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Guitarist Ivar Grydeland and percussionist Ingar Zach, prime movers and catalysts for free improvised music in Norway, got in touch with Christian Wallumrød after hearing his “Sofienberg Variations” on ECM and they have since worked together in diverse combinations including, since 2004, ‘Dans les arbres’ a project completed by French clarinettist Xavier Charles. Their radical all-acoustic improvisation explores sonorities and textures that frequently sound electronic, and also often sounds ‘composed’ – with echoes of Cage and the New York School.
This album is highly unusual, extremely beautiful, utterly bizarre while still being accessible. The band consists of Norwegians Ivar Grydeland on acoustic guitar, banjo and sruti box, Christian Wallumrød on prepared piano and harmonium, Ingar Zach on bass drum and percussion, and Frenchman Xavier Charles on clarinet and harmonica. The music is minimalistic, almost chamber music, quiet, without any explicit melodies, yet rhythmic, with the instruments creating unreal sounds, creating layers one on top of the other, and by doing that, building a tension that is in stark contrast by the music's subduedness. There are lots of scraping sounds from the banjo, lots of high squeals, some hypnotic rhythms and slow, almost endless notes from the clarinet, subtle and at times almost classical piano, creating an eery, plaintive but magical atmosphere, which is at the same time attractive and frightening. The titles of the tracks all represent an emotion (indifference, phlegmatic, detachment, coldness, ...) and that is what this music is all about, creating a direct conduit from feelings to sound, and I must say that the result is extraordinary. These four musicians really got rid of all preconceived notions of music and re-built it from scratch. Some tracks are more "zen-like", with little sounds breaking through the silence, demonstrating the four musicians' empathy for each others approach. Their sense of unity in creating this music is probably the most astonishing aspect of it. Unreal. A unique listening experience. Highly recommended. - FREEJAZZ.COM
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ARTISTS
Xavier Charles (clarinet, harmonica); Ivar Grydeland (acoustic guitar, banjo, scruti box); Christian Wallumrod (piano); Ingar Zach (percussion, bass, drum) |
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