original is actually a bit smoothed by the guitar/sax/piano approach here. It unfolds with one eye towards the source, and the other firmly fixed on the future. A fitting end to say the least.

Landgraf/Lefeber/Koch - Restless Response (Unit Records, 2024)

Folk jazz has a long tradition in the US, going back to, for example, Jimmy Giuffre with 'The Train and the River' in 1957 or Bill Smith's Folk Jazz recording in '59. These are just two examples of where folk themes were incorporated and absorbed into of-the-time jazz. In the late 1970s, Eugene Chadbourne took a de/re-constructionist approach to country music, which kind of links the following leap in time and space that we are about to make. On Restless Response, American folk music has seemingly captured the interest of three innovative, young musicians out of Cologne, Germany. They, however, have no interest in smoothing over and synthesizing the tonalities of folk with jazz, or even directly deconstructing it and reassembling it anew, rather they are amplify its dissonances and bring experimental techniques to this timeless music. It isn't really clear that the word jazz as a style applies here, but let us keep going anyway.

 

On first listen, one may wonder how these thee would have gotten here musically. Maybe through the likes of John Fahey? Surely at some point curious guitarists like Max Koch or Steve Landgraf would explore the "American primitivist" guitarist, which could lead to other sources and in this time where everything available, all the time, it's easy to follow these connections. Luckily, they along with vocalist, violinist and electronicist Sophia Lefeber, did. Together, the three explore with a certain glee these old songs and sounds, finding inspiration within their jagged and dusty corners. 

 

'Cuyahoga Sanctuary' begins with tactile chaos - rubbing of violin strings, hard plucking on a banjo, it is a harsh and dissonant way to kick off an album. About half way though the four and a half minute piece the mood changes - a slow melody picks up, seemingly wrung out of the violin as a banjo plays clunky chords. There is a certain charm to the shamble of sounds, this is pretty much as good as avant-garde Appalachian folk gets. Then comes the 'Old Woman and Pig' - an old folk song full of grief and loss -  sung by convincingly by Lefeber and eventually leading to a claw-hammer banjo and fiddle freak out. The follow up is Roscoe Holcombs' 'Rock Island Prison,' which continues the exploration of folk tune forms but is now infused with distorted electric guitar done. 'Cowboy Love Song' is a cute number that is given a pretty straight forward treatment, save for a little phlegm, and a wonderfully obtuse set of solos. There is plenty more to hear, in fact things get pretty weird with the slurry tune 'Intoxicated Rat' and a bit morbid with a version of the 'The Great Titanic' from 1915, sporting the lyrics:

Oh it was sad when that great ship went down.

Their were husbands and their wives,

Little children lost their lives.

It was sad when that great ship went down.

It's not all fun and games though, for example, the trio's version of the Appalachian tune "O Death', which had a rediscovery in the soundtrack for Coen Brother's "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" is given a very sincere reading here, the appreciation ringing out clearly.

Read More

Rebekah Heller - ONE (Relative Pitch, 2024)

By Jury Kobayashi

“This is my history”, speaks Rebekah Heller on the second track of her wonderful album ONE and makes it clear that what we are about to listen to is her story. Her story (not biographically) is played with her sounds and voice that together are layered to create a sonically rich album.

The album opens with a blistering solo bassoon track. We hear Heller strike the keys of the bassoon creating a duet between reed and keys to great effect. Soon we hear Heller’s breath, sharp inhales creating another kind of duet. And then the track is done. “My voice” the following track charts a completely different sonic landscape, Heller layers and pans her voice, singing, speaking, with what sounds like electronics and bassoon underscoring the track. “Gigi” is back to solo bassoon but again, we hear breath and keys, which creates counterpoint with the solo bassoon. Heller plays an insistent theme that gets looped and ever more insistent. The loop accelerates and eventually evolves and changes. By the end the bassoon screams beautifully, reaching a timbre I did not know was possible on the bassoon.

“Epic layering” is how the album is described on the Bandcamp description and that’s how it sounds. Heller weaves the sound of her voice, bassoon, her breath, the clicking of fingers of the keys, to create an ensemble of body and bassoon. ONE is a solo album but it’s also an orchestral album, an orchestra that comprises of Heller, and her bassoon.

It should be noted that the album is beautifully recorded and mixed; the sound of the keys and breathing is particularly well balanced, and the panning of the layers when listening on headphones has an incredible effect. This short album definitely delivers.

Read More

Two Recent albums from French pianist Frédéric Blondy

By Eyal Hareuveni

French experimental pianist Frédéric Blondy studied mathematics and physics before dedicating himself full-time to music, He has worked with Paul Lovens, Joëlle Léandre, Urs Leimgruber,Daunik Lazro, John Tilbury, Otomo Yoshihide, Mats Gustafsson, and has refined refining a body-based approach to the piano.

ONCEIM - Laminaire (Relative Pitch, 2024) 

ONCEIM (Orchestre de Nouvelles Créations, Expérimentations et Improvisations Musicales) is a French new music ensemble, established in 2011 by Blondy, and comprising over 30 European improvisers and members of prominent jazz, free jazz, free improv, experimental music and contemporary classical ensembles, among them clarinetist Xavier Charles, double bass players Sébastien Beliah and Benjamin Duboc, drummer Antonin Gerbal, Swiss sax player Bertrand Denzler and Austrian trumpeter Franz Hautzinger. ONCEIM focuses on exploring contemporary research of sound creation, including a self-invented 'plastique du sonore' (plastic sound) approach, and collective and innovative practices of free improvisation. Each musician has a major creative role within the ensemble, built on his singular virtuosity and original musical vocabulary, as if each musician were one tool within a toolbox, and all at the service of the project being undertaken. ONCEIM operates without necessarily knowing where its musicians go, meet each other, overlap, manufacture, shape, listen, listen to each other and create, together.

ONCEIM has performed several pieces written by Stephen O'Malley, Eliane Radigue, Jérôme Noetinger. Christian Marclay and Kim O’Rourke, as well as pieces of its own electronics player Arnaud Rivière and double bass player Beliah. Laminaire is the sixth album of this ensemble and features three improvised pieces recorded between 2018 and 2020, each of these pieces searches for unchartered and challenging sonic territory. The first piece, the 49-minute “Gorges Gard”, was recorded at Eglise Saint-Merry in Paris, in October 2020 and suggested reductionist and sparse dynamics and only occasionally and briefly gravitate towards sonic storms that use the whole ensemble's sonic palette. This piece tends to blur the sense of time and reflect the ensemble’s ever-present potential for serendipity and the discovered benefits from such an approach.

The second, short piece “A la Muse” was recorded at La Muse en Circuit in Alfortville in January 2020, and it introduces a mysterious tension to the minimalist, austere aesthetics of ONCEIM, ornamented by sudden, industrial-like percussive sounds. The last, title piece is part of a cycle of pieces by this name and was recorded live at all Eglise Saint-Merry in Paris in April 2018. It refers to a laminar flow, which in physical terms concerns the process whereby layers of fluid slide on top of each other. This drone piece begins to exhaust the orchestral potential of ONCEIM and enriches its layered sounds and sensory palette.

Hubbub - abb abb abb (Relative Pitch, 2024) 

The French quintet features pianist Blondy, tenor sax player Denzler and electric guitarist Jean-Sébastien Mariage from ONCEIM plus two more idiosyncratic improvisers - alto sax player Jean-Luc Guionnet (who also did the cover artwork) and percussionist Edward Perraud (aho did the back cover artwork), and has been working for 25 years now. abb abb abb is the sixth album of the quintet (it has released three albums on Eddie Prévost's Matchless label) and it was recorded at Eglise Saint-Merry in Paris in August 2019.

Hubbub defines its work as focused on “the sound matter to create a moving electro-acoustic space inhabited by layers, distensions, imbrications, pulsations, dots and lines. Between acoustic and electric, at the crossroads of several worlds, the group consists of five musicians whose activities trace multiple ramifications”. The album offers two masterful and enigmatic, collective improvisations - the 39-minute “abb abb” and the 19-minute “abb” - that suggests the minimalist and quiet yet intense and highly detailed sonic universe Hubbub has established. The music flows organically, following its mysterious singular logic and offers kaleidoscopic textures that enjoy the deep listening and trust the five musicians share. Hubbub creates orchestral, epic drone-like pieces, larger than the sum of Hubbub’s parts, as it often becomes one, dense but almost ethereal and weightless sonic entity, beautifully triggering the mind and the soul.

Read More

Soundbridges - The Red and the Blue (Idyllic Noise, 2024)

By Martin Schray

Soundbridges are a German-American quartet consisting of Ken Vandermark (saxophone, clarinet), Matthias Muche (trombone), Thomas Lehn (synthesizer) and Martin Blume (drums). The Red and the Blue is their second album, following their self-titled debut . As on that album, the name says it all: it’s about the combination of different playing styles of improvised music, be it dynamic free jazz outbursts, calm, quieter passages, humoresque parts or sound explorations in the collective or in trios, duets and solos. The band allows all of this to flow into one another as if it belonged together (which it actually does, of course).

The album presents a 40-minute concert, recorded at Alte Gerberei, St. Johann in Austria, March 5, 2023. The quartet gets off to a powerful start, Muche sets a low note for the others to circle around. This is the theme of the start of the set: Everyone deposits a scent mark in the ring, then a structure is found. It’s already apparent here that they also like to use melodies and small riffs before the musical structure becomes more abstract again. The first duet between Blume and Vandermark, which Lehn and Muche steal into, is the first sign of what is to come. A crazy back and forth, concise solos by the wind players, Thomas Lehn’s airy pads and Martin Blume’s precise, sparse rhythmic accents are the collective elements that everything boils down to and from which everything ultimately emanates. Here we have a first moment of almost absolute silence, the synthesizer sounds like a breeze, over which Muche then lets his trombone bang, while Blume’s drums drone darkly underneath. This is broken up by Vandermark’s clarinet, whose tender melody adds a beautiful jazz element to the whole. The end of the first part has a typical, repetitive Vandermark motif in the center, which offers the opportunity to set a proper ending, from which you can begin anew.

The second part also starts wildly in a collective improvisation before the instruments drift apart. Lehn’s synthesizer sounds really psychedelic here, then it pushes past the others to open up the sonic possibilities of the room (with the support of very restrained drums and trombone). At this moment, Muche takes over for an intense solo, which again ends almost unnoticed in a collective effort. Finally, like every excellent album/set, the climax comes at the end. However, this is not - as one might expect - a wild free jazz bolting, but the exact opposite. Quiet, concentrated, subtle, even tender minutes of searching (and finding) beauty in the dissonance of the music. This is the moment when you just want to indulge.

The Red and the Blue is like flying in a glider. Catapult-like, you are shot directly to enormous heights, where you fight with whirlwinds, at times the updrafts even take you beyond the clouds - before you lose height and the turbulence continue. You can enjoy magnificent views of the world before gently approaching the end of a fascinating flight. It’s a wonderful experience.

The Red and the Blue is available on vinyl.

Read More

Vasco Trilla - Sunday Interview

(c) Cristina Marx/Photomusix

1.  What is your greatest joy in improvised music?
   
   To connect instantly in a musical conversation with different people it's something that I still find kind of magical, very difficult to put into words. Also improvising with people you know well and play a lot with is an amazing experience of refining and developing some kind of telepathic communication. Meeting new people and making new friends is also one of the great joys of this music for me.
   
   
2. What quality do you most admire in the musicians you perform with?
   
   I think for me it is clearly curiosity and open-mindedness.
   
   
3. Which historical musician/composer do you admire the most?
   
   That is a difficult question, lately I might say Polish composer Witold Lutoslawski, but that might change any other day you ask me.
   
   
4. If you could resurrect a musician to perform with, who would it be?
   
   Frank Zappa, although I would be terrified and not ready for it. hahaha
   
   
5. What would you still like to achieve musically in your life?
   
   I will be satisfied if I'll keep the joy and curiosity for the upcoming years. I have still a lot to discover in the wonderful world of percussion, so I hope that this will continue driving my passion for developing new sounds and ideas both solo and with new and old collaborations.
   
   
6. Are you interested in popular music and - if yes - what music/artist do you particularly like?
   
   I listen to a lot of Metal and progressive rock. I'm not particularly into Pop music, but of course I can appreciate some stuff made in this area.I would say Frank Zappa, King Crimson, David Sylvian, Led Zeppelin just to name a few…the list is long!
   
   
7. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
   
   That's a never ending work in progress, day by day. I hope I'm on the right path. Organizing myself a bit better is one of the main goals at the moment.
   
   
8. Which of your albums are you most proud of?
   
   I would say my solo album “The Torch in my Ear” was very special for me, it's probably where i thought i was finding my own voice as a solo percussionist, Also the duo records with the great late Mars Williams hold a very special place in my heart.And lately my collaborations with legendary Ra Kalam Bob Moses have been a total blessing, both musically and personally. 
   
   
9. Once an album of yours is released, do you still listen to it? And how often?
   
   It's rare that I listen to my records once they are released, the process of every album requires so much attention and listening that it's like closing a chapter every time you finish the album.
   
   
10. Which album (from any musician) have you listened to the most in your life?
    
    I guess it would be either a King Crimson album or some Metallica or Iron Maiden albums when I was a teenager.
    
    
11. What are you listening to at the moment?
    
    I'm always very curious for new music, so this changes all the time, these past days I've been listening a lot to Gerard Grisey's music which i really like, also enjoying a lot the new Ulcerate album (a dissonant avant-garde death metal band from New Zealand) and i would say I've been listening to a lot of King Crimson and Gentle Giant old records from the seventies, as well as Roscoe Mitchell Angel city album that I find really mesmerizing.
    
    
12. What artist outside music inspires you?
    
    I feel very inspired by cinema, so directors like Andrei Tarkovski, Theo Angelopulos, Tsai Ming Liang, Kiarostami, and Parajanov are always an infinite stream of ideas and moods that can be very musical to my ears. Other artists that inspire me lately are writers like Antonio Lobo Antunes, Elias Canetti and old Sufi poetry. Of Course Visual arts, as I have a degree in Art History, are an important influence, just to name some names Gustave Moureau, Arnold Bocklin, Paul Klee, Ciurlionis, Tapies, Klimt, Marc Chagall.

 

Vasco Trilla on the Free Jazz Blog:

 

• Alma Tree - Sonic Alchemy Suprema (Carimbo Porta-Jazz, 2024)
• Sax & Drums
• Solo Percussion
• Martin Küchen & Sophie Agnel- Detour Tunnels Of Light (Thanatosis, 2023)
• Solo Double Bass Day 2
• Artur Majewski - Day 1 - Artur Majewski & Jan Słowiński - Sloma + Artur Majewski & Vasco Trilla - The End of Something (Sound Trap Records, 2022)
• Torf Records (Poland)
• Luis Vicente, Seppe Gebruers & Onno Govaert - Room With No Name (Fundacja Słuchaj, 2022)
• Liba Villavecchia Trio, Zaidín (Clean Feed 2022)
• Almeida, Gibson, Melo Alves, Trilla, Vicente - Dog Star (Spontaneous Music Tribune, 2021) ****½
• Vasco Trilla - Unmoved Mover (Fundacja Sluchaj, 2021) ****
• Sax & Drums (2)
• Sputnik Trio - What The Hate (Raw Tonk, 2021) ****
• The Resonant Minimalism of Ferran Fages and Àlex Reviriego
• A quintet of OC Quartets
• Percussion duos
• Providence: An Interview with Szilárd Mezei
• Ilia Belorukov & Vasco Trilla - Laniakea (Astral Spirits, 2019) ***½
• Trumpet & Drums
• Keeping Time with Vasco Trilla
• Catching Up with Luís Lopes
• Vasco Trilla
• The various faces of Susana Santos Silva (Day 1)
• Big Bands going berserk, ballistic or ... bland

Read More

Saalfelden Jazz Festival 2024 (3/3)

 

By Sarah Grosser

 

KONZERT IM RUDERBOOT: MATS GUSTAFSSON & NATE WOOLEY

Mountain Tracks

 

Mats Gustafsson – saxophone

Nate Wooley – trumpet

The Saalfelden lake can be found just a short 800m walk from the Main Stage, and is directly opposite the festival camping grounds. Past undulating hills and tucked away, surrounded by a vast panorama of glorious rocky mountains and grazing cattle, a strange quacking echoes from somewhere in the distance.

The rowboat performance is a long-standing festival tradition occurring at 8:30 AM and it seems like the whole town comes out to watch. Fold-out chairs line the perimeter of the lake, and - is that ‘Where’s Waldo’? No, it’s James Brandon Lewis again! Everyone’s gathered to see Mats Gustafsson & Nate Wooley imitating wild game as they gently float around in circles on the glassy body of water. The improvisations are carried beautifully across the surface of the lake and can be heard echoing through the mountains from miles around. Some of the louder bursts even echo with delay. Most onlookers are fairly silent, but some are (understandably) giggling at the bizarre sights and sounds. Yes, it’s impressive, but I'll be damned if it’s not adorably funny, even cute, watching Mats and Nate gliding merrily along, making duck calls in a damn row boat. Brilliant concept, totally worth waking up early, and a great way to get some fresh, cool air in the lungs after the blistering heat wave of the previous days.

OLI STEIDLE & THE KILLING POPES

Otto Gruberhalle

 

Photo by Matthias Heschl

Dan Nicholls - keys, electronics

Keisuke Matsuno - guitar

Justus Rayem - keys (absent)

Oli Steidle - drums midi controller

The Host is BACK. This time he’s making jokes in German about "Killing Popes on a SUNDAY." Ha ha haa.. good one. He’s the man.

There’s just three popes today - Popes Lite! Things kick off with blips, ploinks, water droplets and quick diverse selective drumming, hints of drum & bass on the tempo, and a reverberant lead synth on an interstellar exploration. One particularly windy synth sounds like an ancient flute. It’s totally groovy, infectious... funky, even. This must be around show number 6 for Oli, but save for a few beads of sweat on the brow, from the accuracy of his form, one could never tell he’s been so busy. He's just that professional. Oli was even one of the participants in the Saturday morning “Jazz Hike,” which was, according to him, "really great." It was unfortunate to have had to skip it due to scheduling conflicts, but this was a recurring theme at Saalfelden: with so much talent on offer at all hours of the day, there were often clashes resulting in difficult sacrifices. Dan has a deep, descending whirr going during a particularly trippin' breakdown while Keisuke exudes charisma on the git. Oli is a man about broken breakbeats. Each piece is deliberate, really infectious, creative, and always topped off with a killer, out-of-nowhere fill. Such exciting musicians to watch. You never know what's going to happen next; an addictive act!

The Halle is dense with bodies, but still plenty of space to boogie, which some people do. Jim Black can be spied nodding, counting along to Oli’s great drumming. A spontaneous tempo switch has feet tappin’ all round and locked in music-lovers are bouncing fast, and smiling at the riveting pace. One guy is grinning and shaking his head in disbelief at the magic and musicianship unfolding onstage. His partner and friend are deep in it too. Today is a good day for them. One woman walks past with a Popes record, no doubt to keep the party rockin’ later on.

TOMEKA REID QUARTET

Main Stage 

 

Photo by Matthias Heschl

 

Tomeka Reid – cello

Jason Roebke - bass

Mary Halvorson - guitar

Tomas Fujiwara - drums

Slowly wrapping things up for the weekend, the soundcheck isn't quite finished when they open the doors. It’s not a worry, nobody is fussy, especially when it gives a glimpse into the wonderful show that’s ahead of them. Sparse pitter-patters of Tomas's soft brushes meet the distant harmonics of Tomeka’s soft cello. Mary comes in with her glorious affected, reverberant guitar like a rainbow through the clouds, illuminating the sombre piece. (Again, the photographers swarm…)

The piece in question has a nice, shuffley swing to it. Tomeka and Jason play a main melody in unison an octave apart from each other. There's an unmistakable soul. Is this what it means when they talk about that "New York Jazz?” Tomas's plays an explosive little solo with a beautiful, natural fluidity.

Among other creative and unorthodox playing techniques used sparingly, Tomeka uses a “pressing” technique to elicit a rubbing sound. The playoff between Mary and Tomeka is complementary and conversational. There is hardly a seat free in the house. At one point Jason leans in and blows into the hole of his upright bass to produce an amplified, well, blowing sound. Tomeka accompanies with eccentric experimental plucking and creaking methods. Mary joins with feather light plucks and Tomas adds the occasional spattering of cymbal. Soon the instrumentation evolves slowly into a shifty jazz ballad, it's complicated but not to the point of being unpalatable. In fact, it’s quite enjoyable. Tomeka's cello harmonics whistle softly and the bass brings it all home.

POST KOMA FEAT. SOFIA JERNBERG
Main Stage

Photo by Matthias Heschl

Petter Eldh - bass

Sofia Jernberg - voice

Jonas Kulhammar - saxophone

Kaja Draxler - piano

Lukas König - drums

Petter explained the entomology of Post Koma: Koma Saxo is the original but Post Koma is with whoever he wants to play. Petter’s bone-dry stage banter is hilariously cheeky: "Normally we have Christian Lillinger – today we’ve got a better drummer, Lukas König.”

Petter rips a gorgeous bass solo and is joined by Kaja – it’s wonderfully melodic. In some groups it’s not always so obvious to the onlooker who is in charge, but with Post Koma it's clear that Petter is the leader. The basslines are frequent; involved and busy, and beyond that there's plenty of bass features accompanied only by drums or piano.

Sofia's sweet high voice provides a fitting top layer to round out the sound. The concept is established and confident. The compositions are tight. Sofia gives accents reminiscent of a powerful singer over a 90s club track. Love that.

Petter’s epically dark stage banter continues: ”This is a WORLD premiere. This song has a Swedish tone, by a Swedish man. I won't mention his name because he doesn't deserve it. Anyway, he’s dead.” So far Petter is just about the only artist to have any real jokes between songs and it's so funny.

Throughout the show there are some really cool percussive interludes in interesting shifting measures that have you counting along and keep you guessing. Again, the hall is packed, this time the balcony even more so. So far this is one of the most crowded shows, certainly due to the caliber of the musicians but probably also due to the bad weather and the rest of the festival having already packed up and called it a weekend. 

 

Ches Smith (with "The Throw"). Photo by Matthias Heschl

Speaking of which, it would have been an absolute delight to have indulged in Erik Friedlander’s “The Throw”, closing out the festival, as I am such a fan, but the intensity and overload of program dictated to me and my exhausted mortal hull that this was not to be. Which is terribly unfortunate, because aside from the New-York-based quartet being highly reputable, world class musicians in their own right, according to the photographs, Ches Smith wore a pair of white knee socks. Oh well. You snooze, you lose.



Saalfelden Festival runs a tight ship, and it’s obvious why people keep returning after 44 years in a row. Its success can be attributed to the professionalism of its co-ordinators, diversity of its artists, the variety of its different sized stages, and the overall great mood of seemingly everyone involved. It’s a testament to the festival that the artists were so present and happy to hang around the site among the festival-goers, but the blessing of great weather and a wide range of different food and entertainment options meant that there was never a dull moment. Yes, it was exhaustive, but perhaps the more seasoned Saalfelden attendee would be less overwhelmed the second time around. The only way to find out is to invite me back to next year’s Saalfelden #45, as I am already daydreaming about getting down to that sweet little mountain town, strolling over the valley at dawn, and enjoying some new set of glorious weirdos, floating around, gently down the stream, merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily torturing their musical instruments in a dingy.

Read More

Saalfelden Jazz Festival 2024 (2/3)

 

By Sarah Grosser

 

Day 2: Saturday, 2024-08-24

THE TOTALLY MECHANIZED MIDI ORCHESTRA FEAT. VARIOUS ARTISTS
Nexus Stage Downstairs

(Taken on Thursday night) Photo by Matthias Heschl

MIDI Orchestra
Judith Schwarz - drums
Martin Siewert - guitar, electronics
Mona Matbou Riahi - clarinet, fx 
Chris Janka - guitar

Nicola L. Hein - electric guitar, programming for interactive robots

My plan was to see the exhibition piece by Sofia Jernberg and Tomeka Reid at the Brücklwirtshaus. Unfortunately, the "Brück" only seats 100 people, and it was full on arrival. Some stayed to at least hear it from the lobby, but for a festival with plenty to offer, this lesson was learned for the next time, and I hauled ass to the Nexus Stage for Plan B.

Mona scrunches up her nose in a happy grin when she hears something she likes- in this case it's the tiny, tinny, plink-ploink of a mechanized xylophone.

The improvised piece ventures from ambient, experimental tones and klang through to a more groovy beat-based jam. There are five different machines and five musicians. It's a respectful collaboration taking heavy cues from the machines. Occasionally the machines become a little dominant. The machines are fascinating but can get noisy, and sometimes the music takes a back seat to the clattering. It's a small crowd, I don't think this collective was announced in the app.

A bottle blowing machine, xylophone machine, one machine made from the body of a guitar,... an assortment presumably controlled by MIDI as the name suggests.

The space is a typical "white-cube" gallery with a glitching projection and colourful lights adorning the area, alongside some hanging blackout cloth to highlight the machines and provide a backdrop to the stage space. The high ceiling provides a cool escape from the brutal Austrian heatwave and it's a very comfortable space to consume such complex, "far out" music at 10:30 AM. Most folk have resorted to sitting on the floor to watch the cosmic jam, and despite the moving images and warm stage-lighting, the tone of the piece evolves into a rather ominous, dark, almost horror-esque soundscape. The tinkling glockenspiel takes on the character of a spooky possessed children's toy.

The bottle machine is a ghost, Mona "talks" into her clarinet like a trapped spirit or muffled radio, a distorted pulse flickers through from an unidentified source like a ghost motorbike. Occasionally, random viewers peer over the balcony at the show below, but the original crowd on the floor stay committed. The children in their ear protection are well behaved.

COURVOISIER / ROTHENBERG / WAITS
Short Cuts Stage

Photo by Matthias Heschl

Sylvie Courvoisier - piano

Ned Rothenberg - saxophone, clarinet

Nasheet Waits- drums

After an eight minute delay… It's the host! Götz Bühler is back! He announces that the band have decided to name themselves after the concert hall. So ladies and gentlemen, this is the new trio: "Short Cuts."

When Sylvie plays she rolls her hands and wrists along the entire length of the keys- she must have incredibly tough or thick skin, one couldn't imagine it to be such a comfortable style of playing. This is interspersed naturally with an imaginative and intelligent playing style, occasionally reaching inside the instrument to create percussive effects. Blink-and-you'll-miss-it flourishes of bright sudden high arpeggios accentuate a suspenseful mid-range melody while Nasheet accompanies on rolling cymbals and occasional crashes. They are evocative, and as animated and powerful as giant waves off the coastal shoreline, smashing against the spikey cliffs.

Ned's clarinet solo is breathy - it’s rapid, and expressive, but understated. Nasheet performs an incredibly speedy, tom-heavy solo with a super crisp snare (it makes a "cha!" sound). He seems to be channeling a primitive energy.

Sometimes Sylvie also contorts in her chair, slamming her entire arm along the keys. One can feel that she has a message to deliver and this is her wordless outlet. Ned is equally as prolific on the sax as he is on the clarinet. While this particular solo was more of a pulse, his lack of ego and this restraint make for an unpretentious saxual experience which is entirely welcome and thoroughly enjoyable.

The prepared piano sounds out of this world, particularly up the top end where higher frequencies are reduced to mere pops and plucks. It almost sounds as if it were produced on a weirdly randomized modular synth setup, but in fact it’s made from strips of gaffer tape.

A great little supergroup with a fabulous chemistry. The group makes up for their delay, spoiling us with a little overtime encore. A guy behind me goes "Yeeeee!" when it ends.

LA LITANIE DES CIMES
Main Stage 

Photo by Matthias Heschl

Clément Janinet - violin, compositions
Elodie Pasquier - clarinets
Clément Petit– cello

A straight up folky trio of cello, violin, and clarinet. Introspective and gentle with plenty of pizzicato action. It’s mostly pretty, compared to a lot of the acts so far, and it’s certainly much "easier." In an adorable French accent we are introduced to: "a piece from Burgundy… I hope you know where is… Burgundy."

Cyclical arpeggios with oscillating melodies over the top are tumultuous and dramatic, along with easier, more conventional meter and tone. Methods of playing are not as wildly experimental, and one could easily imagine this as the score for a dramatic indie movie or TV show. It’s more classical in nature. Bows come out for cello and combined with bass, the mood is sad, not depressing. But perhaps if someone was having a sad day, this music might have them weeping.

Towards the tail end we get some experimentation, and a more loose, free feel. The plucked cello is acting as an upright bass, providing the thick bassline while the violin twitters and soars over the top at breakneck speed, but not full volume, and still in control. The bass clarinet provides a woody, textural contrast and homey, familiar melody. One guy behind me goes "wow."

SYLVIE COURVOISIER - “Chimaera”
Main Stage

Photo by Matthias Heschl

 Sylvie Courvoisier - piano

Christian Fennesz – guitars, electronics

Patricia Brennan – vibraphone, percussion

Nate Wooley - trumpet

Drew Gress - bass

Nasheet Waits - drums

Totally packed out main hall where the heat has well and truly risen, from the 30C+ day. The air is thick in the hall but the compositions waft like a refreshing blast of cool sea air.

Today, Patricia Brennan replaces Kenny Wollesen on vibes! A worthy substitute, effortlessly "chiming" in. Sylvie has had a costume change from earlier in the day too, and understandably so. Everyone is looking forward to the cool temperate change tomorrow.

The soundscapes are peaceful and meditative with a hint of sensuality accentuated by Wooley's occasional muted trumpet. Piano and drums are in beautiful sync as they roll and arpeggiate together. All the while subtle hints of Fennesz's signature affected guitar, which provides a unique and distinctly ambient character for the sextet. An audience member mutters "Mmmm hmmm" in agreement after the first melody reaches its breakdown. A soulful, desolate, lonely trumpet. The older women in the back row who snigger at the more far out solos by Nate are in for a wild ride, if they think this is where it ends… far from it.

Despite the number of people in the group, everyone is given the space required to breathe, and to feel his or her place. There's an underlying sultriness to Sylvie's compositions that make you want to slow dance in the moment. As I write this, as if telepathically connected, Mary Halvorson starts slow dancing along in the aisle as she fans herself to beat the heat. This music would be perfect to listen to on a sweltering hot beach on holiday after a bad breakup. There is just the right amount of "uplifting" despite it not being particularly "happy" per se. Chimaera is a beautifully deep project. It's lovely.

THE MESSTHETICS & JAMES BRANDON LEWIS
Main Stage

Photo by Matthias Heschl

Joe Lally - bass

Brendan Canty - drums

Anthony Pirog - guitar

James Brandon Lewis - saxophone

Overheard once the Messthetics started to play: "What is this porno music?? This is way too sexy for Saalfelden! I gotta go check that out - that is too good to miss…"

The house is packed, people are dancing- it's the big party closer that the Main Stage has been craving. It's a big, fun, freakout with infectious heartfelt melodies and JBL's smokin' aces. The band is having fun and the crowd is mad for it. Not too much more needs to be said other than that the energy is palpable and the group have Saalfelden in the palms of their hands, which are presumably sweaty, given how hot it’s been today, and how hot it is in the Main Stage hall. The ballads are catchy and… also hot. The guitar effects are spot on. The mix is right. Really excellent curatorial choice to program this band at this time. Props to the team, and the killer musicians. What’s not to love about this?

Read More

Saalfelden Jazz Festival 2024 (1/3)

By Sarah Grosser

Day 1: Friday, 2024-08-23

Not their first rodeo - this was to be the 44th Saalfelden Jazz Festival, and one could tell by the scale of the production that this time it was going to be enormous. The hand-flyer summed up its gargantuan pitch: 4 DAYS - 60 CONCERTS - 200 ARTISTS - 13 LOCATIONS - 1 APP.

This reporter arrived on Friday and only managed to make it to 3 DAYS - 14 CONCERTS - 54 ARTISTS - 7 LOCATIONS - 1 APP, and even having only experienced a quarter of what the festival had to offer, it was still exhausting. Thankfully the Mainstage VIP, Press, & Guest area provided warm catering and a number of open bars, but with the aforementioned 200 artists roaming freely and mingling amongst the patrons, adrenaline and excitement does tend to lower the appetite. One thing that never gets tiring however, is playing “Where’s Waldo (Festival Edition)” with the likes of, say, James Brandon Lewis or Jim Black. No matter which show you would go to, there would always be a musician peeking in and watching over your shoulder. For jazz trainspotters, just another dash of fun amidst an already dense program of musical activity. 

 

LEÏLA MARTIAL & VALENTIN CECCALDI

Short Cuts Stage

 

Photo by Matthias Heschl

Leïla Martial – voice

Valentin Ceccaldi – cello

Boris Darley – sound

Entering the balcony floor a couple minutes late, the Short Cuts Theatre was hot, dark, and full. Black walls made it virtually impossible to determine whether or not you were standing next to a wall or another person. Despite this and an obscured view, the performance was a breathtaking cello and voice duo. Leïla Martial sounds like an operatic mix between Beth Gibbons of Portishead and Susanne Sundfør. She has the brilliance and power of a pop singer, but also the very delicate, tiny, and minute emotional tones of someone older and wiser. She pairs this with some very subtle effects that she masterfully incorporates with an avant-garde flair. Not just singing, but making physical sounds with her mouth and incorporating instrumental tools as diverse as a slide whistle and a music-box hurdy-gurdy thing, looping effects, and reversing. All the while, the constant heartbeat of Valentin Ceccaldi's appropriate and reduced baseline and melody back her up. Combined, they make a very delicate and warm duo. They performed a song called "Cold Song," the temperature of which was certainly not the case inside the theatre, due to an uncharacteristically hot day over 30 degrees Celsius.

MONA MATBOU RIAHI - “NEBULIFT”
Main Stage

Photo by Matthias Heschl

Mona Matbou Riahi - clarinet, fx
Dorian Concept - synthesizer, electronics
Manu Mayr - bass, fx
Lou Zon - visual art

The Main Stage floor seats around 450, with press & VIP on a balcony with glass railing; perfect for views from above. The press are everywhere. Swarms of photographers line the front row, at least fourteen of them. The room is silently listening, save for the odd shutter snap. The photographers soon have their shots and Mona begins her cool, weird clarinet wail. Gradual descending bass fills the space. It’s dreamy, like a soundtrack, reverb heavy, and pretty. Deep, subconscious, distant, meditative, introspective, reflective, subtle. Lou Zon’s visuals glow like breathing shimmering opals. Eventually making way for an oscillating beat with more focus, imaginative and evocative - very easy on the ears, welcoming and relaxing.

The visuals of trees and leaves blowing are zen-like and ambient. Mona feels every slice, every pulse. The great sound system annunciates beautifully and along with a lot of sub bass nuances, the mix is really satisfying. Playing two horns at once creates a train sound that crescendos. It’s captivating, engaging, cathartic, focussed, special. Mona is possessed.

When the synth builds, it's like a beatless trance record from 1999. Samples from traditional Palestinian singing add to the transcendental vibe. It's great chemistry. Mona’s clarinet is a tether to the mortal realm; a trip sitter holding our hand through the chakra-cleansing voyage. Peaceful, occasionally disturbing, but in a good way, like asking yourself a difficult question. When you know the answer, it's not an easy truth to face. But you also know you can't go back, and it's a new chapter.

Overheard in German, "This is definitely TOO experimental." Perhaps for some, but for others it’s brave, ambitious, and a success on all fronts. Dorian's loop layering is euphoric and unique. For seasoned jazz fans maybe it's too far out, but for lovers of experimental electronica, a rare delight. Thank goodness for "too experimental" bands.

BOTTICELLI BABY
City Tracks Stage

Photo by Rosario Multari

Marlon Bösherz - bass, vocals

Max Wehner - trombone

Thomas Rieder - trumpet

Christian Scheer - saxophone

Jörg Buttler - guitar

Lucius Nawothnig - piano

Tom Hellenthal - drums

I only got the chance to hear Botticelli Baby for a brief moment while exploring the other stages of the festival. Their brass-heavy seven-piece performed on the public City Tracks stage to a completely packed audience of families and casual festival-goers. Their feelgood melodies captivated the entire park. Marlon Bösherz has the look and charismatic performance style of IDLES Joe Talbot, if Joe had taken a couple of pre-show chill pills. They’re cute and cool – everyone is enjoying them. They also offered a staggering range of some of the most impressive merchandise in the scene, including this Botticelli Baby soccer-fan scarf .

KRIS DAVIS TRIO

Main Stage

 

Photo by Matthias Heschl

 

Kris Davis - piano

Robert Hurst - bass

Johnathan Blake - drums

Another swarm of photographers all huddle the stage to get their snap during the solo opening piece. Götz Bühler, the host in white suit jacket is… everywhere! It seems like he is announcing every single performance of the festival, on every stage. His enthusiasm and charisma are contagious, and his passion for remembering the names of each individual musician and pronouncing them correctly is disturbingly professional.

Pyroclastic Records chief and star pianist Ms. Kris Davis performs pieces from "Run the Gauntlet." Davis announces it’s their first performance in Europe, and the next one: "Little Footsteps" is written for her son.

Mary Halvorson and Tomas Fujiwara are standing right behind me - holy guacamole.

Johnathan Blake's drums are FLAT! All low, and angled parallel to the floor. He is all ride. Surely this offers him more control over the volume, but it also gives the audience an uninterrupted view at his precise, effortless drumming. Robert Hurst plays deliberate, intentional bass with solid groove & unmistakable funk. The rhythm section are clearly feelin' it, both musicians nodding along to their rhythms in occasional syncopation with each other. It's easy to spot the musicians in the crowd, because they are in similar sync, grooving with the band. Most everyone else is just watching, still.

Kris's fingers dance over the keys like a spider meticulously spinning its web; precise and methodical, as if by nature. Beams of light illuminate the stage in long sticks that compliment the quieter, more reduced, ballad-y moments of the set.

Mary & Thomas have left but now Tomeka Reid is kickin' it in the back, locked in to the performance.

Kris' soft piece is thoroughly composed as the band reads off of sheet music. A galloping bass solo is met with huge applause – captivating, with just a lil' slap, (or maybe a "love tap") here and there. When the band lifts it up a bit, it's the kind of jazz you could listen to forever. Groovy and interesting, it's like a delicious meal you don't want to finish.

The compositions are such fun, watching them swing, as they really spring into life doing what they could probably do in their sleep. A walking bassline and a ring-a-ding ride are classic, but done so well. Kris dives down into the keys like a flock of seabirds diving into the ocean from the sky, spearing their fish for dinner. The lights are absolutely beautiful. If jazz is to be played in a concert hall, this is precisely how it should be honoured. Props to the stage design team. It looks great.

DANIEL ERDMANNS “THÉRAPIE DE COUPLE”
Main Stage  

Photo by Matthias Heschl

Daniel Erdmann - saxophone
Hélène Duret - clarinet/bass clarinet
Théo Ceccaldi - violin
Vincent Courtois - cello
Robert Lucaciu - bass
Eva Klesse - drums

Götz Bühler, the host with the most, is back to introduce the sextet… Love that guy.

“Couples Therapy” are a colourful bunch: Eva Klesse is hunched over the kit in a signature stance. Robert Lucaciu is on upright bass, sporting two sleeves of tattoos. Theo Ceccaldi’s funky pants steal the show. Erdmann, with his soft, floppy hair, is wearing the only tie I have seen in 2024 and that's perfectly fine. He can also play the saxophone, and his performance is certainly animated, shuffling from foot to foot. Although he is the leader, it’s not a particularly sax-heavy performance. It’s dramatic, suspenseful, and string heavy, with a bass & cello standoff, going tremolo.

The melodies are thoughtful, even kind of fun, but still original. Tasteful. Not catchy, but lovely and palatable. Upbeat. All the while, it's so hard not to watch that delightfully bizarre drummer!

Ceccaldi (in the good pants) is sporting the Human League haircut: the classic Phil Oakey. It suits him. One particularly wild violin solo elicits a "Wow!" from somewhere behind me. He’s quite the showman, thrusting his mop all over the joint. He's a madman. They're all mad. It's rare to see a bass clarinet, even rarer to see one played as soulfully and passionately as Hélène Duret. It soars through the night.

The strings are brilliant. Classical interludes amongst the jazz are like a drizzling of warm, spiced honey. At one point, Ceccaldi plucks his violin like a lil' ukulele. Vincent Courtois’s cello solo is intense and high pitched reaching moments of pathos. The bass clarinet is so breathy and deep in contrast to the higher pitched notes of the cello. It’s a great dichotomy, whereas normally these roles are reversed: the clarinet’s timbre traditionally plays the higher frequencies, well above the lower tones of the cello. Lucaciu’s bass solo is patient, harmonic, resonant, commanding, building, and thunderous.

THE END - “Why Do We Mourn?”
Main Stage 

Photo by Matthias Heschl

Sofia Jernberg - voice

Kjetil Møster - clarinet, tenor sax, electronics

Mats Gustafsson - flutes, baritone sax, live electronics

Anders Hana - baritone, bass guitar, langeleik

Børge Fjordheim - drums

Dominant electric bass plus more rocky drums with two brain-melting saxophonists. This is free jazz pure. Throwing the sax skywards, Mats is an exhibitionist. Anders Hana has longish, rock-star hair, which is fitting for an electric bassist. Sofia Jenberg joins in unison with sax #2, providing an organic, textural element which compliments the quartet naturally and logically.

Her singing is full of dramatic scats, wails, and cries. But it is much more controlled- she is invoking some kind of wild spirit, but she is a vessel for its song.She translates their otherworldly message as a human interpretation, presenting it for us mere mortals that we may attempt to comprehend.

The saxophone squarks and her bird-like calls are a fitting match for each other. At one point the combination of bass sax and clarinet together imitate the sounds of a bowed upright bass.

The music verges on metal in its rough, doom-like nature. Hints of Black Sabbath on some of the darker riffs are complemented by the red and black light show. The electric bass also contributes heavily to the overall grit and grunt of the vibe. Great for headbanging and throwing devil horns with the hands. Fitting that they are called "The End." Apocalyptic. Instrumentally, this group is a great match with each other – certainly not a band for the casual jazz enjoyer. This stuff is HEAVY. Occasionally Sofia's voice ventures into the realm of child soprano, fragile but trained. It's a gift to be able to switch into this timbre of innocence. Not something that can be taught.

It's been a long day and some people are starting to feel the weight of the intensity. The melodic lap steel and crescendoing electro effects, combined with malletting drums and harmonica are too much for some. Granted it's 12:30 AM. Some of the slower songs are a bit lethargic after such a hot day, and while they are still resonant, and well executed, it’s a bit sleepy. Nothing against the performers or the work - some folks are rocking to the beat and even tapping their feet along, so it's certainly connecting with those with which it is meant to connect.

Again, the bass sax is hurled skyward, producing a screech straight from hell; harrowing, and genuinely frightening. The mood is foreboding. It's certainly powerful, but it's a lot, this late at night. Now they bring out the flute and for some people this is the breaking point. For those who leave, someone from the perimeter swoops in and steals a front row seat.

Read More