Roil

Frost Frost
Bo’Weavil weavil 42 CD

The Necks

Mindset

ReR Necks10

Buried among the resilient, intertwined polyphony which has characterized Australian trio The Necks’ creations over more than a quarter-century is the realization that each member is a first-class originator on his own. That why it’s instructive to compare Mindset, the band’s 16th CD, with Frost Frost, by Roil, a piano trio featuring The Necks’ pianist Chris Abrahams. As soldered as the tremolo patterning and aleatory dynamics of the sometimes-multi-tracked Abrahams are to the solid tempo of bassist Lloyd Swaton and the firm beat and interpolated samples from drummer Tony Buck with The Necks, the Roil CD displays his proficiency in a new setting.

The reason for Sydney-based Roil’s individuality is that each member brings improv skills honed in other settings to the band; and very rarely does the result resemble what’s expected from the standard Jazz trio of piano-bass-drums. Bassist Mike Majkowski often plays with flautist Jim Denley and is a founding member of the Splinter Orchestra. Another Splinter member and drummer here, James Waples, has worked with players as different as vibist/installation artist Dale Gorfinkel and mainstream pianist Mike Nock. Taken as a whole Frost Frost is close to a suite with an understated exposition, a climatic middle section and an encapsulated finale,

At the top, the three experiment with different tempos, pulses and balances, with the performances anchored by Majkowski’s sul ponticello runs and spiccato jumps or Abrahams’ lyrical, low-frequency glissandi. By the final and title track the experiments are resolved among the repeated, methodical keyboard exhibitions, bass thumps and slides, plus rubs and scrapes from the drum set. However the CD reaches its expressive crescendo(s) with “Super Victim” and “Water Servant” after each Roiler has expressed himself fully with kinetic, concentrated and cantilevered improvisations. The latter tune is a particular Abrahams’ showcase as he simultaneously exposes consistent clanking and tremolo rumbles from his left hand and dancing glissandi from his right. Seconded by plinked or sawed swirls from the bassist’s strings plus castanet-like clacks and flanges from the drummer, the piano playing is transformed further as the piece unrolls. A discreetly ornamented unaccompanied intermezzo of almost equal temperament follows an episode of stained plucks on the internal string set and precedes an ending made up of brief note clusters. In contrast, “Super Victim” is all about tightening and loosening drum lugs, skittering bow strokes over bass strings and pedal pushed piano lines giving way to glissandi that accelerates from tremolo to kinetic to metronomic. With the soundboard, capotes and other instrument parts vibrating, Abrahams’ high-frequency key fanning provides the backdrop to Waples’ minimalist exploration of different parts of his kit.

With Mindset, Abrahams is back in his customary role with the Necks, whose emphasizing mesmerizing soundscapes. Although the juddering and whirling “Rum Jungle” is supposed to be all-acoustic, suggestions of saxophone-like cries and sampling of unidentified tones seem audible alongside Swanton’s unvarying bass strokes and the pianist’s high-frequency chording. Swishing cymbal pressures and drum clip-clops keep the theme balanced. Almost identical in length, the hypnotic effect of “Daylights” is built up by enhancing the regular instruments with overdubbing. These additions encompass quivering guitar agitation from Buck and Abrahams’ concentrated organ washes and speedy electric piano glissandi. Besides all this, the track is swathed in a percolating rhythmic undertow which seeps in among, around and behind the trio instruments’ expected acoustic tones. With many timbres undifferentiated, Abrahams’ key clips and toy-piano-like swats, plus Buck’s cymbals splashes and drum top claps stand out from the opaque backdrop.

Mindset confirms that the sophisticated teamwork which creates The Necks’ inimitable approach remains intact after many years. Meanwhile Frost Frost confirms that like Buck and Swanton in their own fashions, there’s nothing, except possibly inertia, that’s preventing Abrahams from pursuing a solo career.

--Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Frost: 1. Honeydew 2. Costume of Melancholy 3. The Swinging Treatment 4.

Super Victim 5. Water Servant 6. The Absence of Air 7. Frost Frost

Personnel: Frost: Chris Abrahams (piano); Mike Majkowski (bass) and James Waples (drums)

Track Listing: Mindset: 1. Rum Jungle 2. Daylights

Personnel: Mindset: Chris Abrahams (piano, Hammond organ, Rhodes electric piano, other keyboards); Lloyd Swanton (bass, electric bass) and Tony Buck (drums, percussion, guitar samples)

August 16, 2012

Blip

Calibrated
Splitrec 20

Fred Lonberg-Holm/Piotr Mełech

Coarse Day

MultiKulti Project MP1014

Expanding the limits of what constitutes a duet these woodwind-and-string duos exploit free improvisation’s technical openness to distend the terrestrial qualities of their respective instruments. The results are exploratory, spontaneous and ultimately convincing.

The background to these CD meetings couldn’t be more different. Saxophonist and flautist Jim Denley and bassist Mike Majkowski are both experienced Free music players from Sydney, Australia. Over the years, Denley has played with the likes of German trumpeter Axel Dörner and Norwegian guitarist Kim Myhr; and Majkowski with German drummer Paul Lovens and Dutch keyboardist Cor Fuhler, among many others. The two have also worked as a duo since 2008, although this unedited disc is the first time they’ve managed to successful record together. In sharp contrast, Chicago cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm and clarinettist Piotr Mełech from Poznan, Poland are first-time collaborators. A member of the long-established local Enterout Trio, the reed man has also worked with outsiders ranging from Australian bassist Clayton Thomas to Chicago percussionist Michael Zerang, a long-time associate of the cellist. Lonberg-Holm is arguable the busiest cellist in improvised music, working regularly with everyone from American reed men Ken Vandermark to German saxophonist Peter Brötzmann.

During the course of eight tracks that make up Coarse Day however geographic limits and separations melt away along with bar lines, compositional motifs and predetermined arrangements. Once the mix is established quivering tones moves up and down the scale. Although most sequences are staccato, some are taken legato and by the end a few even extrude a bluesy overlay.

More common are those tracks such as “Tangle of Loops”, which rather than dealing with repetitive timbres, work up to agitated, irregular counterpoint. As Mełech’s tongue stutters express extensions and partials as well as slithering initial lines, Lonberg-Holm’s sul ponticello splays jitter with electronics. When the clarinetist propels a pedal-point rhythm the cellist responds with scrubbed, higher-pitched crackles. In contrast, when for instance Mełech creates mid-range echoes on “Slit in Slot”, Lonberg-Holm’s arpeggiated twangs roughen the interface forcing the reed cries to augment irregular vibrations. Eventually string pumps join with reed bites in unison.

Perhaps the track most descriptive of the rugged Polish-American concord is “Layer Seven” – definition unexplained. This sequence unites contrapuntal cries, intense squeaks and reed bites on the clarinetist’s part with Lonberg-Holm’s pressurized string clutching, col legno strokes and skittering turns which encompass processed reverb and flanges. By its climax Mełech is overblowing to create percussive rhythms, while the cellist colors the proceedings with electronic signals and clipped runs.

Electronics aren’t in use on Calibrated, but with Majkowski adding pitch pipes and objects to his improvising elements plus Denley`s command of extended techniques on alto saxophone and various flutes, most of the time the sonic blend is such that it’s nearly impossible to ascribe many of the textures to an individual instrument. Multiphonics are as frequent as straight lines, while staccato flutters and shrilling ostinatos immeasurably outnumber legato lines. Presented in the sequence they were recorded, the duet tracks build up to “Branes”, which at nearly 26½ minutes, is more than twice the length of the initial two tracks.

Beginning with pitch-pipe shrilling, the tune meanders over many parts of the sound field. Majkowski’s abrasive motor rubbing join with his wooden-sounding bass strokes for a stop-time showcase as Denley’s key percussion and reed kisses soon give way to thick tongue slaps and intense blowing. Continuously linear, string and reed timbres are sequentially distant and upfront, with the timbres from each man often sounding nearly identical. A mid-point climax involves wide and basso flute flutters meeting equally low-pitched plops from the bass with the subsequent flat-line blend narrowing the oral sounds to miniscule peeps and the digital ones to hollowed rumbles. In tandem the two work up to a crescendo with Denley braying fat vibratos without fingering the keys and Majkowski ringing bells, puffing harmonica-like gusts as well as exposing what could be motor-driven buzzes. Finally inflating saxophone obbligatos become almost mellow enough to parallel ricocheting bass-string patterns.

Involving two reeds and two stringed instruments of similar history in a series of duets created by individuals who have worked together for different lengths of time, these two CDs couldn’t be more dissimilar. Their similarities arise in how the four analyze the situations to come up with exemplary improvisations.

--Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Coarse: 1. Cloudburst 2. Slit in Slot 3. Blunt 4. Tangle of Loops 5. Layer Seven 6. Finger on the Trigger 7. Mildrew Gourmets 8. How are you, Mr., Loony?

Personnel: Coarse: Piotr Mełech (clarinet and bass clarinet) and Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello and electronics)

Track Listing: Calibrated: 1. Pod 2. Oats 3. Branes

Personnel: Calibrated: Jim Denley (alto saxophone and flutes and Mike Majkowski (bass, pitch pipes and objects)

February 25, 2012