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blogue@press-2629
press@2629
De son côté, la Montréalaise Marilyn Lerner nous convie à une approche différente de l’instrument, au-delà de sa propre maitrise du clavier. Certains évoqueront vraisemblablement l’idée de piano préparé, et il y a certes l’appropriation des démarches initiées par d’autres pianistes et/ou compositeurs. Elle y associe d’autres types d’interventions, liées notamment au travail d’un preneur de son et à l’emplacement de divers micros. Le résultat est une aventure sonore pleine de variations de timbres et d’effets, servie par un jeu fin et volontaire.
blogue@press-2532
press@2532
Francophone experimental/improvised music is not always the easiest sell. Even in these Freedom Fries days, I like to think that the reason for that difficulty rests with the “experimental” and “improvised” side of the description. If the preceding conjecture is indeed true, it’s hard to fault even the most open-minded listener for thinking long and hard before purchasing something like Magali Babin’s metal-scraping-against-other-metal-at-low-volumes opus Chemin de Fer.
On the other hand, however many times you’ve heard that old saw about music’s universal appeal, it’s nice when an instantly arresting yet thoroughly novel and interesting album reminds you of that concept’s veracity. Luminance is the kind of album that can, with proper exposure, gain converts to the improvisational and experimental side of music.
Warning: opener Plucky would be enough to convince any fence-sitting potential listeners that Lerner is just as obscure and dedicated to avant garde principles as anyone else in her field. The track, consisting of rhythmic piano-string pluckings, is unmelodic, arrhythmic, cerebral and not particularly endearing to the ears (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Immediately, though, the angular shapes it creates are metaphorically washed away by Deluge, a series of close, chromatically moving chords that jump thither and yon over the range of the keyboard. This latter track is far more representative of the tone and sound of the album as a whole; while Lerner certainly intends to explore musical concepts less formal than listeners acquainted with classical piano music might expect, she is not moving entirely in the direction of formless sonic experiment.
The best showcase for her balancing act comes with the album’s longest tracks. Rife, an exploration of a melody that seems constantly to be tripping its way toward a greater understanding of its underlying composition, incorporates chords that call to mind Cole Porter, scale passages that evoke Rachmaninov, and tonal meditations that could come from cool-period Miles Davis. Wolfen, the other centerpiece, is far more interested in a narrower range of tones; from the contemplative opening to the quasi-industrial, contrapuntal middle-period, to the calmer resolution, the tonal space that the piece inhabits seems narrower than that of Rife, lending the latter piece a more cerebral, less physical feel.
There are many other fantastic moments here, including the interestingly miked and teasingly titled Codec Moment (see the audio clip; this track is better heard than described) and the case-thumping La boxe. Mostly, though, Luminance is notable for its friendliness and inclusiveness. If you’re on the fence about whether or not experimental/improvised music is for you, here’s a little experiment. Pick up this album and listen to it a few times. If you can’t see why you should have it in your collection, you’re probably just not cut out to listen to the more “out there” side of musical expression.
blogue@press-2493
press@2493
The first time this writer heard Marilyn Lerner he was galvanized by her hard attack; if memory serves, he expressed some concern for the piano at hand. Subsequent exposure to her playing in a variety of situations, from a cool quartet with guitarist Larry Roy to the fearless improvisations with bass clarmetist Lori Freedman in Queen Mab, revealed far more measure, forethought and deep listening than first suspected. Luminance finds her alone at the piano, but such a description misses the imtimacy; this is really the art of a musician seeking to collapse the distance between performer and instrument, to the point where both piano and pianist are transformed. Working closely with engineer Steve Lebrasseur, Lerner changes the sound of the instrument and the instrument itself by a variety of strategies, from arranging the microphones to redefine the sense of aural space, to playing on the strings and frame to disengaging the hammers from the strings to turn the piano into a multi-headed keyboard drum -John Cage’s prepared piano, now prepared for even more. Only one track, Codex Moment, uses the most immediate electronic transformation, with a Casio keyboard divining trombones, elephants and uncatalogued underwater events from her playing. Interesting though that is, she prefers more subtle changes - tight patterns bright and brittle as March morning ice, menacing percussion, an impression in Road Tango of Mal Waldron’s bass rigor at half the speed. Although the detailed technical notes do not address it, you sense Lerner never wants to lose the essential “pianoness” of her instrument.
blogue@press-2481
press@2481
Marilyn Lerner (Montréal, 1957) is pianist and composer and has been active in the Canadian scene for the past twenty years. She has performed with a very mixed company of musicians, like Paquito D’Riverera, Tito Puente, Jon Faddis, Steve Lacy, Christian Escoude, Jane Bunnett, Vinny Golia, etc. Her jazz work includes the solo cd Miss Overboard and Birds are Returning - Marilyn Lerner in Cuba. Also she produced a series of audio art pieces using computer technology. For the last few years she formed a duo with bass clarinet player Lori Freedman, named Queen Mab. Together they try to build bridges between new music and jazz. The last ten years she made a lot of recordings and wrote music for film, television, theatre, etc. All this does not have to imply that you ever heard of her before. In my case Luminance is a first encounter. What may not surprise us of someone with such a reputation and experience, is the virtuosic playing that illustrates her extensive knowledge of grammar and repertoire. She is also a very capable and original composer and improvisor. What is more, her music has also depth and is passionate. A great variety of techniques, idioms, color, moods, etc. pass by. In each track she investigates different aspects of music. In many pieces she is into timbral possibilities. In other pieces melodic and harmonic ideas are investigated. In La boxe, Glovys and other pieces rhythmic excursions are dominant. Besides, in one piece, like Plucky, she uses many extented techniques, making the piano sound like the prepared piano of John Cage. Whereas in other pieces she limits herself to the keys of the piano. If the idea of a solo piano cd is frightening you, let me assure you that you won’t be bored by this one. It’s a very personal work on the borders of new music and jazz by a talented player and improvisor. By the way, an interesting aspect of this release is the recording technique. For each track is indicated what microphone is used and where it is placed.
blogue@press-2438
press@2438
This Toronto-based pianist is comfortable in jazz, new music, Klezmer and Latin and lately has tried collaborations with poets, computers and video artists. Here are 16 improvised solos that experiment with sound, various microphones set up in different configurations that help create vivid musical images and highlight sonic options. She draws from jazz and classical styles, explores inside tbe piano, strokes strings wearing latex gloves, works pedals furiously and uses the instrument as a drum. Two relatively long pieces, Wolfen and Rife, let her expand ideas, Glovys is rock-ish and all of it is fascinating. One snippet witb the nifty title “Codec Moment” involves using tbe tiny mike of a Palm Pilot.
blogue@press-2465
press@2465
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