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Reviewby David Fujino in The Live Music Report (Canada), September 1, 2008 |3627|
“These players freely ’play the music’ — and therefore gift us with
their sonic imagination, individual experience, and far-reaching intuition.”
Avant players Lori Freedman and Scott Thomson converse easily throughout these nine recorded tracks of engaging free improvisation. Each has a solo track, but otherwise they’re playing spacious, structurally aware, highly sensitive duets. Trombonist Thomson frequently senses mood changes and adjusts (Leak), while clarinetist Lori Freedman expresses her ideas in well-structured outflows (The Plummet). Also, they employ extended (and invented) techniques to project their imaginations through sound — or through mixtures of sound and silence, to be more exact. While I know it’s a cliché, I have to say that Freedman and Thomson ’play so human’ in this recording, and their axis of mind, body, and breath, literally breathes in these sonically free and surprising, well-shaped improvisations. These players freely ’play the music’ — and therefore gift us with their sonic imagination, individual experience, and far-reaching intuition.
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Reviewby Dolf Mulder in Vital #641 (Netherlands), August 25, 2008 |3626|
“A fascinating work that leads us into the world of microtonality.”
A fascinating work that leads us into the world of microtonality. “Shruti is a Sanskrit word to denote pitch and interval. A word that also means ‘that which is heard, and the smallest intervals of pitch or the spaces between notes’. Ganesh Anandan was born in Bangalore City (south India). He studied Karnatic music before moving to Canada in 1976. Sound designer, composer, musician and instrument maker John Gzowski also studied karnatic music, played oud and guitar in jazz and folk festivals. With his own ensemble he toured Canada with a repertoire of Harry Partch compositions. Gzowski makes his first appearance in the catalogue of Ambiances Magnétiques, but he has many albums out. With very different musical and cultural backgrounds Anandan and Gzowski share their interest for microtonality. They met in 1996 when Gzowski invited Anandan for his micro-tonal Critical Band at The Music Gallery in Toronto, Canada. Gzowski works with a set of self designed micro-tonal guitars and stringed instruments. Anandan works with self built melodic percussion and string instruments based on the Indian Shruti system. To be more precise, on this new cd we hear Anandan playing a self-built electric 12-string shruti stick, plus metallophones, knajira, moorching, tincan and voice. Gzowski uses the Harry Partch guitar, 19_tone guitar, electric Dowel, ukelin and bells. For their Shruti Project they improvise and mix Indian, Indonesian and western musical styles very fluently and intelligently. Each piece opens a new world. Because they play on unknown and self-built instruments we hear new sounds, news colors. Also the music impresses as we hear very unusual tunings, strange textures and rhythms. It is difficult not to become fascinated by these enchanting interventions. Nonetheless not all improvisations worked for me, and left me with something missing. But all in all this is a very interesting meeting of east and west under the parameters of microtonality.
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Reviewby Dolf Mulder in Vital #641 (Netherlands), August 25, 2008 |3625|
“ Poulin’s choice offers a good insight into the
richness of modern composed piano-music, and in Poulin we meet an
accomplished and warm-hearted musician.”
Poulin is a classically trained pianist. Her repertoire covers all relevant periods, but she feels strongly attracted to modern classical music. Because of this she founded Trio Phoenix (flutes, cello and piano), an ensemble entirely dedicated to new music. Besides she worked with a great diversity of musicians and ensembles. “For a decade, Brigitte Poulin has been commissioning and premiering works by composers who, she thought, could help better define our own piano culture.” From this experience she choose four recent works that found their way to this CD: James Harley’s Édifices Naturels (2000), Ana Sokolovic’s Danses et Interludes (2003), Denys Bouliane’s Contredanse du silène Badouny (1998) and Paul Frehner’s Finnegans Quarks Revival (2005-07). At the same she introduces four composers that were unknown to me... The composition by Harley consists of two parts. The first one bursts of energy. The second one is quiet and calm. The composition of Ana Sokolovic is inspired on Balkan dance music. It consists of six dances and three interludes. As you can imagine rhythm is a dominant aspect here. The short work by Bouliane is a very ingenious and subtle composition. Finnegans Quarks Revival by Frehner is the longest work of the four. In eight parts this work evokes very different moods during its 35 minutes. Poulin’s choice offers a good insight into the richness of modern composed piano-music, and in Poulin we meet an accomplished and warm-hearted musician.
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Critiqueby Nicolas Pelletier in emoRAGEi (Québec), August 20, 2008 |3624|
“Le jeu de batterie de Côté est, comme d’habitude,
magnifique.”
Avec ce mélange de jazz déjanté, de «bruitisme» improvisé et de «beats» solides, le remarquable batteur Michel F Côté a cette fois les deux pieds dans la musique actuelle. Rien à voir avec le précédent album, Flat fourgonnette (Mescal free style) et son blues tribal (et quand même bien modifié) paru en 2005. Cet album en format quintet sous le nom (juste) Claudette a beau être bordélique, le tout n’est pas désagréable pour autant. Bernard Falaise est à son meilleur lorsqu’il utilise sa guitare pour générer des paysages sonores grandioses, mais il sombre malheureusement parfois dans la multitude de «petits mottons» de notes dissonantes. Des collaborateurs de longue date, Alexandre St-Onge, Jesse Levine et Gordon Allen, complètent l’équipe. Le jeu de batterie de Côté est, comme d’habitude, magnifique. Si spectaculaire, mais parfois tellement simple qu’on n’écoute que ça. Son instrument a une sonorité parfaite qui pourrait servir à de super «loops» pour des remixeurs comme Amon Tobin ou Moby. Qu’elle soit en avant-plan ou utilisée comme simple support, sa batterie est le centre d’attention. La sonorité de ce batteur, maintenant âgé de 50 ans, est tout simplement excellente, capable de rock, de pur jazz ou de lounge au détail près.
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Reviewby Dolf Mulder in Vital #638 (Netherlands), August 5, 2008 |3621|
“And many of their compositions are catchy.”
Like most CDs released on this label, the cd by the Ironico Orkestra is by a duo: Luzio Altobelli (accordeon, melodica) and Guillaume Bourque (clarinets). For their debut they took inspiration from traditional folk music of italian, jewish or other origin. Altobelli was active in the Montréal scene with his group Manouche for more than eight years. If the name does not mislead us, a group that focused on Django Reinhardt-like gipsy music. We find him also on Fanfare Pourpour recordings. With Passeggiata dei buddies he releases his first cd with this duo that was formed in 2004. Guillaume Bourque was also member of Manouche. Later he often participated in projects of Robert Marcel Lepage and Jean Derome. The duo performed at the Montréal Jazz Festival in 2005. So they had already an history together when they went to the studio for the recording of this album in 2007. Half of the compositions are by Altobelli, the other half by Bourque. The cd opens with Passeggiata I with unisono playing, quickly here after they take different roots, in order to return to unisono passages later. The combination of accordeon and clarinets works out okay. Both of them are good players. And many of their compositions are catchy. In spite of all these positive aspects, the cd failed to attract my attention from beginning to end. In some way it is all to thin. The same pieces re-arranged for a bigger ensemble would satisfy me more. More depth and interplay would be gained then.
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Reviewby Dolf Mulder in Vital #638 (Netherlands), August 5, 2008 |3620|
“… he proves that klezmer ingredients mixed with other influences result in
interesting and vivid music that appeal to many.”
Nisenson with his trio delivers us a more engaging melting pot and he has his biographical reasons for doing so. We will come to that later. Besides Nisenson himself on saxes, we hear Pierre Tanguay (drums) and Jean Félix Mailloux (bass), plus three guests: Ziya Tabassian (percussion), Luzio Altobelli (accordeon) and Denis Plante (bandonéon). Most compositions are by Damian Nisenson himself. We hear a live registration dating from december 2007. Nisenson takes his inspiration from Eastern Europe and Jewish music traditions. We hear many motives that sound familiar with we have heard before on so many klezmer records. Nisenson who grew up in Argentina is of jewish origin. In his youth he was surrounded by an older generation that spoke yiddish. But later he drifted away from his jewish roots. Only much later his jewish roots came back in his thoughts. “And one day I asked myself another question: what would the Jewish music have become if the Shoa — the Holocaust — had not taken place?” We will never know of course. But with this project Nisenson gives in fact his answer to this question by giving room to the jewish culture that is part of his biography. It is not the kind of project that tries to reconstruct as pure as possible the ‘original’ klezmer music, whatever that may be. Nisenson let his jewish motives loosely interfere with other musical traditions that formed Nisenson. With a guest on bandéneon, Denis Plante, it is evident that he also gives room to his Argentinean background. In Paspire his Argentinean roots dominate and the beautiful duet between sax and bandonéon bring that old record by Astor Piazzola and Gerry Mulligan to my mind. Chanson de rue #6 is opened with a Bo Diddly like riff, stating that also rock and roll is a relevant tradition for Nisenson. In the last track — but also in others — Nisenson tries to play like in the typical manner of jewish clarinetplayers, making clear that is above all that Nisenson wants to speak with a jewish voice on this satisfying record. Satisfying because he gives not a boring reproduction of klezmer music, but because he proves that klezmer ingredients mixed with other influences result in interesting and vivid music that appeal to many.
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Reviewby Dolf Mulder in Vital #638 (Netherlands), August 5, 2008 |3619|
“An impressive and important album from a true talent.”
Fantastic to have a record like this produced in these days. I will explain what I mean by ‘this’, but let me first introduce you to Bernard Falaise. This Montréal born guitarist and composer wrote music for the Ensemble contemporain de Montréal (ECM) and several other ensembles. Also he created music for exhibitions, television, theatre and dance. As a musician he is known for his many contributions to projects of Michel F Côté like Klaxon Gueule and Mecha Fixes Clocks. And I also would like to remind you of his work with Miriodor and Papa Boa. These references may give you a first indication of what we have to expect on Clic: it is fair to say that Falaise has a strong interest for new forms of rockmusic. And yes, this is also the case for his new soloproject Clic. His second one after Do released in 2000. For Clic Falaise is assisted by Gordon Allen (trumpet), Jean Derome (saxes, flutes), Lori Freedman (clarinets), Julien Grégoire (marimba), Jean Martin (drums, percussion) and Tom Walsh (trombone). Falaise himself plays guitars, banjos, etc. He wrote 13 compositions that came into being in the context of a pure studio project. The musicians didn’t actually play together simultaneously, but only one after another, with little room for improvisation. Complex music, almost impossible to perform live according to Falaise, because of the complex tempi, but one wishes it would be possible. In his own words: “With Clic, what I wanted to do was to experiment with unusual metronomic applications. For instance, the ever changing tempo in Yéti; the superimposed tempi in Mule, Thon, Neuf, and Fête; the tempo changes in Neuf, etc. Also, Watt and Clic feature two part canons, each with its own tempo.” Falaise mentions Aksak Maboul, Anthony Braxton, Captain Beefheart, Franco Donatoni, Les Granules, Conlon Nancarrow, Igor Stravinsky, and Robert Wyatt as points of reference. Falaise brings new life to the avant rock genre that is not allergic for melody and harmony. In a way he continues where groups like Henry Cow stopped. One can hear that he takes the advantages of new technology and musical principles. He must clearly feel at home in company of groups like Blast, Miriodor, and not to forget Albert Marcœur. His music is accessible and complex at the same time. The pieces have beautiful arrangements, a strong drive and are full of unsuspected twists. Because of the recording process we must also mention that Falaise did a great job in mixing it. An impressive and important album from a true talent. I hope it takes not another seven years for his next album!
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Ratchet Orchestraby Mathieu Bélanger in Panpot (Québec), July 4, 2008 |3610|
“… 26 musicians playing at high power.”
A look at the most recent Ratchet Orchestra performance, and for good measure, a history lesson on the project led by Nicolas Caloia. Anyone familiar with Montréal’s “musiques actuelles” scene should already be familiar with Nicolas Caloia. The bassist and sometimes cellist is a member of multiple projects such as FReC - a trio with Lori Freedman and Danielle Palardy Roger - and the Murray Street Band. Moreover, he can frequently be heard and seen as part of ad hoc improvising groupings. On the other hand, very few people know Nicolas Caloia for his own projects. The reason for this is very simple: in past years, Caloia has presented those on a handful of occasions. This affair actually conferred an almost mythical status to the Ratchet Orchestra, for Caloia’s biography always mentions it, yet very few really knew what the Ratchet Orchestra was. Truth is, the Ratchet Orchestra really exists and has for some ten years. The first CD of the Ratchet Orchestra - recorded as a quartet by the way - suggests it was put together in the mid or late 1990’s. On the other hand, its long history did not exactly translate into an overdose of public activity: its Suoni Per Il Popolo appearance was apparently its fourth ever! On June 24th, the Ratchet Orchestra performed at La Sala Rossa as a 26-piece band. The orchestra was made of a string section - two violins, two violas, two cellos and Caloia’s double bass, a 12-piece reed and horn section ranging from sopranino saxophone to sousaphone, two electric guitarists, one pianist and four percussionists. The personnel itself featured some of Montréal’s most active musicians such as Jean Derome (flute and alto saxophone), Sam Shalabi (guitar) and Gordon Allen (trumpet), some well-established, but infrequently seen figures like Guillaume Dostaler on piano, Norsola Johnson on cello and Bruce Cawdron on glockenspiel, claves and other percussion, but also some who perform infrequently such as Thea Pratt on French horn or Ken Doolittle on percussion. The Ratchet Orchestra interpreted some compositions of Caloia in addition to Sun Ra originals. The music performed showed the specificities of Caloia’s approach to orchestral jazz. Indeed, from the traditional big bands to the London Improvisers Orchestra by way of the Sun Ra Arkestra and William Parker’s Little Huey Creative Orchestra, the history of jazz and improvised music has seen many large ensembles and as many different conceptions of the orchestra. Yet, the concert proved that the Ratchet Orchestra has an identity of its own. First, the songs are based on melodies. However, one song will sometimes incorporate two or three melodies played simultaneously by the ensemble. For example, the end of Soak featured the reed and horn section playing a melody while the strings played a different although complementary progression. Second, the music leaves a lot of room for solos. However, the pieces are not organized around a succession of solos. Some large ensemble will start with a theme after which the rhythm section will establish and maintain a pulse over which various solos will happen. In the Ratchet Orchestra, a musician rarely solos over the rhythm section. There is usually something else happening: the strings will punctuate the rhythm, some subset will play a melody in the background, etc. For example, Jean René’s viola solo in T(h)rust built up into a crescendo that involved the whole orchestra. Third, Caloia has found a good way to mix composed and improvised moments. Indeed, the improvisational dimension is not restricted to the solos in that some compositions present some free sections. The main criticism one could formulate relates to the pacing of the concert itself. One long 80-minute set instead of two sets, as they did on June 24th, might have worked better. Indeed, the first set ended on a high note with Wish and T(h)rust, two pieces whose finale feature all 26 musicians playing at high power. The 30-something minute intermission interrupted an “air d’aller” the group had acquired by the end of the first set. At the beginning of Tiny Pyramids, the piece that opened the second set, it was obvious the Ratchet Orchestra had to gain back its focus. Let’s say things were a little looser… The same applies to the audience who had to get into it again. For those who missed the concert, but would like to hear the Ratchet Orchestra, a CDR was recently self-released by Nicolas Caloia. Entitled “Live at the Sala Rosa [sic] November 28, 2007,” it features, as one can easily guess, most of the concert played by the ensemble on the given date. It might be the next best thing to hearing the 26-piece ensemble from a few meters… until the next Ratchet Orchestra concert of course!
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Barnyard Drama (Suoni / L’Off Fest.)by David Ryshpan in Panpot (Québec), July 3, 2008 |3607| … The final set was courtesy of Toronto’s Barnyard Drama with guest Montrealer Bernard Falaise on guitar. Their set commenced very quietly, with minimal electronica courtesy of drummer Jean Martin. Christine Duncan’s distant vocalizations were nearly inaudible at the beginning, but over the course of the set she displayed her wide range and her control of various techniques — guttural groans, mouth noises, Janis Joplin-esque yelps and screams, hints of Inuit throat-singing, pseudo-beatboxing and pure bel canto soprano. She exhibited a stunning sense of control, never seeming to strain herself and switching between techniques very quickly. Guitarist Justin Haynes was a perfect foil to Falaise, both of them getting fuzzy at times but retaining a bit of atmosphere around their sound. Haynes would sometimes bow his guitar, as did Kim Myhr in the first set but with an altogether different sound — where Myhr was bowing the body of his acoustic guitar, Haynes bowed the strings of his electric. At other moments, Haynes conjured a rubbery tone somewhere in between a guitar and Frank Martel’s theremin. Falaise was seemingly everywhere at once, manipulating his arsenal of pedals with expertise and complementing Haynes’ guitar. Martin was processing both his kit and Duncan’s voice, and anchoring his open playing with hints of breakbeats and a deconstructed take on John Bonham’s rock bombast. The set ended on a gradual descrescendo, melting away into a quiet rendition of Little Girl Blue.
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Barnyard Drama (Suoni / L’Off Fest.)by David Ryshpan in Panpot (Québec), July 3, 2008 |3606| … A third Quartetski member, Gordon Allen, followed with his new trio, All Up In There, featuring percussionist Michel F Côté and theremin player Frank Martel. Allen started with a very breathy, noisy sound, leaving lots of space in his line. Côté began with a towel draped over his kit, and even without it he retained a very dry sound, with small crisp cymbals. Martel successfully avoided the sci-fi connotations of the theremin, adding a unique colour to the set, manipulating it to truly engage with Allen. Côté had two condenser mics that he ran through two Pignose amps. When he used them as sticks to amplify his kit, he gave the drums a fuzzy, grungy sound that would not have been out of place on a Tom Waits record. At other times he pointed the mics at each other or at the amps, manipulating the pitch and volume of the feedback almost like a second theremin. In the more aggressive moments, Côté played a somewhat tribal rock beat while Allen elicited noise and feedback sounds out of his trumpet and Martel anchored everything with a deep, ominous theremin bassline. The physical gestures Côté and Martel used to improvise were nearly as important as the sound itself…
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Barnyard Drama (Suoni / L’Off Fest.)by David Ryshpan in Panpot (Québec), July 3, 2008 |3604|
“The blend of Tétreault’s turntables, Myhr’s guitar effects and Martel’s viola
da gamba was impressive.”
… The evening started off with Philippe Lauzier and Pierre-Yves Martel of Quartetski, turntablist Martin Tétreault and Norwegian guitarist Kim Myhr in three quiet and textural improvisations. The set started with Lauzier playing his alto saxophone with a plunger mute affixed on his bell, creating a muffled and distant sound. The blend of Tétreault’s turntables, Myhr’s guitar effects and Martel’s viola da gamba was impressive. It was difficult to determine where the sounds were coming from. Martel, unamplified, would bow furiously, unleashing streams of harmonics, and even thump his bow against the body of the instrument. Myhr and Lauzier used their instruments more as resonators for external objects and vocalizations. Myhr many times moved a spinning toy across the body of his classical guitar, which he alternately played lying flat on his lap or in normal playing position. Lauzier also played bass clarinet, emphasizing the overtones of the instrument, and pulled out a plastic tube through which he circular breathed. At that moment, with Lauzier playing the tube, the whole group combined to sound like a massive vacuum cleaner, or that noisy radiator from down the hall — a sound full of airy noise, feedback and harmonics…
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Recensioneby Vincenzo Giorgio in Wonderous Stories #13:36 (Italy), July 1, 2008 |3618|
“Dietro alla sigla Quartetski Does Prokofiev in verità si
cela un quartetto di jazzisti condotto dal contrabbassista/arrangiatore Pierre-Yves Martel che intende non solo offrire un tributo alla musica del
grande compositore russo ma anche proporne una eccitante esplorazione.”
Dietro alla sigla Quartetski Does Prokofiev in verità si cela un quartetto di jazzisti condotto dal contrabbassista/arrangiatore Pierre-Yves Martel che intende non solo offrire un tributo alla musica del grande compositore russo ma anche proporne una eccitante esplorazione. Perché, se proprio la vogliamo dire tutta, ogni tributo che si rispetti non deve riprodurre ma, riscrivendo, indicare nuovi approdi! In effetti Martel si insinua del pentagramma prokofiefano esaltandone i silenzi, frammentandone i fraseggi, marcandone le melodie, sfumandone i cromatismi. Fin dall’iniziale Lentamente si può godere della peculiarità di questo dischetto: cioè gli impasti fiatistici tra la tromba di Gordon Allen e i sax/clarinetti di Philippe Lauzier (di cui abbiano dato conto del bell’esordio in trio qualche tempo fa) in bilico tra situazioni armoniche variegate e ben colorate dai piatti del percussionista Isaiah Ceccarelli. Un’atmosfera allarmante che si tuffa nella felpata partitura dell’ Andante mentre il contesto bandistico-destrutturato del Molto giocoso rivitalizza l’ascoltatore forse immalinconito da questa rilettura così rigorosa e borderline. Se l’Allegretto I trasuda di rinnovata energia, Con eleganza pare riscrivere certe pagine del tardo Stravinsky mentre Commodo (così nel titolo) riecheggia certo radical-jazz per fiati soli. Allegretto tranquillo, grazie al pastoso contrabbasso di Martel, disegna una sorta di ballata silente che contrasta ferocemente con l’atmosfera felliniano-circense di Ridicolosamente. Molto bello, poi, il sincopato contrappuntismo di Con vivacità così come l’andamento dolente (quasi funeralesco) di Assai moderato. Con la speranza che quelle del Quartetski Does Prokofiev non siano visioni fuggitive ma inaugurino un nuovo modo di rileggere il nostro passato.
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Recensioneby Vincenzo Giorgio in Wonderous Stories #13:36 (Italy), July 1, 2008 |3617|
“A ben dieci anni dall’ottimo Torticolis ritorna il
quintetto guidato da Jean Derome, (poliedrico fiatista canadese)
questa volta caratterizzato da una maggiore propensione verso un jazz
“dilatato” anziché (come nell’uscita precedente)
“contaminato”.”
A ben dieci anni dall’ottimo Torticolis ritorna il quintetto guidato da Jean Derome, (poliedrico fiatista canadese) questa volta caratterizzato da una maggiore propensione verso un jazz “dilatato” anziché (come nell’uscita precedente) “contaminato”. Innanzitutto colpisce la scrittura meticolosa di Jean: temi finemente lavorati attraverso il paziente intarsio fiatistico tra i sax e il flauto del leader con il trombone del sempre ottimo Tom Walsh mirabilmente sostenuti da una sezione ritmica dotata di grande versatilità: propensione improvvisativa non disgiunta da una costante ricerca lirico/melodica. Mi riferisco al piano di Guillame Dostaler (subentrato alla chitarra di René Lussier), alla batteria di Pierre Tanguay e, infine, al ben noto Pierre Cartier (basso e voce). Il risultato è un cd assai compatto costituito da sei tracce aperte dall’arioso tema di Hiboux (paradigmatico esempio della sinergia prodotta dalla coppia Derome/Walsh) su sui si insinua il meditativo basso di Pierre e il liquido percussionismo di Tanguay. Nez qui coule sviluppa un tema piuttosto contorto esposto dal trombone e sostenuto dal piano di Dostaler con accordi molto essenziali e profondi, da qui il dipartirsi di un reticolo variegato di percorsi solistici senza mai perdere, però, un rigoroso sguardo d’insieme. Da ricordare anche l’esuberante energia collettiva (una sorta di “post-bop”) di To Continue introdotta da una gustoso pastiche vocale del “quintetto tutto” così l’insistito contrappunto de Cogné un genou. Se l’atmosfera malmostosamente notturna de La Grenouille et le Bœuf ricorda da vicino di lavori solisti di Pierre Cartier (qui impegnato anche alla voce) Prières, una sorta di ballata destrutturata e silente, chiude degnamente questo quarto capitolo dei Jean Derome et les Dangereux Zhoms.
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Recensioneby Vincenzo Giorgio in Wonderous Stories #13:36 (Italy), July 1, 2008 |3616|
“La mia convinzione è che Musique pour objets en voie de
disparition non solo sia un disco molto bello…”
Fin da quando l’italico Luigi Russolo, all’inizio del secolo scorso inventò l’“intona-rumori” e il francese Pierre Henry si dedicò negli studi di Parigi a quel ramo della musica elettronica poi definita “musica concreta” la nostra musa preferita ha iniziato a guardare non solo dentro ma “oltre” se stessa (per tacere degli orizzonti aperti da John Cage…). Un capitolo interessante viene ora riaperto da questa musicista/compositrice/fisarmonicista canadese che si diletta a “estrarre poesia intrinseca” in oggetti desueti. La mia convinzione è che Musique pour objets en voie de disparition non solo sia un disco molto bello ma, visto il materiale che utilizza, anche abbastanza accessibile. Diane, infatti, mischia sapientemente i suoni di svariati oggetti (sveglie, TV, stampanti, magnetofoni, racchette da ping pong) con quelli di strumenti tradizionali (violino, violoncello, flauto, tromba, clarinetto, fisarmonica, percussioni) con il risultato di otto dolci composizioni dalle timbriche sospese, talora crepuscolari e sommesse. Come non rimanere ammaliati dai quei quattro minuti di La télé noir et blanc con il clarinetto di Lori Freedman a dialogare con le onde di una vecchia TV in bianco e nero? E che dire di quella fisarmonica che, come un tetro maestro di cerimonie, introduce un atemporale standby telefonico? Così come quel lugubre ticchettìo di sveglia lontana si mescola con i toni bassi della chitarra di Bernard Falaise proiettandoci in un tempo rarefatto ed alieno. Musica per trattenere il passato, rivitalizzandolo.
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Recensioneby Vincenzo Giorgio in Wonderous Stories #13:36 (Italy), July 1, 2008 |3615|
“Il centro di gravità è l’avanguardia del novecento con evidenti riferimenti
sia alla scuola post-schoenberghiana, ma anche più contigui alla ricerca elettronica
(Stockhausen, Ligeti e Nono) senza disdegnare sporadici ritorni ad una rarefatta tonalità che sa
(anche) di “sano” minimalismo.”
Il lavoro è, senza dubbio impegnativo: sette composizioni del musicista canadese che ha da qualche tempo allestito un ensemble “australiano” (Topology appunto) costituito da Robert Davidson (contrabbasso), Kylie Davidson (piano), Christa Powell (violino), Bernard Hoey (viola) e John Babagge (sax) per cui scrive la sua musica. Il centro di gravità è l’avanguardia del novecento con evidenti riferimenti sia alla scuola post-schoenberghiana, ma anche più contigui alla ricerca elettronica (Stockhausen, Ligeti e Nono) senza disdegnare sporadici ritorni ad una rarefatta tonalità che sa (anche) di “sano” minimalismo. Il disco si apre con il bellissimo trittico SCAT (because we all have voices and stories to tell), una suite di oltre diciassette minuti che spazia dal frenetico puntillismo del primo movimento tutto giocato sugli effervescenti contrappunti tra fiati ed archi con il piano di Kylie a cristallizzare il sound con massicci “cluster”. Molto più rarefatto il secondo episodio, denso di materia crepuscolare ispessita dai lunghi accordi del violino e da vaghe coloriture percussive (l’ospite David Kemp) che si va a con-fondere in una sorta di fuga minimalista ricco di speziature perfino famigliari a chi ha ascoltato certe cose del Mike Ratledge più rileyano ma, soprattutto, di Philip Glass. Di ambientazione più elettronica la prima parte del dittico Lightning Field — Darkness / Illumination (Brady, oltre alla scrittura e alla direzione fornisce “pesanti” apporti alla chitarra elettrica ed ai sampler) che odora qua e là di Corrieri Cosmici mentre il segmento conclusivo disegna spazi aperti con un suggestivo recupero di accattivanti (ma non scontati) elementi melodici. Conclude questo bel lavoro la dolente atonalità di Dark Matter (Primal Pulse) e Struck Twice by Lightning con la sua digrignante violenza dove, la tormentata viola di Bernard, assicura un robusto puntello cromatico. actuellecd.com Recent Reviews |
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