Rebels, Travelers & Improvisers

ICTUS 132

John Fisher, Theo Jörgensmann, Lester Bowie, Alvin Curran, Giancarlo Schiaffini, Melvin Poore, Evan Parker, Lol Coxhill, Martin Joseph, Eugenio Colombo, Tony Oxley, Andrea Centazzo

Tracklist: 01 – The Breghenz Session (13:11) | 02 – Church Music #1 (10:07)  | 03 – Church Music #2 (10:38) | 04 – Church Music #3 (5:05)  | 05 – The Innsbruck Session #1 (5:16)  | 06 – The Innsbruck Session #2 (8:47)  | 07 – Rebels, Travelers & Improvisers (15:22)

This is a compilation of music performed with some of the groups I was collaborating from the ICTUS beginning to the end. Actually here you’ll hear the very first group, a quartet with Evan Parker, Eugenio Colombo and Marting Joseph, recorded in Pistoia in 1977 and the last one the combo with John Fisher, Theo Jorgesmann, Melvin Poore recorded at the Breghenz Jazz Festival in Austria. Pistoia has been my home for a couple of years while I was collaborating as sound designer with the gong and cymbals company UFIP: Evan Parker came for a workshop and some duo concerts and while there, Martin and Eugenio joined in for this one night performance. I met John Fisher in NY the 70s when he was the king of the loft music, usually performing at the Environment in Soho. Later John moved to Swiss and got in contact with Theo who was at the time performing extensively with my Mitteleuropa Orchestra. Jorgesmann was the one contacting me for a new quartet project that premiered at the Breghenz Jazz Festival in July 1983. This was one of the last of my improvised music performances under ICTUS label… until my comeback in April 2005. I had a long collaboration and friendship with Lol and Franz spanning some 4 years… duos, trios and orchestra were the common ground of work. The two tracks with Franz Koglmann and Lol Coxhill were recorded in Innsbruck, Austria at the Krinzinger Gallery, an Art Gallery devoted to the avant-garde concerts. The last track on this compilation is a very special one: the sextet that you can hear here was part of an orchestral project held in Modena in 1976 where many musicians were performing in different combination from duos to full big band. I casually found this cassette (yes, a cassette!!!) and after a careful digitally re-mastering I decided to include it in the compilation even if the sound is not the best possible. But considering that it was a cheap cassette full of beautiful music left untouched for 30 years, I thought that was worth of publication! Andrea Centazzo

Andrea Centazzo names this album after the last track, “Rebels, Travelers and Improvisers,” a title he could have ascribed to the entire 12-CD box set of which this recording is a part. In some ways, the instant recording is a good finale, bringing together a diverse collection of takes selected by Centazzo, and offering a glimpse at the dazzling, sometimes dizzying array of talent that the Italian percussionist attracted throughout the collection. The opening “Breghenz Session” brings together the talented, though rarely heard, American pianist, John Fisher, joined by Centazzo, of course, on percussion, and an odd but potent combination of clarinet and tuba on the front line. Tuba player Melvyn Poore impresses with multi-phonics and advanced technique, while Theo Jörgensmann affirms his skill as a fluid and jazz-oriented clarinetist. The piece explores a variety of moods, with the musicians changing pace on the spot and Centazzo offering a deliciously extended solo on percussion. Despite the reference to church music, the following three tracks have nothing to do with the Holy Spirit, instead offering a hodgepodge of concentrated improvisations by Evan Parker and Eugenio Colombo, two European saxophone heavyweights. They reach a zenith on “Church Music #2″ with intense and mesmerizing interlocking horns. Martin Joseph’s electric piano may be dated and the sound a little distorted, but his skills were up to the task, and he mastered the difficult effort of knowing when to lay low. Besides offering some exciting results, these three tracks capture a rare collaboration between the two reed players in an intimate setting. Centazzo is particularly inspired by the collaboration, which brings out his confident, more aggressive side, though occasionally his solos run a tad too long. Nonetheless, his contributions in support and as an improviser on both “Church Music #1″ and “Church Music #2″ are among his best on disc.

The trio of Centazzo, Lol Coxhill, and Franz Koglmann improvises extensively on “The Innsbruck Session #1″ and “The Innsbruck Session #2,” but considering the expectations, and despite the special moments such as the trumpeter’s appealingly untrammeled, uncharacteristic emotional outbursts on the latter, neither track really takes off, and the main appeal is the chance to hear the two musical giants in a small group setting performing together fairly conventionally with sympathetic backing. The personnel on the eponymous last cut would curl the hair of almost anyone who enjoys free jazz: an extremely rare and talented three-horn line of saxophonist Evan Parker, trumpeter Lester Bowie, and trombonist Giancarlo Schiaffini, with Alvin Curran on piano and synthesizer, and Centazzo and Tony Oxley on percussion. Alas, while Centazzo does a miraculous job in digitally remastering the cassette tape used to record this performance, there are clearly missed opportunities, and, in fact, the trombonist is barely heard from, while Parker dominates the horns, and Bowie is not quite up to par. One important highlight is a long and fascinating joint improvisation by the two percussionists, and Curran juices it up just enough on synth to give it an extra lift. The players never fully tale advantage, though, of the format of the sextet as they frequently break into smaller configurations. by Steven Loewy

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