ANDERS LØNNE GRØNSETH - Mini Macro Ensemble 2nd Edition Volume 1
Pling music PLING012
Anders Lønne Grønseth: soprano, tenor, baritone saxophones, bass clarinet; Hanne Rekdal: concert, alto, bass flutes, bassoon; Morten Barrikmo: soprano, bass, contrabass clarinets; Martin Taxt: tuba; Sigrun Eng: cello; Audun Ellingsen: contrabass; Anders Aarum: piano, fender Rhodes; Andreas Bratlie: tabla, percussion.
David Baker, in his book Modern Concepts in Jazz Improvisation, suggests that bitonality (where a piece of music has two tonal centres simultaneously) can be heard in pretty much all of modern jazz. For some pieces this could simply be the consequence of playing a diminished chord on top of a seventh chord, for others it could be the result of slips when playing pentatonic scales or from repeated playing of fourths. The question of how to define bitonality and how much of each of the two chords ought to be played (too much overlap and the effect gets lost, too little and it is not so easy to get a sense of resolution) remains a matter of debate. Anders Lønne Grønseth has been developing his own theory of how a bitonal scale system could be defined and exploited [www.andersgronseth.com]. Much of his theory draws together concepts from Middle Eastern maqam, Indian raga and modal concepts of 20th Century Western composed music, and his aim is to produce a bitonal framework which is equally suited to composition and improvisation.
For many of the pieces on this CD (the first of two volumes to be released this year), the music draws on Western composed music, with pieces feeling particularly indebted to composers like Takemitsu. What is fascinating about the pieces is the way in which the theory that underlies the music never intrudes on the development of the piece; one never feels as if this is a mere cerebral exercise in solving the problem of bitonality, but there is always a sense of harmony and progression in the pieces. The debt to maqam and raga is much less apparent across the CD; while the tabla makes regular appearances, it does not seem to drive the rhythm of the music so much as provide rather polite embellishments. What was striking is the way in which the fender Rhodes playing of Anders Aarum, particularly in the opening track Aureolin, complements and challenges the music, threatening to force the players to shift into areas of improvisation that many of the other pieces seem to constrain, or in the closing Malachite it produces spooky chords to spin around the wind instruments. However, this unbuttoning is rare across the majority of the pieces which feel more restrained.
Grønseth’s playing, particularly in the lower registers, reminded me of John Surman and the track, Coquelicot, builds wonderfully with flute trills to develop an insistent pulse over which the theme unfolds. Where the pieces do move into more recognisable jazz idiom, the sense is of Frank Zappa’s Jazz from Hell, rather than more recognisable jazz motifs and rhythms. An interesting digression from chamber music comes in the form of Auro Metal Saurus in which the instruments feel pushed to their limits in producing a collection of sounds which sound as if they had been electronically synthesised and mixed together.
As an exploration and development of Grønseth’s musical theory this is an interesting collection of pieces, but, better still, the CD works a sequence of tunes which create a fascinating set of textures and thematic possibilities. I am looking forward to volume 2 and hoping that the pieces there will develop more of the maqam and raga aspects of Gronseth’s thinking (as in his Sema Suite for Sufi Spinning on the 2008 Mini Macro Ensemble CD which featured strings).
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Pling music PLING012
Anders Lønne Grønseth: soprano, tenor, baritone saxophones, bass clarinet; Hanne Rekdal: concert, alto, bass flutes, bassoon; Morten Barrikmo: soprano, bass, contrabass clarinets; Martin Taxt: tuba; Sigrun Eng: cello; Audun Ellingsen: contrabass; Anders Aarum: piano, fender Rhodes; Andreas Bratlie: tabla, percussion.
David Baker, in his book Modern Concepts in Jazz Improvisation, suggests that bitonality (where a piece of music has two tonal centres simultaneously) can be heard in pretty much all of modern jazz. For some pieces this could simply be the consequence of playing a diminished chord on top of a seventh chord, for others it could be the result of slips when playing pentatonic scales or from repeated playing of fourths. The question of how to define bitonality and how much of each of the two chords ought to be played (too much overlap and the effect gets lost, too little and it is not so easy to get a sense of resolution) remains a matter of debate. Anders Lønne Grønseth has been developing his own theory of how a bitonal scale system could be defined and exploited [www.andersgronseth.com]. Much of his theory draws together concepts from Middle Eastern maqam, Indian raga and modal concepts of 20th Century Western composed music, and his aim is to produce a bitonal framework which is equally suited to composition and improvisation.
For many of the pieces on this CD (the first of two volumes to be released this year), the music draws on Western composed music, with pieces feeling particularly indebted to composers like Takemitsu. What is fascinating about the pieces is the way in which the theory that underlies the music never intrudes on the development of the piece; one never feels as if this is a mere cerebral exercise in solving the problem of bitonality, but there is always a sense of harmony and progression in the pieces. The debt to maqam and raga is much less apparent across the CD; while the tabla makes regular appearances, it does not seem to drive the rhythm of the music so much as provide rather polite embellishments. What was striking is the way in which the fender Rhodes playing of Anders Aarum, particularly in the opening track Aureolin, complements and challenges the music, threatening to force the players to shift into areas of improvisation that many of the other pieces seem to constrain, or in the closing Malachite it produces spooky chords to spin around the wind instruments. However, this unbuttoning is rare across the majority of the pieces which feel more restrained.
Grønseth’s playing, particularly in the lower registers, reminded me of John Surman and the track, Coquelicot, builds wonderfully with flute trills to develop an insistent pulse over which the theme unfolds. Where the pieces do move into more recognisable jazz idiom, the sense is of Frank Zappa’s Jazz from Hell, rather than more recognisable jazz motifs and rhythms. An interesting digression from chamber music comes in the form of Auro Metal Saurus in which the instruments feel pushed to their limits in producing a collection of sounds which sound as if they had been electronically synthesised and mixed together.
As an exploration and development of Grønseth’s musical theory this is an interesting collection of pieces, but, better still, the CD works a sequence of tunes which create a fascinating set of textures and thematic possibilities. I am looking forward to volume 2 and hoping that the pieces there will develop more of the maqam and raga aspects of Gronseth’s thinking (as in his Sema Suite for Sufi Spinning on the 2008 Mini Macro Ensemble CD which featured strings).
Reviewed by Chris Baber
