Nu Ensemble at 8th Krakow Jazz Autumn - day III (10.10)

The week continues with more solos, duos, trios and one quite large ensemble in the middle. 

Set I
You might think that piano is a keyboard instrument. It ain't necessarily so, Augusti Fernandez for his solo performance doesn't even stand beside the keys but hunches above the strings from the other side of the instrument. The effects are haunting and dark, the music full of suspense, Augusti plays on the strings with bare hands and variety of objects, plucking and scratching to create a variety of mysterious sounds and echoes. 

Stine J Motland, Dieb13 and Paal Nissen-Love

I was very curious about the second performance of the night, quite an unusual trio with Paal Nilssen-Love on drums, dieb13 behind the decks and Stine J Motland with the mike. To call what she does singing is quite un understatement. She utters sounds which are quite inhumane, leaving the listener in doubt about the source of the mechanical noise. To hear the three create an impenetrable wall of sound - what a thrill! Damaged, disturbing and quite brilliant.

Peter Evans on pocket trumpet created a series of grotesque explorations, each investigating a different improbable sound effect. Executed with speed of light which blurried the obsessively repeated lines, I would be curious to hear them in slow motion, it seemed like a serial miminalistic music tripping fast on to much coffeine and acid. Within the series of pictures you might see the vacuum cleaner, growling dialogue of aliens, cries animals and monologue of the master of all evil Cthulhu (or was it Sauron?) and other animated and unimated beings.

Christer Bothen and Mats Gustafsson

Set II

Christer Bothen is being praised during the week by Mats and the others as one of the masters of scandinavian jazz and this performance showed the reason for this. Per Mats words, the band used to be very active, 15 years ago or so. The sextet played three Bothen's compositions that brought the audience back to the classic free-jazz sound, with melodic head, potent groove and crazy ensemble fury inbetween. Brilliant energy, thanks to the power rhythmline with Per-Ake and Ingebright handling the bass lines and Paal kicking it forward on the drums. Rich harmony on the other hand, thanks to the unity of sax, clarinet and vibes. Fire music revival, expressive and joyfull. The audience, even though it was not the last set, demanded more and so the band would play one last piece - in the vein of the world-encompassing music of Don Cherry, Alice Coltrane, Pharao Sanders - a mantra chant riding the sunny groove. Plain beautiful.

Augusti Fernandez and Kjell Noderson

Set III
Two musicians but four different duos in the last set. Piano - drums for the start, with abstract piano clusters and dynamic drumming, piano - vibes afterward for something more lyrical and pensieve, synth - vibes for a bit of psychodelia, synth - drums for psychodelia to continue (scattered synth frequencies) and back to piano - drums (with the soothing sound of small gongs). Quite a ground to cover by a very adventurous duo.

More pictures by Krzysztof Penarski available on the photofreejazzblog

Set I

Augusti Fernandez - piano

Stine J Motland - voice; Paal Nilssen-Love - drums; dieb13 - vinyls, electronics

Peter Evans - trumpet, pocket trumpet

Set II

Chriser Bothen Ensemble

Christer Bothen - bass clarinet; Mats Gustafsson - tenor saxophon, Kjell Nordeson - vibes; Per-Ake Holmlander - tuba; Ingebright Haker-Flaten - double bass; Paal Nilssen-Love - drums

Set II

Augusti Fernandez - piano, synth

Kjell Nordeson - drums, percussion, vibes

Nu Ensemble week at Krakow Autumn Jazz. Alchemia. 10.10.2013