ARTHUR HNATEK TRIO - Static
Whirlwind: WR4770
Arthur Hnatek: drums; Fabien Iannone: upright bass; Franceso Geminiani: tenor saxophone
Recorded by Valenti Liechti at Suburban Sound, Winterthur, Switzerland.
Despite the combination of instruments, the mix of this album, with the deep resonance of the bass pushed high, the sax with layers of echo and reverb, and the pulsing drum patterns, make it difficult to classify the music into even the broad church of contemporary jazz. There is as much here from the German rock (particularly the kosmische Musik of bands of the Can, Neu!, Faust era) as from contemporary dance (the latter evidenced by the inclusion of ‘Midi Sans Frontiers’, a ballad from Squarepusher’s Tom Jenkinson) – but all of this is leavened with a fascination with polyphonic rhythms that edge the trios sound into jazz. What I particularly enjoyed was the ways in which complex drum riffs are repeated to such an extent that the listener hears a pulsing motoric beat that drives the music as much as (or more than) the intricacies of the rhythmic patterns. Repeated listening, with an ear to the ways in which Hnatek makes use of his kit to produce a wide range of sounds, and the ways in which electronic effects produce subtle distortions to these sounds, begins to give insight into his compositional and improvisational approach. This is particularly apparent on ‘In Three’, track 6, where the recording (with combinations of microphones triggering under different timings) shifts the sounds of the kit from a synth-drum of the ‘80s to hammered metal to tuned tom-toms, all while the saxophone swirls through various effects and the bass bounces along its own rhythmic path. Titles like ‘Monotonous’, the opener (or the title track ‘Static’, track 7, must have been chosen very much tongue-in-cheek because the music is anything but these things (nor, for that matter, is ‘In Three’, track 6, obviously a waltz). Each of the pieces have a life of its own which gives the impression of the trio wrestling with living forms. This is partly from the complexity of the rhythms and partly from the lively improvisation, but, particularly with the melodies that Geminiani produces to soar over the drum and bass lines. While Hnatek has built a career accompanying some great musicians, on this outing we hope that he’ll continue to develop his own ideas and to play in this marvellous trio.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Whirlwind: WR4770
Arthur Hnatek: drums; Fabien Iannone: upright bass; Franceso Geminiani: tenor saxophone
Recorded by Valenti Liechti at Suburban Sound, Winterthur, Switzerland.
Despite the combination of instruments, the mix of this album, with the deep resonance of the bass pushed high, the sax with layers of echo and reverb, and the pulsing drum patterns, make it difficult to classify the music into even the broad church of contemporary jazz. There is as much here from the German rock (particularly the kosmische Musik of bands of the Can, Neu!, Faust era) as from contemporary dance (the latter evidenced by the inclusion of ‘Midi Sans Frontiers’, a ballad from Squarepusher’s Tom Jenkinson) – but all of this is leavened with a fascination with polyphonic rhythms that edge the trios sound into jazz. What I particularly enjoyed was the ways in which complex drum riffs are repeated to such an extent that the listener hears a pulsing motoric beat that drives the music as much as (or more than) the intricacies of the rhythmic patterns. Repeated listening, with an ear to the ways in which Hnatek makes use of his kit to produce a wide range of sounds, and the ways in which electronic effects produce subtle distortions to these sounds, begins to give insight into his compositional and improvisational approach. This is particularly apparent on ‘In Three’, track 6, where the recording (with combinations of microphones triggering under different timings) shifts the sounds of the kit from a synth-drum of the ‘80s to hammered metal to tuned tom-toms, all while the saxophone swirls through various effects and the bass bounces along its own rhythmic path. Titles like ‘Monotonous’, the opener (or the title track ‘Static’, track 7, must have been chosen very much tongue-in-cheek because the music is anything but these things (nor, for that matter, is ‘In Three’, track 6, obviously a waltz). Each of the pieces have a life of its own which gives the impression of the trio wrestling with living forms. This is partly from the complexity of the rhythms and partly from the lively improvisation, but, particularly with the melodies that Geminiani produces to soar over the drum and bass lines. While Hnatek has built a career accompanying some great musicians, on this outing we hope that he’ll continue to develop his own ideas and to play in this marvellous trio.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
