Daniel Carter / Patrick Holmes / Matthew Putman

Favreuille/Motury/Orins

Till Mina Vänner

Circum Disc CIDL 1901

Two quirkily titled trio sessions demonstrate the validity of creating sounds from unique combinations – in this case two horns and a piano – as long as the participations share similar ideas about composition and improvisation. While a subject line would describe one CD as American free improvisation and the other as French contemporary Jazz, the performances are similarly low key. It’s just that some of the tunes on Till Mina Vänner are a touch too enervating.

Explaining the titles, “whoadie” is New Orleans slang for close friends. And the participants, though of different backgrounds fit the bill. Multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter has been at point zero of New York’s free music scene for more than 40 years, and has worked with almost literally every exploratory musician. Pianist Matthew Putman is better-known as an educator/scientist who specializes in nanotechnology; while clarinetist Patrick Holmes has played with stylists as different as Ryan Sawyer and Axel Dörner. Meanwhile “Till Mina Vänner” means “to my friends” in Swedish and its three participants, all French, have played together in various groups for about 20 years. Pianist Stefan Orins, who wrote the CD’s seven tracks, has worked with singers, Tomasz Dąbrowski and the Circum Grand Orchestra. Flugelhornist Christophe Motury and tenor saxophonist Julien Favreuille are also in the Circum Grand Orchestra as well as playing with Riccardo Del Fra, Bojan Z, Happy House and Moondog Madrigals.

Although the trio members use varied techniques and layer differing colors in order to free up motifs in Orins’ themes, saxophone slurs and brass peeps may create distinctive mini-climaxes, but don’t disturb the innate lyricism of most selections. In fact with abject tonality propelled through the pianist’s frequently gentle comping, horizontal tenor saxophone lines and burnished blowing from the flugelhorn wouldn’t frighten mainstreamers. “Bruxelles Charrlroi”, for instance, which balances on delicate flugelhorn puffs and piano key strumming, could be mistaken for a Ruby Braff and Ellis Larkins duet, an idea that isn’t negated when Favreuille joins with low-key flutter tonguing. There are some unexpected jumps and jiggles in the interpretations, but most are confined to sleek and regular note and tone construction.

Most telling is how the three handle “Lugn” and the concluding “För”. Polished key strategies float alongside delicate horn harmonies, during the first, until Orins’ pinpointed keyboard stabs meet up with Favreuille’s moderated tone cooperation, with the effort leading to a piano connection that seems half 18th Century Baroque and half 20th Century Cool. The exposition of “För” also carefully measured with the pianist’s metronomic pushes resembling in turn a march, a procession and a threnody. Drifting affiliations from clarion-range saxophone and serene, unhurried flugelhorn notes draw the layers together for a distinctively restorative ending.

Post-modern in thought and execution, the New York-based friends’ nine group compositions are distinct from those on the other disc, even though Carter’s trumpet and Holmes’ clarinet output sometimes hook up with the same sort of harmonies. However Putman’s harder voicing and splayed keyboard variations easily distinguish between the two pianists. While the horns’ output may be correspondingly undulating, chromatic and fluid, stretched patterning from the pianist defines individuality. Plus the game plan from the horn players comes when both use reeds to either propel the theme or decorate it with expressive tonguing. “Stain at Home” is an example of this with high-pitched clarinet tones moving upwards to dog-whistle-like shrilling as Carter’s alto saxophone vibrates the melody. Juddering against one another, the timbres eventually push ahead in broken octave formation before exiting with equally harsh vibrations. Carter’s trumpet playing is also distinctive. It may be muted in parts but his broken chord affiliation energizes the other two’s improvisations.

At the same time Whoadie doesn’t eschew musical conventions. There’s a swing groove on “Parallel Perceptions” and a Blues underpinning on “Book about Waves”. Nonetheless performance of the first splinters the groove with contrapuntal reed hardness as the pianist goes his own way with a separate melody. As for “Book about Waves”, the supplementary glissandi added to the stride-like configuration from the pianist from the dual clarinets is soon torqued upwards so that Putnam speeds up his bass line as Homes’ moderato and warm glissandi become more expressive and polyphonic.

“Life Too Late”, the concluding and longest track is also the most distinctive. Beginning with an unaccompanied alto saxophone solo that curls out the exposition, that theme is soon colored by bright smears from the second reed and simple piano comping, allowing the piece to evolve with generous spills and obtuse motions. Before low-pitched clarinet breaths signal the end, galloping piano triplets and fluid chalumeau doits connect the three as the narrative falls downwards.

Through sympathetic interaction two trios have created memorable sessions. Furthermore if you speak the language, the titles confirm these activities.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Whoadie: 1. Waaar-day 2. Here from Elsewhere 3. Glue You 4. Seriousnesses Vertigo 5. Book about Waves 6. Parallel Perceptions 7. Stain at Home 8. Deep Breath Then Carry On 9. Life Too Late

Personnel: Whoadie: Daniel Carter (alto and tenor saxophones, clarinet, trumpet and flute); Patrick Holmes (clarinet) and Matthew Putman (piano)

Track Listing: Till: 1. Bodisattva 2. Uppösning 3. Lugn 4. Pétals au Vent 5. Tabea fyller sju 6. Bruxelles Charrlroi 7. För

Personnel: Till: Christophe Motury (flugelhorn); Julien Favreuille (tenor saxophone) and Stefan Orins (piano)