This
is what my children are calling 'Ghost Music', which is in fact
a great description for such a music as this. And when I say
that my children gave it this title it's a big compliment, after
all I notice that children (mine at least) often hear music in
another way, giving names to sounds or melodies, with no prejudices
about what they mean or might infer. So here we have it Triangulation
II (#30) in the catalogue of Kadima Collective, a label run by
Jean - Claude Jones.
The music here suits the ghost images very well as these improvisations are all
based on atmosphere that could be described as cinematic -
i.e. they would not be out of place on a film soundtrack. The
reason for this, to my ears at least, is the interesting use
of bass flute, bass saxophone and a few other 'extreme' register
instruments by Vinny Golia. Due to imaginative use of wind
instruments - clarinet, bass sax, flute, bass flute and others
probably, the (un)usual trombone sounds of George Lewis which
combines with the bass playing of Bert Turetzky, much of the
music builds on atmosphere and rarely melodies, except for
the last piece. Commenting on individual pieces is difficult
and rarely do the titles of the tracks define the music - which
is
where
Anthony Braxton's number system for titles springs to mind
as a useful way of categorizing tunes/tracks without influencing
the listener as to what they might hear.
However, if one had to describe the music at all I would say that almost all
the pieces are ballads in feeling. Never is there any aggressive
screeching and it's almost as if the musicians hoped to keep
a calm reflective sound in the music, almost serene. Of course
there are aggressive moments such as Diversion Ta Tre which
use Lewis's singing harmonics combining with the bass later
in the piece. The end section of A Low Frequency Colloquy also
uses the bass saxophone to great effect. But the general direction
of the music is towards a calm contemplative sound and much
of that is due to the unusual choice and use of such instruments
as the bass flute and bass sax. As already mentioned the last
piece 'Up Is Down' has a quite amazing opening with flute,
trombone and bowed bass creating an oriental atmosphere. The music gradually moves
into much darker sounds only to return to the original motive
at the end .... planned maybe?
All in all this is an album that reveals
many details with listening. Whilst writing this review I would
constantly hear sections passing which were beyond description
when using words. George Lewis' unusual use of trombone sounds
often become unidentifiable as such, and when combining with
either the double bass of Turetzky and the wind instruments
of Golia, create textures of real delicacy. A real success,
and one that grows with listening. What more can one ask?
Posted by joesh
read
more...
|