MATTHIAS MÜLLER - Triche!
Tour de Bras/Circum-Disc CD TDB9045
Available from Bandcamp
Matthias Müller, trombone; Éric Normand, electric bass; Petr Vrba, trumpet and electronics
Recorded at Studio Amann, Vienna, Austria, 7th June 2019
Euro free-jazz legend, trombonist Matthias Muller, leads this transatlantic trio of decidedly practised improvisers in a set of highly knowledgeable renderings, each unequivocally laid down in either acoustic or electroacoustic, abstract or avant-garde mode. The trio generates the full gamut of sounds possible from their instruments, delivering aural sketches drawn with euphonic austerity and fully coloured soundscapes of intricate diversity of timbre, rhythm and clamour.
Müller has absolute control over his trombone: he applies practised methods such as circular breathing and overblowing in his play, but his eccentric methods are controlled by the music not by his whim. To this end he pays full attention to what he and the other two are doing. They too are listening carefully and the interaction enhances their auditory revelations. Müller, as an adjunct to his improvised music, is also an interpreter of new music and writes music for dance and theatre.
Eric Normand is an improviser, composer and songwriter who developed his own radical playing style on a homemade electric bass that he fitted with microphones and other devices intended to create electronic feedback.
Petr Vrba, based in Prague, has also been an exhaustive experimenter in free improvisation, with clarinet and trumpet and the addition of pulsating speakers and egg cutters (but I don’t know which type!).
The trio is a forcefully focused entity, creating ingenious sonic elements continuously, and at their peak level. Their interchanges are lavish and enthralling. Their brilliance is articulate and never invasive; they create a fundamental precision through which their improvisations achieve harmony. Superb.
Reviewed by Ken Cheetham
Tour de Bras/Circum-Disc CD TDB9045
Available from Bandcamp
Matthias Müller, trombone; Éric Normand, electric bass; Petr Vrba, trumpet and electronics
Recorded at Studio Amann, Vienna, Austria, 7th June 2019
Euro free-jazz legend, trombonist Matthias Muller, leads this transatlantic trio of decidedly practised improvisers in a set of highly knowledgeable renderings, each unequivocally laid down in either acoustic or electroacoustic, abstract or avant-garde mode. The trio generates the full gamut of sounds possible from their instruments, delivering aural sketches drawn with euphonic austerity and fully coloured soundscapes of intricate diversity of timbre, rhythm and clamour.
Müller has absolute control over his trombone: he applies practised methods such as circular breathing and overblowing in his play, but his eccentric methods are controlled by the music not by his whim. To this end he pays full attention to what he and the other two are doing. They too are listening carefully and the interaction enhances their auditory revelations. Müller, as an adjunct to his improvised music, is also an interpreter of new music and writes music for dance and theatre.
Eric Normand is an improviser, composer and songwriter who developed his own radical playing style on a homemade electric bass that he fitted with microphones and other devices intended to create electronic feedback.
Petr Vrba, based in Prague, has also been an exhaustive experimenter in free improvisation, with clarinet and trumpet and the addition of pulsating speakers and egg cutters (but I don’t know which type!).
The trio is a forcefully focused entity, creating ingenious sonic elements continuously, and at their peak level. Their interchanges are lavish and enthralling. Their brilliance is articulate and never invasive; they create a fundamental precision through which their improvisations achieve harmony. Superb.
Reviewed by Ken Cheetham
