Sakina Abdou

Audrey Lauro
Sous un ciel d’écailles
elNegocito Records eNR 114

Brevity, as the aphorism says, is the soul of wit. It’s also the soul of solo reed creativity as these European session prove. French alto and tenor saxophonist Sakina Abdou expresses herself during seven improvisations on Goodbye Ground that together add up to 43½ minute. Even more concise, Belgium alto saxophonist Audrey Lauro ranges through the same number of tracks on Sous un ciel d’écailles in less than 25 minutes.

Micro computations can be as effective as macro ones, as Lauro, who plays with Giotis Damianidis among others, demonstrates. Further, except for the stand-alone “Haut-Parleur Dôme” at midpoint, the other tracks are in two versions of varying brief lengths. The most fully realized improv, “Haut-Parleur Dôme” begins with a high-pitched squeal and proceeds through toneless air blown through the horn’s body tube without key pressure to a sequence where implement shakes impel tongue stops and metallic pops into a reflective final patter. Other than that, each extended variant of the paired tunes is practically a palimpsest. By widening buzzing screeches, jangling hisses and altissimo vibrations connective motifs are revealed. Toneless breaths on the extended version of the title tune for instance, use spittle-encrusted blowing to corral distant squeaks and silent pauses into a collection of dissident defining trills. More spectacularly, “Échappée Du Dôme (2)”, surpasses the mid-range flutters of the first version to cram so many fragmented into the exposition that soon two reed lines are heard. As they criss-cross one another they echo back into the background metallic clangs that pace the contrast between reed spikes and smears.

For comparison Abdou, who has recorded with Peter Orins, sets up Goodbye Ground like a suite. Projecting an almost continuous repeated note pattern at the top, she affirms narrative duality by “Goodbye Ground” the second track. Working her way down the scale, stentorian honks alternate with moderate clarion trills so that fragmented tones are as prominent as lyrical ones as a contest between story telling and snarls. Five variations of “Planting Chairs” complete the sonic architecture. Initially linear and straightforward, inflated squalls soon become voluminous and more jagged until by “Planting Chairs (Part 3)” what could be a variation on the familiar “Largo al factotum” aria is repeated so consistently that it creates its own musical logic. A reversal that splatters nasal cries and irregular vibrations into microscopic timbres is resolved with the final “Planting Chairs (Part 3)”. Splintering reed stutters and buzzing multiphonics are heard almost simultaneously until the final phrases curve into defined forward motion.

Another axiom is that size isn’t everything. Abdou and Lauro confirm that dictum with these notable if miniatured sessions.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Sous: 1. Sous Un Ciel D’écailles 2. Échappée Du Dôme 3. Lamellaire 4. Haut-Parleur Dôme 5. Lamellaire (2) 6. Échappée Du Dôme (2) 7. Sous Un Ciel D’écailles (2)

Personnel: Sous: Audrey Lauro (alto saxophone, preparations and tape recorders)

Track Listing: Goodbye: 1. The Day I Became A Floor 2. Goodbye Ground 3. Planting Chairs (Part 1) 4. Planting Chairs (Part 2) 5. Planting Chairs (Part 3) 6. Planting Chairs (Part 4) 7. Planting Chairs (Part 5)

Personnel: Goodbye: Sakina Abdou (alto and tenor saxophones)