December 26, 2020

Meier-Hanes-Amberg

Staggered Twisted Angled
Wide Ear Records WER 046

Darrifourcq/Hermia/Ceccaldi

Kaijū Eats Cheeseburgers

Hector 04

Two unconventional takes on the expected saxophone-drums trio configuration finds a cello or an electric bass taking the place of the usual bull fiddle. Although adaptable cellists like Fred Lonberg-Holm and Miguel Mira have made cellos a regular part of improvised music ensembles, except in special cases the electric bass is usually preferred for pop and fusion sounds.

That is unless the bassist involved is someone like Brooklyn’s Simon Hanes on Staggered Twisted Angled, who unlike funk-Jazz thumb poppers, and true to the title uses stuttering throbs, inflated drones and acerbic distortions in his playing to give it the same timbral flexibility as displayed by his Swiss partners, tenor saxophonist Elio Amberg and drummer David Meier. Hanes who has worked with John Zorn; Meier, who has been associated with the likes of Yves Theiler; and Amberg, who also leads his own bands, began this transatlantic combo a couple of years ago. MORE