hin |cs159

Creative Sources Records led by Ernesto Rodrigues is a class for itself when it comes to publishing the qualitative materials from all the corners of Europe and the rest of the world. The biggest asset of this label is that it never blocks itself in just one alley, one path of musical thinking, composing or improvising aspect or path.
Three gentlemen here present a very mellow and straight-forward approach. Acoustic improvised tracks derived from free improv bear yet a great deal of ingenuity and intimacy which is rather rare when we talk about music which doesn't really include all kinds of drones or burdones which usually falsify the meaning of ambient. Not everything what creates great ambience should neccesarily bear such means.
...with a lot sense of humor...Nils' flute and picollo pay attentive watch over the whole of material not to be overdone.
Very pleasant experience...thanks Ernesto! Hubert Napiorski (Felthat)

Disposés de part et d’autre de la belle contrebasse de Phillipp, les deux souffleurs (saxophones soprano & ténor ; flûte & piccolo), s’ébattent en agiles dentelliers, grinçant à l’occasion, venant régulièrement refourbir pelotes et aiguilles dans de petites volières agacées, pépiantes. Est-ce manière de se conforter, de se redynamiser, d’avouer la difficulté à trouver la bonne distance, le bon pouls ? L’archet indique souvent de passionnantes directions : au travail, le trio se cherche, et se trouve parfois. Guillaume Tarche (Le Son du Grisli)

Organic sounds with a theist dimension, at least as the flautist is probably concerned, HIN – title undefined – matches players from three different cities in a 55-minute slab of uncompromising improv.
That the result is so satisfying after it boots along in multiphonic cohesion for nearly an hour, is a tribute both to the individuals’ skill as well as the ultimate malleability of sonic free expression.
Tenor and soprano saxophonist Urs Leimgruber, from Luzern, Switzerland, is the most-travelled participant here, having been in bands with players as disparate as guitarist Christy Doran and bassist Joëlle Léandre. Wuppertal-based bassist Ulrich Phillipp is a member of Zeitkratzer, among other ensembles. Meanwhile Nils Gerold from Bremen, who plays both flute and piccolo, is a frequent guest of the TonArt Ensemble and wrote his graduating thesis on religious tendencies in free jazz and improvised music.
Not that there are any overtly spiritual messages in HIN, compared to, say, John Coltrane’s later music. But the mere fact of concentrating on the coefficients of pure music, a dimension of mysticism is implicit. Like the Holy Trinity, each musician has a defined role to play, but the only transubstantiation that occurs here is the blending and altering of textures.
Essentially, throughout, Phillipp’s pulses and pops serve as both the rhythmic base which supports the two reed players as well as a Greek chorus commenting on their ethereal sonic flights. Distant at junctures, the bassist also contributes resolute string sweeps and col legno buzzing to keep the interaction chromatic. In contrast, his
occasional spiccato jetes give notice that his solo skills remain untapped.
Gerold’s and Leimgruber’s game plan involves variants of connections, counterpoint and cynosure. With soprano saxophone split tones plus continuously high pitched shrieks from the other player’s traverse instruments, timbres are sometimes indistinguishable or mirrored. However to the extent that the saxophonist’s unaccented air, masked breaths and static flow keep him in the background, unexpected sequences of staccato tonguestopping, percussive tongue slaps and masticating reed bites confirm his commitment. So does judicious use of spetrofluctuation.
Similarly, although nearly continuous, the flutist’s facile and flighty peeps demand deep-breathed or resonating replies from Leimgruber’s horns. That way the dual improvisation isn’t buried beneath metallic cross tones and chirping glissandi from either man.
Magisterial, diaphragm-resonating tenor sax tones are displayed in double counterpart alongside Phillipp’s double stopping, glissandi and strained below-the-bridge pumps. Several times these are appended to split-second chirps from Gerold and Leimgruber’s nearly carnivorous reed bites. At these points intervals appear, only to gradually inflate to moderato oscillations made up of Leimgruber basset-horn like cries, rubato wisps from the flutist and spiccato slices from Phillipp in equal parts.
During the improvisation’s penultimate and ultimate variations, harmonic melding is achieved. Single-line plucks from Phillipp harden into sul ponticello string raps; Leimgruber’s whistles and tongue slaps turn to spittle-encrusted slurps, and Gerold’s haphazard flutters turn to rhythmic chirrups. Wide-bore and staccato a final conga-like slap from the bassist signals a triplelayered, atonal rapprochement.
As fascinating in its elaboration as its conclusion, HIN may confirm the spiritualism of musical exploration. Ken Waxman (Jazz Word)

HIN : le magnifique contrebassiste de Wiesbaden, Ulrich Philippe et le saxophoniste suisse Urs Leimgruber rencontrent le flütiste Nils Gerold dans une sarabande acoustique du plus bel effet. Nils Gerold est un excellent improvisateur aux flûtes et un activiste de la scène à Bremen. Les deux souffleurs mêlent leur voix pour n'en faire qu'une. Cela rend leurs improvisations tout à fait intrigantes, Lcimgrubcr privilégiant les aigus avec la plus grande finesse. Sur la pochette, je crois comprendre qu'il s'agit d'une composition de Leimgruber.
Contrairement à Christmann qui préfère toujours les petits morceaux (15 dans Core), notre trio fait le pari de jouer une heure durant et de faire évoluer les échanges sans que líntérêt faiblisse. Le bassiste est particulièrement habile à inventer sa partie avec une indépendance assumée et sontravail à J'archet est un des plus beaux qui soient. Une vraie belle réussite. Jean-Michel van Schouwbourg

Organic sounds with a spiritual bent, HIN matches
players from different cities in a 55-minute slab of
uncompromising improv. That the result is so satisfying
is a tribute both to the individuals’ skills as well as the
malleability of free expression.
Saxist Urs Leimgruber from Luzern, Switzerland
has worked with players as disparate as guitarist
Christy Doran and bassist Joëlle Léandre. Wiesbaden,
Germany-based bassist Ulrich Phillipp organizes that
city’s annual Human Noise Congress. Bremen’s Nils
Gerold, who plays flute and piccolo, wrote his graduate
thesis on religious tendencies in improvised music. By
concentrating on pure music, a dimension of
spirituality is implicit. Like the Holy Trinity, each
player has a defined role, but the only transubstantiation
that occurs is the blending and altering of textures.
Phillipp’s pulses and pops serve as both the
rhythmic base, which supports the two reed players, as
well as the Greek chorus commenting on their ethereal
flights. Distant at junctures, the bassist also contributes
resolute string sweeps and buzzes to keep the
interaction linear. In contrast, Gerold and Leimgruber’s
gameplan involves variants of connections,
counterpoint and cynosure. Soprano saxophone split
tones and high-pitched shrieks from the flute are
sometimes indistinguishable. However, sequences of
staccato tongue-stopping and slapping plus masticating
reed bites confirm the saxist’s individuality. Conversely,
although nearly continuous, the flutist’s flighty peeps
call for resonating replies from Leimgruber’s horns.
During the improvisation’s penultimate and ultimate
variations, harmonic melding is achieved. Single-line
plucks from Phillipp harden into stretched string stops;
Leimgruber’s whistles and tongue slaps turn to spittleencrusted
slurps and Gerold’s haphazard flutters turn
to cadenced chirrups. As fascinating in its elaboration
as its conclusion, even to agnostics HIN may suggest
the mysticism of musical exploration.Ken Waxman (The New York City Jazz Record)