Jessica Pavone

Sheriffs of Nothingness
An Autumn Night at the Crooked Forest, four fireplaces
SOFA 583

Shattering the time-worn definitions of a string quartet and a string duo are one American and one Norwegian ensemble which aim for new paradigms by relying more on timbre and texture rather than melody and harmonies. Both models are equally valid and alluring because each creates a unique program.

Taking off from a variation of the classical string quartet, New York-based violinist Jessica Pavone, known for her work with Anthony Braxton composed and performs four selections influenced by New music and improvisation for an unusually constituted group. The other violist is Abby Swidler, also part of the NYC chamber orchestra. The violinists are Angela Morris, who co-leads the Webber|Morris Big Band plus Erica Dicker, part of the chamber music collective Till by Turning. Together since 2004, members of the Oslo-based duo Sheriffs of Nothingness (SON) propel the four co-created tracks on their CD with a mixture of improvisation and extended techniques, dedicated to languid, but often jagged exploration of repetitive drones and microtones, concentrated at varied tempos. Besides expected New music jobs, violist Ole-Henrik Moe in a duo with Guro Skumses Moe, while violinist Kari Rønnekleiv has played with rock band Motorpycho.

There are no Heavy Metal echoes on the SON CD. But by the climax the duo does reach such a crescendo of packed drones that sound like the result of electronic synthesis rather than the properties of acoustic instruments. Beginning with “Hearth, Red Gloom, With Lot of Near-Ir” textures gradually accelerate from barely-there vibrations to bee-buzzing, seemingly unstoppable drones. A narrow slice of difference exists among the two instruments’ joint narratives. As the duet program becomes louder, more allegro and vivace, impulses from both are torqued and stroked aggressively so that lines judder and jangle as they move forward. Before amalgamating into a harsh collection of rubs, scrapes and stretches with ghostly vibrations in the final sequence, “Great Spruce-Log” reaches a crescendo of angled sul ponticello bow movements that bounce with such staccato savagery that the bounce is almost visual. Although the squeaky spicatto tone makes it seem as if they will reach a point of no return, moving past sound to pure noise, canny slaps of the bow against the instruments bodies brings the piece back to coherence.

There’s nothing as atonal or approaching electronic interface on Lost and Found, but like the other disc, the narrative reaches a pitch of dissonance on “Pros and Cons”, the third selection and then reconstitutes itself. At the top the quartet’s playing is so mellow and undulating that it could be a conventional chamber ensemble, only moving from moderato at the half-way point, but maintaining distinctive sweep of timbres from one fiddle to the other. Repeated motifs soon harden and thicken with sul tasto strokes as they evolve. But it’s the third track which moves the quartet into buzzing discordance. Dynamic and staccato movements bury the few romantic inferences which peep through the widening drones from all 16 harmonized strings. But despite the sul ponticello swipes and rugged pumps the theme is still chromatic. Finally on the concluding title track, amoeba-like string squirms inhabit the entire sound field creating a solid slab of textural density. But Pavone’s skillful arrangement doesn’t leave connective expectations unfulfilled. Slight near-Baroque-like patterns echo alongside the collective vibrations leaving the piece contemporary, but without untoward harshness.

New material for traditional string ensembles can be created, as these groups’ sessions attest. More conservative audiences can appreciate the sound and skillful playing here as long as they approach the creations with open minds and ears.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Lost: 1. Rise and Fall 2. Nice and Easy 3. Pros and Cons 4. Lost and Found

Personnel: Lost: Erica Dicker and Angela Morris (violin) and Jessica Pavone and Abby Swidler (viola)

Track Listing: Autumn: 1. Hearth, Red Gloom, With Lot of Near-Ir 2. Muted Birch-Logs 3. Great Spruce-Log 4. Under-Ash-Embers, With Hints of Green Light in Spectrum

Personnel: Autumn: Kari Rønnekleiv (violin) and Ole-Henrik Moe (viola)