Peter Brötzmann, Fred Van Hove, Han Bennink - FMP 130

PETER BRÖTZMANN, FRED VAN HOVE, HAN BENNINK - FMP 130 (FMP, 1973)

Peter Brötzmann: clarinet, alto, tenor, baritone and bass saxophones
Fred Van Hove: piano, celeste
Han Bennink: drums, khene, rhythm-box, selfmade clarinet, gachi, oe-oe, voice, tins, home-made junk, elong, dhung, kaffir piano, dhung-dkar.

1. For Donaueschingen ever (03.40)
2. Konzert für 2 klarinetten (04.07)
3. Nr. 7 (03.20), Wir haben uns folgendes überlegt (02.56)
4. Paukenhändschen im blaubeerenwald (05.56)
5. Nr. 9 (01.35)
6. Gere bij (05.25)
7. Nr. 4 (04.45),
8. Nr. 6 (05.33)
9. Donaueschingen for ever (02.27)

 Originally, this 1973 recording was released without a title; Atavistic's 30th anniversary reissue is titled FMP 130, after the original album's catalog number, which is how most fans refer to it. Unlike most albums including this trio of players (reedsman Peter Brötzmann, pianist Fred Van Hove, and percussionist Han Bennink), which usually feature two side-long group improvisations, FMP 130 consists of ten concise pieces, each one credited to a single composer. This makes the pieces more focused, while still retaining the fearless improvisational spirit that powers their other work. Brötzmann's overdubbed "Konzert Fur 2 Klarinetten" is one of his most squealing, cacophonous works ever; parts of it sound like the amplified screech of nails on a blackboard. Other tracks, such as Van Hove's "Wir Haben Uns Folgerdes Uberlegt" (which features an otherworldly sound akin to Tuvan throat singing, apparently coming from Brötzmann, though it's nearly impossible to tell if this is a vocal or instrumental sound) are more sedate. "Number 6," for example, consists of largely unaccompanied solo lines from each of the three players, that fade in and out in a drifting, eddying sound that includes passages of near-silence, resulting in a genuinely contemplative mood. Because of this varied dynamic and the brief, accessible song lengths, FMP 130 is an excellent introduction to this circle of composer/performers for the cautious neophyte.(from AMG)

HERE

Manfred Schoof - European Echoes

Enrico Rava: trumpet
Manfred Schoof: trumpet
Hugh Steinmetz: trumpet
Peter Brötzmann: tenor saxophone
Gerd Dudek: tenor saxophone
Evan Parker: soprano & tenor saxophones
Paul Rutherford: trombone
Derek Bailey: guitar
Fred Van Hove: piano
Alexander von Schlippenbach: piano
Irène Schweizer: piano
Arjen Gorter: double bass
Peter Kowald: double bass
Buschi Niebergall: double bass
Han Bennink: drums
Pierre Favre: drums

The lineup says it all. Derek Bailey, Peter Brotzmann, Fred Van Hove, Alexander von Schlippenbach, just to name a few, are all here. I’ve always put this album in context by thinking of it as the non-idiomatic improvisational cousin of Ornette Coleman’s Free Jazz. There is the all-star lineup, the big group moving and swaying and surging, just as there is in Free Jazz. Each player would go on to do even greater things individually or in new configurations. Yet this album, at least from an American perspective, is much less celebrated, which I’ve found curious.

Part of that can be geographic, obviously. Another reason for the supremacy of Free Jazz on these shores is Coleman’s ties to traditional US folk music, where his abstractions would be broken up, or kept in context, by fleeting phrasings (or rephrasings) of memorable tunes. Here there is much less recognizable in terms of melodies under the fray. In this way, it is a more European version of Coltrane’s Ascension. Of course, that is fine praise. And, it is my guess, if you’re a fan of Free Jazz, but enjoy a harsher edge, like Ascension, but want less clutter, then European Echoes is right up your alley.

Unlike some other giant group affairs, this plays slightly more like Bitches Brew in that this record breaks up its storms with a lot of individual showcasing. There is just less going on at one time for a decent number of stretches. In this way, you can hear this as a fresher approach, one that resembles the smaller group free improv of today. The other great thing about this record is that many players are still active, or were at least active recently. This allows you to see how they play in the context of new groups comprised of players that grew up with this sort of thing as respected music rather than a radical statement.

All in all, this is one of the better records posted to KiC, and hopefully a new rip, improved cover art, etc. will help it continue to gain in esteem.(from KILLEDinCARS)

1969 EUROPEAN ECHOES

Fred Van Hove, Paul Dunmall, Paul Rogers, Paul Lytton - Asynchronous

Fred Van Hove: piano
Paul Dunmall: tenor saxophone
Paul Rogers: bass
Paul Lytton: drums

This is a quartet of 1970s-vintage European free-improvisers – three out of four called Paul – still warming to the task in 2008. Saxist and bass clarinettist Paul Dunmall's model was Evan Parker, while Paul Lytton actually played drums with Parker for years. Bass virtuoso Paul Rogers has spanned the postbop and improv scenes here and in New York, and Belgian pianist and movie composer Fred Van Hove started as a bebopper in the late 50s, then loosened up to spar with German sax free-blaster Peter Brötzmann. All that spontaneous music-making was caught at the Europa jazz festival in Le Mans in May 2008. There are only two tracks: one lasting 46 minutes and one of 15 minutes, with Dunmall's big, rounded sound and spiralling runs bursting out of a low-key overture, and then engaging in a long, dignified dance with Rogers's dark bowed chords. Dunmall sometimes builds solos in patterns of brief, squirted sounds a la Evan Parker, but he stays closer to post-Coltrane tonality for more of the time. Meanwhile, Van Hove unleashes glittering streams of notes with a Cecil Tayloresque intensity; his solo on the first track has an orchestral scope. The shorter episode begins as a bass drone pulsating like a didgeridoo, builds to the best full-on free-playing on the album, shifts to a lament-like section, a briefly resurfacing turmoil, and then evaporates into silence. An attentive and responsive quartet of experts in the genre. (from guardian)

2010 ASYNCHRONUS