BARRAGE - This Was And Is To Come
Ora Fonogram: ORA158
Signe Emmeleuth: alto saxophone, bass clarinet; Christian Cuadra: soprano saxophone, alto saxophone; Erling Skorpen: trumpet; Elend Kongtorp: tenor saxophone, alto saxophone; Hogne Kleiberg: piano; Ingvald Vassbo: drums; Alexander Riris: double bass
Recorded by Jo Ranheim at Ora Studio
This group is led by 25 year-old bassist Alexander Riris. What immediately caught my eye on the personnel was the presence of Signe Emmeleuth - whose work with her ‘Amoeba’ group I’ve enjoyed, and which raised expectations of exciting and challenging contemporary jazz. This set has that in great handfuls, with the group playing Riris’ challenging compositions with warmth, compassion and humour. Across the pieces, Riris has a well-developed grasp of 12-tone compositional technique, using this in ways that create sounds that show an individual voice but also imbued with swing and panache. The cover art also highlights the graphical notation of his compositions – which I know less about, but I guess provide the musicians with the cues and the hooks to let them jump off and rejoin in exactly the right places, because the solos they take are equally as spell-binding as the composed sections.
Most of the titles on this set are in English and rather seem as if there is a cryptic puzzle to solve (‘To come’, ‘The was’, ‘O’, ‘Is and / and is’). ‘For Mark’ and ‘Moriarty’ are a little more obvious (although the latter could be Sherlock Holmes’ enemy, Dean from ‘on the road’ or Norwegian rock musician Magnus – and all would be fitting nominees for the tune’s title and playfulness). The three titles of tunes that are Norwegian translate as clear indications of what we’re listening to (‘up up down down #1’, track 3, ‘up up down down #2’, track 6, and ‘wind quartet’, track 8) – although each plays with the structure that their titles imply; so, the ‘wind quartet’ might have four instruments but the sounds that they are making, from burbling trumpet to pops and click and rumbles on bass clarinet, produce something that sounds much larger. And is it this largeness of sound that I felt characterises Barrage and its ambitions, and the scope of Riris’ compositions.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Ora Fonogram: ORA158
Signe Emmeleuth: alto saxophone, bass clarinet; Christian Cuadra: soprano saxophone, alto saxophone; Erling Skorpen: trumpet; Elend Kongtorp: tenor saxophone, alto saxophone; Hogne Kleiberg: piano; Ingvald Vassbo: drums; Alexander Riris: double bass
Recorded by Jo Ranheim at Ora Studio
This group is led by 25 year-old bassist Alexander Riris. What immediately caught my eye on the personnel was the presence of Signe Emmeleuth - whose work with her ‘Amoeba’ group I’ve enjoyed, and which raised expectations of exciting and challenging contemporary jazz. This set has that in great handfuls, with the group playing Riris’ challenging compositions with warmth, compassion and humour. Across the pieces, Riris has a well-developed grasp of 12-tone compositional technique, using this in ways that create sounds that show an individual voice but also imbued with swing and panache. The cover art also highlights the graphical notation of his compositions – which I know less about, but I guess provide the musicians with the cues and the hooks to let them jump off and rejoin in exactly the right places, because the solos they take are equally as spell-binding as the composed sections.
Most of the titles on this set are in English and rather seem as if there is a cryptic puzzle to solve (‘To come’, ‘The was’, ‘O’, ‘Is and / and is’). ‘For Mark’ and ‘Moriarty’ are a little more obvious (although the latter could be Sherlock Holmes’ enemy, Dean from ‘on the road’ or Norwegian rock musician Magnus – and all would be fitting nominees for the tune’s title and playfulness). The three titles of tunes that are Norwegian translate as clear indications of what we’re listening to (‘up up down down #1’, track 3, ‘up up down down #2’, track 6, and ‘wind quartet’, track 8) – although each plays with the structure that their titles imply; so, the ‘wind quartet’ might have four instruments but the sounds that they are making, from burbling trumpet to pops and click and rumbles on bass clarinet, produce something that sounds much larger. And is it this largeness of sound that I felt characterises Barrage and its ambitions, and the scope of Riris’ compositions.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
