Viktor Toth, Clayton Thomas, Macio Moretti at Barka (Krakow Autumn Jazz 2012; 25.10)

Clayton Thomas

Viktor Toth, Clayton Thomas and Macio Moretti have never nor player nor met before. Non entirely unusual situation on the improvised music scene - you play a tons of gis with guys you've never met before, possibly will never meet again, for better or worse. Representants of three different scenes and backgrounds (Budapest and free jazz, Berlin and radical free improv, Warsaw and indie rock) came together in Krakow for a special event that was born as an idea to be checked and presented on Krakow Autumn Jazz.

And as soon as they hit the first notes their different backgrouns are evident, Clayton Thomas plucks and slaps the strings with various objects, Viktor flows freely yet with a classic jazz feel through flying notes while Macio Moretti hits the punkish rhythm with a rock energy and punk attitude.

What's even more evident though is that those three meet together in the place and time to co-create an unique mixture of styles and influences that, while coloured with  all possible shades of the rainbow, mantains a surprsing cohesity, due to their egoless presence of mind and will to co-create and co-exist.

Viktor Toth

Each set has a short encore that's is a free jazz pleasure with fast bass walking, circus-mad fast hi-hat and breaknecking saxophone runs. The trio interchanges beetween heavy grooves and meditative, reflective melodies as well as searching, hipnotic ancient-like chants (Viktor, aside the saxophone plays a variety of wooden flutes).

There are moments of irresistible headbanging and laughter as well as those of enchanting, hypnotic beauty hidden but uncovered in the textural and timbral patterns, repetitive melodies (etheral sound of the string's aliquotes plucked gently with the fingetips of the mallets is something to behold).

Macio Moretti

The trio attracts the audience's attention both throuth the long and varied improvisation of the 1st set (plus the fast and furious free jazz ride short encore) as well as during the shorter, more coincise pieces in the 2nd one - a series of improvisation with a simple idea at the nucleon, a short phrase, a repetitive groove, a timbre or a a rhythm. And the syncronicity is picture perfect as they stop and go and play with the sudden breaks and broken rhythms and call and response like ebbs and flow till the point the only possible reaction is pure laughter (how often does music make you laugh with pure enjoyment?).

Improvising musicians meet with other improvising musicians to well .... improvise quite often (cause that's what they do) but I'd daresay that they rarely tick so quickly and so well both in rhythm and melody as did Viktor, Clayton and Macio yesterday. Which hopefully will make this event much more than just a "project" or a "collaboration" but will make this three a regular trio. For possible future enjoyment. 

Viktor Toth - alto sax, flutes
Clayton Thomas - double bass, objects
Macio Moretti - drums

Barka. Krakow Autumn Jazz 2012. 25.10.2012

ps. as there are no audio-visual materials available from the concert (for now), I invite you to have a listen to this playlist featuring fragment's of most recent cd by Viktor "Popping Bopping".