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Music > South Africa > Jazz
This sophomore effort by the Who Trio -- pianist Michel Wintsch
with drummer Gerry Hemingway and bassist B„nz Oester -- is a
rambling, startling exercise in textures, layered dynamics, and
process. Certainly it is a jazz record, rife with beautifully
studied compositions and carefully articulated improvisations; as
such, it is a nocturnal, silky, wonderfully wrought piece of
understated mastery. The opener, "Quartier Lointain," a collective
improvisation, offers a bird's-eye view of the intimacy of these
proceedings. Wintsch's pianism shimmers around two different
melodic ideas as Hemingway double-times his way into near silence,
underlining only the briefest of phrases. Oester falls in on
separate measures, collating his way through the harmonics.
Eventually, the tension increases just enough to bring the band
together in a taut percussive exchange before Wintsch brings back
his skeletal melody to break it. It's stunning. On Wintsch's
"Swantra," bopped-up piano blues and swing are offered up as ghost
figures for a new kind of knotty interchange as both Oester and
Hemingway syncopate the already syncopated and turn harmonics
around on one another in the process. The reading of "Jerusalem"
here is one of the most elegant, emotionally beautiful, and
challenging ever recorded. Its deep lyricism reflects the
traditionally based folk melody the tune is composed on as a jazz
construct, and offers the sheerest shade of the blues as an anchor
to its exoticism. And so it goes -- until the last track as Ray
Anderson's trombone is added to the mix. Oester's bowed bass and
Hemingway's whispering cymbals introduce the tune. "J'Irai" seems
to come from the desert itself. Its slowly unfolding melody and
mode reflect the spirits of ancient musics and film noir jazz
before becoming a tough, slightly out post-bop swing fest. It is
arresting, deep, mysterious, and profound in its subtlety. This is
a provocative way to end a recording where so much has already been
introduced, but when it's the Who Trio, anything and everything is
possible. Awesome. ~ Thom Jurek
To say that Simon Nabatov's music is adventurous would be an
understatement. His music, which mixes together written-out
sections with free improvising, is eccentric and sometimes
demented, particularly when Phil Minton is singing. Nabatov sought
to pay tribute to Russian poets and writers, but one wonders what
they would think of these very abstract interpretations. While most
of the instruments utilized are conventional, Cor Fuhler's
electronics frequently give the instrumental sections an
otherworldly atmosphere. The overall results are intriguing and
often absolutely crazy. ~ Scott Yanow
The Russian pianist Kuryokhin -- while not particularly influential
in America -- was nevertheless one of the most astoundingly gifted
and original players to have ever played jazz, in any country. Read
elsewhere about his life story (he died a tragically premature
death in 1996 at a young age); our concern here is a review of
this, a reissue of his remarkable first album. A relic from 1981,
when Russia was still the Soviet Union and playing free jazz in
that country was almost literally a crime, this solo recording was
paradoxically first released by Melodia, the state's official
record label. The record documents an amazing talent, who, had he
been born in America, would probably have been widely considered
one of the greatest free jazz pianists ever (he is anyway,
regardless of perception). Kuryokhin had an almost supernatural
technique, his lines are played as quickly and are as sharply
articulated as those of any pianist this side of Art Tatum.
Reminiscent of Cecil Taylor (as ultimately it seems all free jazz
pianists must be, to an extent) and perhaps Glenn Gould (in terms
of touch), Kuryokhin nevertheless sounds like no one but himself.
Occasionally he plays so fast with such clarity, one is tempted to
believe that the tape's been sped up. He's an obsessive pianist,
worrying over and embellishing small motives until they've given
all there is to give. He has a marvelously percussive attack and a
bracing sense of rhythm; the piano is a set of 81 tuned drums in
his hands, played with great subtlety and depth of feeling.
Kuryokhin extends conventional technique as well -- he's not afraid
to go inside and pluck and strum the instrument's innards, or tap
and bang, drum-like, on its various surfaces. This album is rather
strangely recorded -- the piano sounds a bit like a toy, as if the
mics were positioned a bit off-axis. Kuryokhin renders the odd
sound irrelevant. The album isn't perfect; the artist's formal
sense was not very sophisticated, at least at this early stage of
his development. His idea of form was mainly to explore one idea
until its possibilities were exhausted, then move on to the next.
Nevertheless, his profound imagination and skills as a pianist win
the day. This is an incredible document and shouldn't be missed by
any serious student of avant-garde piano. ~ Chris Kelsey
The only recorded encounter of Clifford Brown & Eric Dolphy!
Never before released recordings issued here for the first time
ever!! Contains Eric Dolphys first extended recorded solos.
Disconforme. 2005.
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Bang CD (2008)
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