Bucher-Countryman-Hori

Interstellar Nao
Live at No Somos Nada
FMR Records 649-1222

Although US alto saxophonist Rick Countryman is no Phileas Fogg, and he hasn’t travelled around the world in 80 days, at least musically he’s on board to play creative sounds in multiple countries. Now Philippines-based, Countryman who has frequently recorded with Sabu Toyozumi has in the past made discs with other Filipino, Japanese, Malaysian and European musicians. These notable disc continue the sequence.

Ironically both trio discs feature Swiss drummers. Live at No Somos Nada from Mexico City matches Countryman with expatriate percussionist Gabriel Lauber, who has worked with Frode Gjerstad. Bassist is local Itzam Cano, who has played with Marco Eneidi. The trio adopts the name Interstellar Nao. Meanwhile the saxophonist’s drum partner on The Movement Radical recorded in Kobe, is Swiss Christian Bucher, with whom he often works, and the bassist is Osaka-based Tetsuro Hori, busy in many creative music branches.

The Mexican date begins with an Aylerian squeal from Countryman and continues with original variants of Free Jazz at different tempos during  its six tracks. As the saxophonist creates long-lined reed projections with scoops and shrieks, Lauber counters with unmetered pops, press rolls and cymbal splashes and Cano alternating between solid string plucks and sul tasto slices. Most expositions are led by Countryman’s deconstructed tone vibrations, curlicue tonguing and prolonged altissimo squeals. However the drummer gets an extended showcase of bellicose clatters, rim pops and scattering rebounds on “No Somos Nada” that evolve in unison with super-speedy arco swipes and jagged reed bites. Cano’s moderated string scrapes as well as pizzicato pumps are similarly featured on “Pyramid Of The Moon” advancing alongside shaped air sax trills and drum paradiddles.

Demonstrating that creative music doesn’t have to evolve at jet-plane speeds, “Pyramid Of The Sun” is a defining track however. Tripartite unity, it’s completed with an unmistakable almost euphonious tone that reconstructs discursive saxophone from hesitant mid-range reed burbles to harsh thrusts and which  intersect with the drummer’s woody pops and thumps.

With one extra track and completely different partners on The Movement Radical, Countryman’s playing is even more adventurous. What’s reflected though is also ample space for the bassist’s and drummer’s sound  profiling. The responsive textures are at their zenith on “To See Through the Trees”. Press rolls and a horizontal bass pulse create distinctive responses to Countryman’s expressions that include repeated detours into doits, honks, tongue stop and snores achieving a distinctive reed rasp at the end. Bucher’s familiarity with the saxophonist’s timbral progress means that the two are comfortable expressing narratives that encompass free-form experimentation with some near-mainstream interludes.

“Intentions” and “First Bird” are two of the more vivid tracks. The latter begins with moderated sax trills that for a brief moment sound as if they could fit into conventional Jazz. That’s quickly undone with stop-time interlude wavering between renal growls and high-pitch squeaks and ending with widening multiphonics. Meanwhile cymbal shakes and bass thumps aptly position the development. “Intentions” also advances mid-range tone cultivation from Countryman. But again Morse-code-like tongue stops and flutters reconstitute the line, while chiming drum beats and bass string rumbles preserve the horizontal flow. Distinctly POMO, the rhythm section remains relaxed while the saxophonist keeps shrilling until the finale.

Despite changes in playing partners Countryman’s distinctive textural elaborations remain constant on both discs. He has found compatible fellow improvisers in the east and in the west. While no one knows where his next collaborations will take place and with whom, it’s expected high standards will be maintained.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Live: 1. First Abduction 2. Second Abduction 3. Pyramid Of The Sun 4. Pyramid Of The Moon 5. No Somos Nada 6. Tres Salidas

Personnel: Live: Rick Countryman (alto saxophone); Itzam Cano (bass) and Gabriel Lauber (drums)

Track Listing: Movement: 1. Between the Three 2. Fluctuations 3. Glass Matrix 4. Intentions 5. First Bird 6. To See Through the Trees 7. Fragments of Tradition

Personnel: Movement: Rick Countryman (alto saxophone); Tetsuro Hori (bass) and Christian Bucher (drums)