SETH BENNETT - En bas Quartet
released by Seth Bennett
Seth Bennett: double bass; Aby Vulliamy: viola; Benedict Taylor: viola; Alice Eldridge: cello.
The idea of a string quartet improvising is quite intriguing. This CD contains 4 tracks (named Movement 1, Movement 2, etc.) recorded in a single session, lasting 6 and ½ hours, in Leeds. The pieces are collected together under the name ‘En Bas’, which means down (or from my recollection of school French, downstairs). The instruments used in the quartet, viola, ‘cello and double bass were chosen for their low register. The pieces themselves are inspired by early 20th century chamber music and Northumbrian folk music, and these influences come to the fore on the playing.
The four players come from a variety of musical backgrounds. For example, Eldridge plays in the Collectress (a multimedia, avant-pop performance group) and with folk singers; Vulliamy plays in a free-folk scene and with a jazz trio; Taylor plays free and improve scenes and runs the Cram record label (which specialises in improvised music). Having said that, it is not always easy to discern where composition ends and improvisation begins. This is either testament to the ease with which the players shared ideas and worked these during their time together, or might suggest that the familiarity with particular themes from the folk tradition provides a shared language to allow them to quickly respond to each other. This is not to suggest that improvisation needs to be unfocussed or continuously surprising for the listener. Certainly, when you consider the variety of forms of improvisation that Derek Bailey describes in his 1992 book, there is a place for all forms of spontaneous composition. The melodic, melancholic Movements on this recording show a tight interplay between the artists and if this was the result of them playing previous unheard or unknown pieces, and if this felt (for the players) as if the pieces were being formed during their playing, then this is improvisation. For this listener, the challenge here was to discern the points at which spontaneity was pulling the pieces in new and unexpected directions.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
released by Seth Bennett
Seth Bennett: double bass; Aby Vulliamy: viola; Benedict Taylor: viola; Alice Eldridge: cello.
The idea of a string quartet improvising is quite intriguing. This CD contains 4 tracks (named Movement 1, Movement 2, etc.) recorded in a single session, lasting 6 and ½ hours, in Leeds. The pieces are collected together under the name ‘En Bas’, which means down (or from my recollection of school French, downstairs). The instruments used in the quartet, viola, ‘cello and double bass were chosen for their low register. The pieces themselves are inspired by early 20th century chamber music and Northumbrian folk music, and these influences come to the fore on the playing.
The four players come from a variety of musical backgrounds. For example, Eldridge plays in the Collectress (a multimedia, avant-pop performance group) and with folk singers; Vulliamy plays in a free-folk scene and with a jazz trio; Taylor plays free and improve scenes and runs the Cram record label (which specialises in improvised music). Having said that, it is not always easy to discern where composition ends and improvisation begins. This is either testament to the ease with which the players shared ideas and worked these during their time together, or might suggest that the familiarity with particular themes from the folk tradition provides a shared language to allow them to quickly respond to each other. This is not to suggest that improvisation needs to be unfocussed or continuously surprising for the listener. Certainly, when you consider the variety of forms of improvisation that Derek Bailey describes in his 1992 book, there is a place for all forms of spontaneous composition. The melodic, melancholic Movements on this recording show a tight interplay between the artists and if this was the result of them playing previous unheard or unknown pieces, and if this felt (for the players) as if the pieces were being formed during their playing, then this is improvisation. For this listener, the challenge here was to discern the points at which spontaneity was pulling the pieces in new and unexpected directions.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
