AKI TAKASE JAPANIC - Thema Prima
Budapest Music Center: BMC CD 268
Aki Takase: piano; Daniel Erdmann: saxophone; DJ Illvide: turntables, electronics; Johannes Fink: double bass; Dag Magnus Narvesen: drums
Recorded 6th – 8th August 2018 by Tamas Devenyi at BMC Studio, Budapest
Takase has been working with turntablist DJ Illvide since the turn of the century (initially in the Lok 03 collective, and now in Japanic). What he brings to the music on this set, often improvised, is a quest for different noises that forces the other players to extend their own conceptions of tone and structure. It would, I guess, be easy for this to come across as a gimmick that either sidelines the other musicians or that drifts off when the ‘real’ music starts. And it is to the credit of all concerned here that the music is so indebted to discovering the varieties of sound and rhythm that he creates for them. To this, the players need to not only have confidence in their own playing but also a willingness to surrender to the chances that improvisation creates. As if this was not enough, Takase is also fascinated by the approaches to composition of Conlon Nancarrow who, among other fascinating musical experiments, sought to compose for player pianos to create tunes that would be beyond human capability. With the turntables and electronics, Takase is pushing beyond Nancarrow’s analogue world into a new realm of digital sounds, to create equally disconcerting, and equally creative music. Across this pieces, the piano lines feel inhumanly complex; and yet, in Takase’s hands, also sensitive, yearning and emotive. The same can be said for the ways in which the saxophone lines find a way of working between the complexity of the compositions and the noisescape constructed by the scratching and effects of DJ Illvibe.
Hard to credit that Takase is over 70 years old because on this set, she is in absolute command of proceedings – shifting her piano playing from sonorous classicism to scattered avant-jazz runs. A good example of this is ‘Mannen I tarnet’ (track 4), which also features interplay between turntable and saxophone – together with a rhythm section that provides a driving, post-bop intensity. The title track ( track 2) and ‘Wustenschiff’ (track 5) showcase DJ Illvibe and exemplify how Takase responds to his mixing. In ‘Wustenschiff’, the scratching and mixing feels as if it is drawing from various Middle Eastern recordings (although I also wondered whether these might have been European String Quartets played very slowly, combined with ), and this air is reflected by the initial lines played by the saxophone and piano. There are a couple of tunes where DJ Illvibe or Takase drop out, showing the other players the range of composition in the group. But I felt that every time Takase re-entered, either taking a solo or providing direction, the pieces had an extra depth. While she is adept at playing so many different styles on music and worked with so many different figures in the contemporary avant-garde scene, this recording feels like she has staked a claim in an original and very individual approach to music-making – and she is fortunate to have gathered around her so many like-minded individuals to create a unique and very exciting recording.
Reviewed Chris Baber
Budapest Music Center: BMC CD 268
Aki Takase: piano; Daniel Erdmann: saxophone; DJ Illvide: turntables, electronics; Johannes Fink: double bass; Dag Magnus Narvesen: drums
Recorded 6th – 8th August 2018 by Tamas Devenyi at BMC Studio, Budapest
Takase has been working with turntablist DJ Illvide since the turn of the century (initially in the Lok 03 collective, and now in Japanic). What he brings to the music on this set, often improvised, is a quest for different noises that forces the other players to extend their own conceptions of tone and structure. It would, I guess, be easy for this to come across as a gimmick that either sidelines the other musicians or that drifts off when the ‘real’ music starts. And it is to the credit of all concerned here that the music is so indebted to discovering the varieties of sound and rhythm that he creates for them. To this, the players need to not only have confidence in their own playing but also a willingness to surrender to the chances that improvisation creates. As if this was not enough, Takase is also fascinated by the approaches to composition of Conlon Nancarrow who, among other fascinating musical experiments, sought to compose for player pianos to create tunes that would be beyond human capability. With the turntables and electronics, Takase is pushing beyond Nancarrow’s analogue world into a new realm of digital sounds, to create equally disconcerting, and equally creative music. Across this pieces, the piano lines feel inhumanly complex; and yet, in Takase’s hands, also sensitive, yearning and emotive. The same can be said for the ways in which the saxophone lines find a way of working between the complexity of the compositions and the noisescape constructed by the scratching and effects of DJ Illvibe.
Hard to credit that Takase is over 70 years old because on this set, she is in absolute command of proceedings – shifting her piano playing from sonorous classicism to scattered avant-jazz runs. A good example of this is ‘Mannen I tarnet’ (track 4), which also features interplay between turntable and saxophone – together with a rhythm section that provides a driving, post-bop intensity. The title track ( track 2) and ‘Wustenschiff’ (track 5) showcase DJ Illvibe and exemplify how Takase responds to his mixing. In ‘Wustenschiff’, the scratching and mixing feels as if it is drawing from various Middle Eastern recordings (although I also wondered whether these might have been European String Quartets played very slowly, combined with ), and this air is reflected by the initial lines played by the saxophone and piano. There are a couple of tunes where DJ Illvibe or Takase drop out, showing the other players the range of composition in the group. But I felt that every time Takase re-entered, either taking a solo or providing direction, the pieces had an extra depth. While she is adept at playing so many different styles on music and worked with so many different figures in the contemporary avant-garde scene, this recording feels like she has staked a claim in an original and very individual approach to music-making – and she is fortunate to have gathered around her so many like-minded individuals to create a unique and very exciting recording.
Reviewed Chris Baber
