Martin Archer & Walt Shaw

Magliocchi/Northover
Time Textures
Empty Birdcage Records EBR 011

Geography may separate these reed and percussion sessions, but the real demarcation is that one is fully committed to Free Music while the other is a notable example of Free Jazz. UK soprano saxophonist Adrian Northover, also part of the Remote Viewers and Italian percussionist Marcello Magliocch who has worked with Roberto Ottavio and Carlo Actis Dato, dedicate their nine brief Time Textures to lower-case experimental sounds. No less exploratory, but with a Jazz base, Biyartabiyu is a Sheffield, UK meeting between Martin Archer who plays a different reed instrument on each track and has recorded with everyone from Charlotte Keeffe to Mick Beck, and drummer Walt Shaw, whose music trajectory runs from Lol Coxhill to Han-earl Park.

Recorded in Italy the Magliocchi/Northover duo mostly deals with miniatures three or four minutes in length whose dialogue encompasses broken octave intersection that encompasses barely-there drum rubs, clips and rumbles on Magliocchi’s part and Northover’s simple peeps, flutters and whines whose most elevated toneless breaths are still resolutely horizontal. Occasionally the two players become more aggressive, as on “So I Am”, as slurring and sliding reed tones elevate to defined harshness before pivoting along with drum clips to affiliated silences. “The Winds Of Time” features Magliocchi extracting church-bell-like pealing from his self-created sound sculptures.  However it’s only on the more than 9½ minute “The Winds Of Time” where the two express their skill at its greater length. Almost classic EuroImprov, tongue slaps and squeaks from the saxophonist meet drum pitter patter and press rolls until implements spinning on drum tops introduce circular breathed reed trills that speed up to prestissimo alongside understated rim raps.

Not that Biyartabiyu is conventional in any traditional Jazz sense. It’s just that as Archer expresses himself sequentially on alto, sopranino, tenor and baritone saxophones and saxello, and Shaw responds in kind with drum pitter patter, cymbal color and rim clanks, the outlines of linear melodies still exist alongside timbral extensions. While expressing a different persona for each reed instrument, Archer’s fundamental movement is to bare melody outlines even if they aren’t played outright. Probably because of links to the Jazz tradition, this impetus is most evident when he plays the larger saxophones. Gong-like resonations from the drummer temper basement honks and flutter tonguing from the baritone. Split tones and sliding screams from the alto saxophone meet with bass drum whacks and responsive cranks, reminiscent of New Thing experimentation. Meanwhile the logical evolution of the tenor sax exposition, despite bent notes and growls on “Uku”, coupled with drum metallic patterns and rim clanks, moves the moderato theme closest to FreeBop.

“Biyu”, played with sopranino, and “Biyar”, using saxello are the freest pieces on the discs. Without the overriding weight of Jazz saxophone history, the originality of Archer’s approach is most evident. With Shaw’s drum shuffles and gong-like tolling beside him on “Biyu”, there’s space for distinctive angled split tones and a climax of circular breathed trills. Segueing through “Biyar”, with repeated reed squeaks and whorls, press rolls and nerve beats from the drummer slide alongside the saxophonist to define broken-chord originality.

Both CDs offer equally valid elaborations of creative music, without anything old school or new school about them. Each also delineates the narrative varieties that can be produced under the same generic label.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Time 1. The Net from the Stars 2. Honing 3. The Masters of Time 4. The Steel Caves 5. Bread and Lasagne 6. Scratch 7. The Winds Of Time 8. So I Am 9. An Angel On Your Shoulder

Personnel: Summertime: Adrian Northover (soprano saxophones) and Marcello Magliocch (drums and percussion)

Track Listing: Biyartabiyu: 1. Daya 2. Biyu 3. Uku 4. Hudu 5. Biyar

Personnel: Time: Martin Archer (alto, sopranino, tenor, baritone saxophones and saxello) and Walt Shaw (drums and percussion)