Circles 44

Volquartz/Parle/Sato/Miura
Chasing the Wild Goose
Setola di Maiale SM 4800

Although both quartets featured here include piano, low-pitch clarinets and drums the concepts and conclusions couldn’t be more different, if equally valid. It isn’t just that the Circles 44 add guitars, FX and synthesizer textures to its eight tracks whereas Chasing the Wild Goose’s two four-part improvisation are expanded with accordion textures either. Instead it’s that the all-Italian band on In the Grip made up of bass clarinet/double bass clarinetist Achille Succi, pianist Massimiliano Amatruda drummer Andrea Grillini and Joseph Circelli’s guitars, FX and synthesizer start from a melodic base and are arranged to include touches of lyricism no matter how dissident passages become. In contrast Japanese-born, Europe resident  pianist Yoko Miura and drummer Makoto Sato, German bass clarinetist Ove Volquartzand French accordionist Claude Parle are committed to free music where the sonic architecture expressed is as important as the conclusion.

Well versed in Jazz and other sounds, the members of Circles 44 have been refining their music since 2017. While the blend of expected acoustic tones such as wallowing bass clarinet tones, unaccented piano chording and alternating intense and gentle percussion expressions confirms the band’s originality, it’s the startling and unexpected timbres introduced at various times by either guitars, FX, synthesizer or more than one of these in the same tune that’s most prominent on certain tracks.

For instance “Circles” is defined by mechanized buzzing extended with oscillated whooshes until reed accents and keyboard syncopation turn the piece into near-mainstream swing. Alternating between tough, pseudo fusion and more lyrical frails, Circelli’s guitar patterns define “Affirmative Dot”, as drum pops, arching clarinet vibrations and processional piano lines add to the piece’s shape. Expansive twangs from the guitar’s lowest pitched strings even creates steadying double-bass-like strokes on “1005” so that the initial drum patterning, double-tongued reed cries and keyboard plinks are concentrated into a sprightly exposition, with repeated sequences equally involving each player.

Succi, who has worked with the likes of Uri Caine and Amatruda, who is also involved with experimental didactics may usually work in more experimental session. But their combination here, which at times suggest sounds as polarized as urban Metal and village Banda ensure  that no matter how many glissandi, drones or plinks are heard, together the group provides cohesive linear evolution.

If creative connection is paramount on In the Grip then looseness and challenge easily live up to the title of Chasing the Wild Goose on the other disc. All involved in the continental free music scene, each has played with associates such as Gianni Mimmo, Udo Schindler, Jean-Marc Foussat, François Tusques and Barre Phillips. These improv veterans also use extended and expected techniques to make their points.

Throughout it appears that the accordionist and the clarinetist are vying to determine how outside the standard forms they can express without permanently upsetting the horizontal motion of each suite. On “Beating around the bush” for instance the contrast between light and darkness is emphasized by Volquartz’s curvaceous reed smears, tongue stops, yelps and multiphonic screams as well as Parle’s protracted tremolo bellows or pinpointed button stabs. That way sympathetic drum clatter and energetic keyboard patterning is what guides the others’ high energy to moderated story telling leading to creative consistency.

Each quartet member is even more upfront in creating experimental timbres  on “Every cloud has a silver lining”, the second four-part suite. Volquartz’s squeezes, split tones and doits become more bellicose and rugged as they sigh and stop, while Parle’s superfast pulses accelerate to a string of unbroken shakes. Ruffs and ratamacues inform Satos’s accompaniment, while Miura’s comping turns hard with stop-time episodes.

Corralling from dissidence to discourse the clarinetist’s move from low note scoops to altissimo flutter tonguing and the accordionist’s constant shakes and bellows vibrations, Miura single key clip and Sato’s rim shots further exemplify the quartet’s exploratory nature. Yet “Every cloud has a silver lining 4” creates a session ending if not a conclusion.

Amplifying a basic piano-reeds-drums interface with other instruments’ inventions creates two narratives of equal value.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: In: 1. Spiral Dance 2. 1005 3. In the Grip 4. Gate 5. Circles 6. Linea (First Approach) 7. Affirmative Dot 8. A. A. 1942

Personnel: In: Achille Succi (bass and double bass clarinet); Joseph Circelli (guitars, FX and synthesizer); Massimiliano Amatruda (piano) and Andrea Grillini (drums)

Track Listing: Chasing:1. Beating around the bush 1 2. Beating around the bush 2 3. Beating around the bush 3 4.Beating around the bush 4 5. Every cloud has a silver lining 1 6. Every cloud has a silver lining 2 7. Every cloud has a silver lining 3 8. Every cloud has a silver lining 4

Personnel: Chasing: Ove Volquartz (bass clarinet); Claude Parle (accordion); Yoko Miura (piano and melodica) and Makoto Sato (drums)