JON MUELLER/BHOB
RAINEY/JIM SCHOENECKER
Jon Mueller /Bhob Rainey/Jim Schoenecker
Crouton Music
crou023
CHRIS FORSYTH/CHRIS HEENAN
Chris Forsyth/Chris Heenan
Reifyrecordings
RE 002
Essays in microtonalism, these discs serve a dual purpose.
They show how American improvisers have gradually adopted glacially paced
improv to their own needs -- taking clues from European free musicians
who, it should be noted, were initially inspired by Yank Free Jazzers.
Additionally, the duo and trio members involved in each CD demonstrate
how dexterous command of their chosen instruments can produce memorable
electro-acoustic sessions, whether electronics are involved or not.
Each band includes a saxophonist, but that's where the similarities end.
Both discs also involve partners from different cities showing how far
this sub-genre of improv is spreading. Old hand at this type of miniscule
musical elaboration is Boston-based soprano saxophonist Bhob Rainey, who
now works with European microtonalists like French saxist Michel Doneda
and German inside pianist Andrea Neumann as well as in the nmperign duo
with trumpeter Greg Kelley. His partners here are two Milwaukee, Wis.-based
players, percussionist Jon Mueller, who has also worked with the bands
Pele and cellist Matt Turner; and synthesizer player Jim Schoenecker who
releases electronic music CDs under the name "pressboard".
Besides the synthesizer textures he brings to the table, Mueller manages
to create distinctive tones by amplifying his drums through a home stereo
system. Yet the performers on the other disc manage to formulate similar
tones with no electronica in sight except for a guitar amp. Granted, though,
both players thrive on the cutting edge of this sort of faux electric
improv. New York-based guitarist Chris Forsyth works with advanced performers
like pianist Dan DeChellis and fellow guitarist Ernesto Diaz-Infante.
Los Angeles-based Chris Heenan who plays alto saxophone, bass clarinet
and contrabass clarinet here, has also worked with Diaz-Infante and further
afield with German reedists Wolfgang Fuchs and Frank Gratkowski.
On the trio session one and two minute detonations of shattering percussiveness
on the first and final tracks surround the meat of the action that takes
place on two tracks of respectively nearly 26 and almost 20 minutes each.
Evolving from near silence, "[here teething moths have passed]"
often sounds as if its reflecting those tiny varmints digging holes in
perishable items. Featuring an underlying synthesizer hiss, cymbals are
scraped and struck with a metal whisk, while burbling multiphonics roll
from the saxophone, which then gradually become louder and throatier.
It appears as if Rainey is blowing colored air through his gooseneck,
as Mueller rotates items on the studio floor. Elsewhere, extended reed
techniques range from a factory whistle-like shrill to honking Bronx cheers,
duck-like quacks and squeaks and the panting of small, furry animals.
Those mammals are evidentially unfettered in the studio, for cymbals and
snares often sound as if they're being scratched by the claws of the same
beasts.
Ultimately, following pitch vibrations from the synth that could as easily
come from a jackhammer or circular saw, plus sax tones created by blowing
through the unattached mouthpiece, heightened sine waves cackles and crackles
melt the trio's individual textures back to stasis.
Similarly, "[holes]" is as much a record of the spaces between
sounds as the notes themselves. Mueller appears to be searching for something
within his trap set and hitting the odd percussion item by chance and
without melody. Rainey contributes lightly breathed mouth noises and reed
split tones that are dissonant, loud and finally split into pointillism.
The percussionist propels his rim shots anywhere but the drumhead and
an oscillating pulsation arise from Schoenecker's reductionist energy
transformation. It's probably a testimony to all concerned that when the
piece concludes with a very faint sound bubble, you're not sure to which
instrument you should ascribe it.
In New York a couple of months earlier there isn't much question which
tones arise from the reed arsenal and which from the guitar electronics
during that CD's six tracks. But both men are able to create enough references
to non-specific intonations to move things along.
Heenan's most distinctive timbres arise from the bottom-feeding contrabass
clarinet, which he plays with the facility of Europeans like Fuchs and
Swiss Hans Koch. But he never flaunts the overgrown horn's tone on its
own. Often moving from one horn to another within the pieces, snorting
bellows mix with extensive tongue slaps, honks and general mouth percussion.
One moment, as on "I begin to understand", he reverberates shrill,
treetop-high trills and the next minute is involved in gelatinous low-pitched
growls. Meantime, Forsyth flat picks on the front of his strings then
on
the area beneath the bridge and uses a constant turn around as an ostinato.
Elsewhere, as on "I am not a technologist", what sound like
pealing bells and radio signal whistles arise from somewhere or someone.
As the two players harmonically hit against one another's tones like bumper
cars in a carnival ride, Heenan produces legato alto lines as easily as
sibilant, juicy reed gouts. Pulsating an undertone of snaps and thumps,
the guitarist's output include wood scrapes, circular hand movements and
accompanying rumbles.
Then there's the suggestion that both men are trying to channel waves
from a recalcitrant radio by turning the dial every which way -- but only
reaching static and sine waves. On top of this, the reedist sounds wounded
animal cries in false registers, while the guitarist bangs on his axe's
front to create even more static.
Ironically, "I listen more" is the only time that Forsyth indulges
in a burst of reverberating guitar feedback, but it's only one trick pony
among his stable that includes harsh, banjo-like flailing, sudden down
stroked rhythmic patterns, and slurred fingering. Hennan's riposte includes
resonating growls from deep within his horn's body tube, compressed honks
and keening flutter tonguing.
Made in U.S.A. microtonalism, both these CDs will impress anyone interested
in following one aspect of how homegrown improv is evolving.
-- Ken Waxman
Track Listing: Jon: 1. [shredded paper, but] 2. [here teething moths have
passed] 3. [holes] 4. [to tattered to read]
Track Listing: Chris: 1. I am not a technologist 2. I listen 3. I ask
questions 4. I listen more 5. I begin to understand 6. I like the way
you use language
Personnel: Jon: Bhob Rainey (soprano saxophone); Jon Mueller (snare drums,
home stereo system); Jim Schoenecker (synthesizer)
Personnel: Chris: Chris Heenan (alto saxophone, bass clarinet and contrabass
clarinet); Chris Forsyth (guitar)