The second chapter of the
five-days marathon with Nu Ensemble showed yet another faces (masks?)
of modern improvisatoin.
The evening begins with
the polish representation: Dominik Strycharski and Rafal Mazur
duo, both names familiar to the followers of the local and national
free improv scene. Characteristic sound of Rafal's acoustic bass
guitar fills low registers with a magmatic and dense flow. Dominik
Strycharski plays on the stage a variety of wooden flutes and brings
forward sound that combines emotional characteristic of human voice,
and trance echoes of tribal ethno. The circling lines expose both
contrast and consonance of the two instruments, with the extremes
being the most effective – with high register whistles, piccolo
flute and eerie suspended sounds of the bowed strings on one end and
heavy stomps of the bass flute and blurried bass lines on the other.
A worthy presentation of how vibrant the polish scene is, though it
felt to me that both the audience and the musicians needed a warm –
up, the further they went, the better was the chemistry.
 |
| Joe McPhee |
The second set once again
is divided into solo + duo + solo fragments. Joe McPhee begins his
performance with the pocket trumpet in hand, creating an
quasi-electronic musical landscape filled with breath, whisper and
hushing sounds. Once he switches to tenor sax all his maestry and
richness of the experiences of life and art is in full evidence. His
playing is profoundly emotional and the feeling is palpable. Within
not even half hour Joe Mcphee tells with his own sounds the story of
american black music. You'll hear echoes of Mississippi, Harlem,
Broadway, New Orlean. You'll hear the longing for freedom hidden in
the old negro spirituals songs, soulfull tone, haunting melodies cut
by an ayleresque scream, the whole history of jazz sax. A true
professor.
 |
| Jon Rune Strom and Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten |
The second performance in
this part of the evening is Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten and Jon Rune Strom
duo so it's a double double bass heavyweight match. Those two to do
not joke around. They have no mercy for their instruments. The
strings are being struck, torn, bent, pulled, plucked, bowed,
scratched
with gypsy-like passion and gusto. The intensity is
overthrilling so they cool down a few times, take a very short breath
and began another furious crescendo with the ferocious light-speed
high tones bowing being the most impressive one.
Downright brutal
and damn impressive.
The last one in the set
to step on stage is Christer Bothen with the bass clarinet. His
musical narration is poetic, subtle, minimalistic and all the musical
action would happen somewhere hidden, under, behind, beside the note
– within the whisper, the natural rhythm of inhale-exhale – with
all the long sustained sounds and circular phrases disapperaing one
into other, echoing in space. Music dense and mysterious as misty fog
above the water, an hour before the dawn, sounds coming from unknown
close or distand sources, some of it merely immagined.
 |
| Mats Gustafsson, Augusti Fernandez, Peter Evans |
Third set brings on stage
the trio EFG – Peter Evans, Augusti Fernandez and Mats Gustafsson.
This is music of liberated sounds, freely placed into the space and
time, found in the archives of the lost and found sounds. Sounds
scary abstract and highly intellectual right? Fortunately
Gustafsson's eloquence (and it count for the other two as well) never
stops him from acting like a mischievous villain on stage. EFG is
hellishly abstract but also bursting with energy, spontanous
combusionts and musical chain reactions.
Augusti Fernandez stays
throughout under the piano panel, creating a horror soundtrack,
Gustafsson sax and the other thing (kind of a slide, metal flute?!)
screams, kicks and punch while Peter Evans kinda mimicks Donald Duck
with his trumpet. No matter what, the class of the musicians, their
understanding of the musical direction, dramaturgy of narration makes
so that they not only create the chaos but then thay master it as
riders of the Apocalypse. The instruments are not there to play
notes, notes are of secondary importance. There are only sounds.
Set I
Dominik Strycharski - wooden flues; Rafal Mazur - acoustic bass guitar
Set II
Joe McPhee - tenor saxophone, pocket trumpet
Jon Rune Strom, Ingebright Haker-Flaten - double bass
Christer Bothen - bass clarinet
Set III
EFG
Peter Evans - trumpet, pocket trumpet; Augusti Fernandez - piano, objects; Mats Gustafsson - saxophones
Nu Ensemble week at Krakow Autumn Jazz. Alchemia. 09.10.2013
