KING ÜBÜ ÖRCHESTRÜ
Trigger Zone
FMP
CD 117
The
first question that suggests itself when faced with a self-contained,
nearly 69 minute EuroImprov session like this is how do nine musicians
play so quietly for such a long time? The second question is why do they
do so?
Both
queries can be answered the same way. King Übü's music is all
about collective improvisation, not soloing, so the best way to deflect
individualism is to create at such low volume that sounds merge into an
organic whole.
The
best parallel to what goes on here could be those immense poster-like
pictures created by the masses in Chinese stadiums. Individually the portion
of the illustration each person holds resembles nothing much, but when
the thousands of pieces are put together, a mammoth poster results.
Trigger
Zone also serves as a definition of improv itself. Unlike traditional
jazz or pop music where the emphasis is on showy facility and where the
reports of the creation often resemble the description of an athletic
contest -- harder, faster, louder, longer -- this is above all obtuse
group music. Whether its genesis is Zen Buddhism or Utopian Socialism,
depending on a preference for religion or politics, this selflessness
also seems profoundly European: at least that's where the greatest number
of its practitioners reside.
If
anything, in fact, this CD, the band's first since 1992, is even more
focused than the last one. With three new members -- trumpeter Axel Dörner,
bassist Fernando Grillo and guitarist Jean-Marc Montera -- as well as
recording as a nonet instead of a tentet, the group's collective action
is that much more pronounced. With every movement seemingly Lilliputian,
the best way to appreciate what's going on is to turn the volume of your
sound system up about 20% louder than usual.
What
is happening is the creation of an entire symphony of small gestures and
sounds that you may at times not be able to connect to any particular
instrument. Most involved in this is Übü leader Wolfgang Fuchs
-- who no doubt named the ensemble after the main character in Alfred
Jarry's early 20th century drama. His sopranino saxophone work and the
tenor saxophone explorations from Peter van Bergen often appear claxon-like
or smeared over the compositional surface, rather than elaborating melodies.
Matching them are long excretions of steamrollering, penetrating brass
notes from Dörner and trombonist Radu Malfatti. Meantime Paul Lytton,
who is pictured in the booklet as having dispensed with a kit for what
appears to be a tabletop tea service of percussion, uses those implements
for cymbal clatter and what could be the sound of nails being run across
a blackboard.
Electronics
controlled by Lytton and violinist Phil Wachsmann further complicates
the mix with sounds that appear to be short wave static, computer whooshes,
radio signal buzzes and air escaping from a balloon. More recognizable
are the blasts from Melvyn Poore's tuba, but even what he does can be
related more to tones than notes.
Accepting
that this program of distended sound textures offers much tension, but
little releases, the path of least resistance is to merely let the music
wash over you like an ocean wave.
With
this type of sound and the many prolonged silences that extend each of
the tracks, can this CD be considered fully successful? According to the
liner notes, even some of the musicians were unsure. It's up to the listener,
then, to be judge and jury. But this disc is surely one that should be
examined by anyone interested in the evolution of modern improvised sounds.
--
Ken Waxman
Track
Listing: Trigger Zone: 1. Area One; 2. Area Two; 3. Area Three; 4. Area
4
Personnel:
Axel Dörner, trumpet; Radu Malfatti, trombone; Melvyn Poore, tuba;
Peter van Bergen, tenor saxophone; Wolfgang Fuchs, sopranino saxophone,
bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet; Phil Wachsmann, violin, live electronics;
Jean-Marc Montera, guitar; Fernando Grillo, bass; Paul Lytton, percussion,
live electronics