According to Cecil Taylor’s famous dictum that a composition starts with the selection of the musicians, ANEMONE are an obvious and promising match - at least if you have a closer look. The quintet consists of English saxophonist John Butcher, US trumpeter Peter Evans, veteran German drummer Paul Lovens, Australian bassist Clayton Thomas and French pianist Frédéric Blondy - players who come from five different countries (even three continents) and span several generations of improvised music.
Apart from their differences as to age and the fact that it’s hard for them to meet, it’s their interest in sound excursion and their exquisite technique what they have in common. Butcher has often experimented with the locations he played in (e.g. caves, oil tanks, mausoleums) and with multiphonics, Evans is a master of special effects (what the New York Times once called “a bonanza of texture and timbre“), Paul Lovens, who has played in a quintet with Butcher before, on the excellent News from the Shed album (with John Russell, Radu Malfatti and Phil Durant), sees percussion as collection of timbral colorations, with sound drawn from selected and unselected drums and cymbals (meaning that he uses material he’s taken with him or which he’s given on location). Finally, Clayton Thomas’ approach is obviously influenced by Barry Guy and Peter Kowald, he often puts bars, mallets and license plates between the strings, while Frédéric Blondy’s piano style is a lucky bag of sounds using every component of the instrument in an unorthodox manner.
Then you put on A Wing Dissolved In Light, their first album, which was recorded at the 2013 Tampere Jazz Happening, and you’re surprised: The piece starts with first-class old-school free jazz. John Butcher shines with controlled overtones, bird chirps and alienated sounds, Peter Evans gets lost in a whirlwind of eccentric tones and circular breathing on his piccolo trumpet, Lovens propels the two providing a consequent cymbal pulse, Frédéric Blondy supports Lovens with isolated Taylor chords, while Clayton Thomas’ hectic bowed bass adds fuel to the fire.
But above all, A Wing Dissolved In Light is a constant twist and turn, the music is permanently moving in different directions as to sound and dynamics. It slows down and explodes, especially in the quieter parts the musicians delve into sound explorations, their different approaches blend into one great collective effort. Indeed, there are wonderful moments, for example the duo passage of Evans and Thomas, who are joined by the others at an incredible speed, the almost classic piano trio part, and Evans’ and Butcher’s squeaking and gargling dialogue which prepares the ground for a tender and melancholic break. Here and there the music is reminiscent of an extended version of the Schlippenbach Trio because of Paul Lovens’ subtle control of things and John Butcher’s saxophone, which is sometimes close to Evan Parker’s style.
A Wing Dissolved In Light is a very delightful and fascinating album for fans of both European improvised music of the 1970s and those who are interested in disregarding the apparent limitations of the instruments used in this band. It’s been one of my favourites in 2017 so far.
Martin Schray
credits
released March 1, 2017
NBLP 105
Music composed by Frédéric Blondy (Sacem), John Butcher (PRS/MCPS), Peter Evans (BMI), Paul Lovens (Gema) and Clayton Thomas (APRA)
Recorded on the 2nd November, 2013 live at Tampere Jazz Happening (Old Custom House), Finland by Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle)
Recording engineer Antti Snellman (Yle)
Originally produced for Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle) by Veli-Pekka Heinonen (Yle)
Mixed by John Butcher
Mastered by Arūnas Zujus at MAMAstudios
Cover photo by Prisca Lobjoy
Design by Oskaras Anosovas
Edition of 500 copies
Peter Evans - piccolo trumpet
John Butcher - tenor and soprano saxophones
Frédéric Blondy - piano
Clayton Thomas - double bass
Paul Lovens - selected and unselected drums and cymbals
Flutist and composer Nicole Mitchell tackles this eight-movement work with a drumless chamber quartet featuring some of the most forceful voices in improvised music. Bandcamp Album of the Day Aug 6, 2018
supported by 14 fans who also own “A Wing Dissolved in Light”
Total mastery of patience, time, and drama create a constantly engaging journey that never gets tiresome or same-y: in fact the harder you listen the better it gets! Somehow Sorey et al. find a way to combine the deep listening and spontaneous interaction of the best jazz with the sense of every tone and sound being worth a universe of listening, which could be equally from Cage and Feldman or the accompaniment to an ancient ritual.
The recording/engineering is absolutely perfect as well. Giles
