Spaces Unfolding

Koch/Loriot/Kocher
Stranger Becoming
Neither/Nor/Bruit n/n 020 Br12

Combining reductionism implicit in lower case notated music with improvisational freedom  are these European trios whose creative chamber music steams ahead despite unique instrumentation. The five tracks on The Way We Speak are played by UK flutist Neil Metcalfe, Ugandan-British violinist Philipp Wachsmann and Norwegian-percussionist Emil Karlsen, all whom have extensive experience in ensembles like the London Improvisers Orchestra. Strange Becoming’s six tracks on the other hand features two Swiss improvisers, clarinetist Hans Koch and accordionist Jonas Kocher plus French-Japanese violist Frantz Loriot. Despite a different mixture of strings, horns and another instrument, at no time does either session escalate in pitch or tempo.

Many intersections on Stranger Becoming involve mid-range or darkened reed lowing from Koch meeting dissident scratches from Loriot’s strings on top of tremolo drones from the accordion. Languid as well as liquid, each instrument can ascend to projected squeaks and cries, but the variants are regularly concentrated into linear flow. Climax is reached on the concluding and most extended title track with a kaleidoscopic sequence of tension-release. As the clarinetist advances from toneless breaths to squealing puffs, the results intersect with the viola’s triple-stopping and back-and-forth tremolo variables from the accordion as each tone eventually unites for a moderated finale. Earlier, on “Found Bodies” the trio members show how they can sequentially expose leading edge and logical motifs. Koch’s clarion trills almost reach so-called classical color while Kocher’s accordion trills seem to have escaped from a Paris café. Following a pause it’s Loriot’s squeezed sul ponticello sweeps which lead to a gradual unravelling of the theme, as accordion tones are squeezed down to percussive stops and subsequently reed snarls and twitters likewise fragment the horizontal line.

Another horn and stringed instrument are featured on Spaces Unfolding, but drum smacks and shakes move the improvisation in another manner. Although a spectre of Free Jazz seems to be embedded in the selections, Karlsen’s playing is symmetrical, self-possessed and self-edited. That means the tripartite interface is usually layered among violin strokes or plucks, flute flutters or nips and percussion clips and resonations. This is put in boldest relief on “Unfolding Spaces Pt. 2’. With “Unfolding Spaces Pt. 1” a harmonized interlude of gossamer flute and violin timbres paced with intermittent drum crashes, tension is suggested then muted. “Part 2” moves speedily from soundlessness to spiccato string pumps, transverse peeps and spaced drum thumps, and later to an ambulating exposition. Karlsen’s carefully measured cymbal clips accompany a tandem show of force from the others, including double and triple stopping from Wachsmann and fierce barks from Metcalfe. The drummer’s sympathetic clacks and rumbles encourage the others to further multiphonic blowing and multi-string motifs until all three combine into harsh finale. This splintering and recombining strategy continues to the final “The Way We Speak Pt. 2” where the unrolling narrative is more moderated and nearly unbroken. In fact, the numerous string stops, flute overblowing and loud drum pops merely decorate the stretched narrative. Instances of how improvisation doesn’t have to be imperious to be ingenious, these discs confirm the adaptability of the form as well as the players abilities.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Stranger: 1. The Weight Of Magic 2. All Told 3.  Relinquished Rifles 4. Found Bodies 5. A Fleeting Purchase 6. Stranger Becoming

Personnel: Stranger: Hans Koch (clarinet); Frantz Loriot (viola) and Jonas Kocher (accordion)

Track Listing: Way: 1. The Way We Speak Pt. 1. 2. Unfolding Spaces Pt. 1. 3. Unfolding Spaces Pt. 2 4. Unfolding Spaces Pt. 3. 5. The Way We Speak Pt. 2

Personnel: Way: Neil Metcalfe (flute); Philipp Wachsmann (violin) and Emil Karlsen (drums)