João Gato/Bruno Parrinha

Alexey Kruglov/Nicolay Rubanov
Experimental Sounds
Contempora 014

Figuratively nakedly exposed with only your own instrument clothing your improvisations is difficult enough. Doing so alongside another player can be doubly dauting. But the two Russia and the two Portuguese saxophonist featured on these discs manage to overcome spatial isolation with full frontal strategies. The European creators from the northeast do so by instrument switching those from the south interchange foreground and background roles,

Taking up fewer than 30 minutes, Experimental Sounds’ four live track involve two of Saint Petersburg’s most creative musicians. Alexey Kruglov, who plays alto saxophone and recorder here, has recorded with, among many others, Gebhard Ullman and Vladimir Tarasov. Leader of the Sankt Petersburg Improvisers Orchestra, Nikolay Rubanov plays bass and soprano saxophones. Meanwhile in Lisbon, of the Two, alto saxophonist Bruno Parrinha works with likes of Rodrigo Amado and Luis Lopes, while fellow altoist João Gato plays with Filipa Franco and Orquestra de Jazz de Setubal.

It’s obvious that Experimental Sounds was recorded live since the expression and textures are enhanced as the program develops. Quality is maintained from the top. With Rubanov’s bass sax providing a shifting continuum, his additional renal snarls and scoops and nephritic gurgles provide contrasts to Kruglov’s resonating tongue slaps, cries and repeated squeaks. When “Experimental Sounds Part II” arrives, aggressive bass sax snores set up a cadenced rhythm, challenged by moderated alto sax yelps as the tempos soars to allegro and vivace. Speeding up, while attached to higher pitches, the concluding improvisations are taken up by doits and overlapping squeals scattered every which way. Rubanov varies his bass sax sputters with alto saxophone trills while Kruglov’s circular breathed recorder pitches trade licks with the other reed playing. When Rubanov turns back to buzzing snorts, the program ends with a jumpy pseudo march.

Yelps, flutters, honks  and curlicue peeps are often emphasized from the saxophones during Two’s 11 tracks. But as the players switch roles at different speeds and pitches, winnowing textures or harmonized intertwining are more often attained than any disrupting basso honks. Tough split tones and enhanced upsurges are heard as one or another hardens the exposition while the other player’s simple reed bites are usually used as confirmations or challenges. However before dissonance is paramount on a track like “Plain Dust” delicate “Creole Love Call”-like suggestions are introduced that then slide downwards. Alternately reed tropes that attain a variant of bel canto vocalization from Gato and watery oscillations from Parrinha on “The Cycle Was A Lie” and “Agua Turva”, which follow one another, slide into a climax of unbroken tones. But overall there’s still enough timbral variance to identify each player.

Besides interludes of  speedy flattement or percussive ratcheting on many tracks, it’s the penultimate and extended “The Cave Dwellers” which showcases the duo’s multiple and shifting roles. Propelling toneless breaths alongside whistles and tongue slaps Gato’s delicate timbres stop and slide until Parrinha’s input joins with altissimo squeaks prestissimo squeals until moderated trills replace both players’ output. The ending consists of concentrated layers of affiliated pitches.

Not the easiest listening by any means, these sessions , still provide ideas as to how skilled musicians can expose bare improvisations without peeling away textural cooperation.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Experimental: 1. Experimental Sounds Part I 2. Experimental Sounds Part II 3. Experimental Sounds Part III 4. Experimental Sounds Part IV

Personnel: Experimental:  Alexey Kruglov (alto saxophone, recorder and voice) and Nikolay Rubanov (bass and soprano saxophones)

Track Listing: Two: 1. Backwards Overture 2. Toe Stepping 3. Plain Dust 4. Ghoul Waltz 5. Welcome To NY 6. Plan Of Knowing 7. The Cycle Was A Lie 8. Agua Turva 9. Non-placid Tuning 10. The Cave Dwellers 11. Touch’n Flee

Personnel: Two: Bruno Parrinha (alto saxophone [right channel] and João Gato (alto saxophone) [left channel]