| 2 CDs plus a DVD.
"The package
includes a DVD film, directed by Susanna Schoenberg, of the Paris
1994 concert with a quintet version of Bloodcount that includes Marc
Ducret, and two very wild recordings from 1997 or so. There will be
some gigs with NEWLY-written music in 2008 - Tim Berne
I recall witnessing the powerful presence of Tim Berne's
Bloodcount quartet at the old Knit on a number of occasions of during
the mid-nineties. It was the first appearance of Chris Speed (tenor
sax & clarinet) and Jim Black (drums) in New York and they looked
like kids (shorter & youthful), compared to Tim and Michael Formanek.
The quartet version of Bloodcount was one of downtown's finest and
most intense bands. Adding French guitar hero, Marc Ducret, brought
them another notch, but he didn't come to town very often. This
triple disc set captures both the quartet and quintet version of
Bloodcount in all their immense glory. Disc 1 was recorded in 1997
and features long pieces. It begins with a song called, "Scrap
Metal", which has a fine bass solo up front. It builds from a more
restrained opening with both saxes swirling slowly around one another
as the rest of the quartet escalates and the tension builds. There is
a great section where both saxes wail together without the rhythm
team. "Yes, Dear" opens with some haunting clarinet and alto sax
interplay, cushioned by superb bowed bass and skeletal drums. Both
Chris and Tim do a splendid job of bending their notes around one
another in an eerie display of ghost-like spirits. Again, the quartet
slowly builds their way through a theme that expands as it evolves
and eventually erupts into a tight, massive assault. I dig the way
the rest of the quartet (tenor, bass & drums) lock into and develop
the theme as Tim takes a long, amazing solo. With two 60+ minute
discs of the quartet, we get to hear them stretch out and work
through some eight classic gems. Tim's written sketches, as well as
the quartet's playing are consistently brilliant and often
breath-taking.
The DVD is called "Eye Noises" and plays in NTSC on one side
and PAL on the other side. It is done documentary style, showing
Bloodcount with guitarist Marc Ducret added first rehearsing and then
playing in a studio in Paris in 1994. The sound and closely captured
playing is consistently well done. Shots of the band-members walking
and goofing around the streets of Paris are interspersed amongst the
band's playing in a studio. There is a good deal of more hushed and
haunting segments that are superbly recorded. Even in black & white,
the studio sections looks just right since it captures the band so
well. Tim Berne has recently reformed the quartet version of
Bloodcount to do a few American dates and even written some new
material for them. Could a disc of new material be in the offing? I
certainly hope so. - Bruce Lee Gallanter of Downtown Music Gallery |