the long and the short of it |cs091

Dans The long and the short of it (CS 091), le saxophoniste sopranino Stefan Keune synthétise avec beaucoup de pertinence les apports respectifs du free jazz le plus éclaté et l’impro radicale dans le droit fil du Spontaneous Music Ensemble. Hans Schneider et Achim Kramer formaient déjà une excellente paire basse et batterie il y a trente ans. Ici, ils virent au délire SME, comme autrefois dans une arrière-salle de pub de la banlieue londonienne, la morgue provocante de feu John Stevens en moins. Rien que cet instrument, le sopranino doit vous mettre la puce à l’oreille. Il n’y a pas trente-six saxophonistes qui maîtrisent le sax sopranino dans la planète impro et qui s’en servent autrement que comme un élément de décor aléatoire. Parmi eux, Michel Doneda, Wolfgang Fuchs et surtout Stefan Keune, connu pour son excellent duo avec le guitariste John Russell (Frequency of Use / Nurnichtnur et Excerpts and Offering / Acta, dernières copies chez Improjazz). Alors, Stefan est un saxophoniste aussi fin qu’énergétique avec un doigté aussi infernal que sa prise de bec. Creative Sources a à son actif Sunday Sundaes, l’excellent album solo de Keune et un véritable tour de force du sax sopranino to comme The long and the short of it. J-M Van Schouwburg (Improjazz)

Keune, Schneider i Krämer nie naleza do grupy artystów medialnie nosnych. Jesli nawet wezmie sie poprawke na niszowosc jazzu i muzyki improwizowanej, sprawiajaca, ze o tych gatunkach poczytac mozna niemal wylacznie na lamach specjalistycznych periodyków oraz stronach serwisów prowadzonych przez garstke zapalenców, przyznac nalezy, ze nie sa to muzycy powszechnie znani.
Sadze, ze bez wiekszego ryzyka moge wiec napisac, ze "The Long and The Short of It" raczej nie bedzie cieszyc sie powodzeniem na jakie zasluguje.
A szkoda, bo plyta to calkiem udana, której za jedyna wade uznac mozna tylko czas trwania. Sluchanie abstrakcyjnej jazzowej improwizacji przez blisko 70 minut nie jest wszak rzecza latwa. Jednak latwo mozna temu zaradzic, dawkujac
sobie muzyke i wedrujac przez meandry "The Long and The Short of It" etapami. Muzyka tria, stanowiacego w pewnym sensie przedluzenie zawiazanej przed kilkunastu laty formacji Stefan Keune Trio (w którym to na perkusji gral Paul Lovens), wyplywa z jednego z historycznych zródel swobodnej improwizacji - wyciszonego i zarazem intensywnego, arytmicznego i momentami atonalnego, mocno abstrakcyjnego, ale jednoczesnie wciaz nietracacego zwiazku z jazzowymi korzeniami insect improv spod znaku Spontaneous Music Ensemble. Muzykom nieobca jest tez wspólczesna kameralistyka oraz dronowy minimal, najpelniej objawiajacy swój podskórny niepokój w kontrabasowym arco.
Otwarta forma utworów tria, kreowanych na równych prawach przez wszystkich instrumentalistów, pozwala Keunemu, Schneiderowi i Krämerowi zaprezentowac szeroka game swobodnych skojarzen zanurzonych w kalejdoskopowym strumieniu przenikajacych sie konsonansów i dysonansów. W grze tria nie ma podzialu na soliste i sekcje. Cala trójka równolegle prowadzi swoje partie, nieomal równoczesnie kreslac nowe linie oraz wypelniajac stonowanymi barwami kontury nakreslane przez wspól-grajacych. Z gestych, wijacych na wszystkie strony kresek i cieni rózniacych sie odcieniami szarosci i czerni czlonkowie tria buduja misterne rysunki zapelnione nierozpoznawalnymi ksztaltami. Muzyka raz jest introwertyczna i wyciszona, to znów intensywna i gesta. Kaprysna i niekonsekwentna - pozostawia miejsce dla ciszy, by za moment wypelnic ja dzwiekiem szorstkim i zdecydowanym.
Doskonale opanowanie instrumentów, umiejetnosc tworzenia intrygujacych form i struktur oraz interesujacych brzmien to niewatpliwe zalety kazdego z muzyków.
Na "The Long and The Short of It" Keune, Schneider i Krämer jawia sie jako kompetentni instrumentalisci i calkiem oryginalni twórcy, ale to nie powinno dziwic. Wszak kazdy z nich zajmuje sie jazzem i improwizacja nie od dzis. W ich dyskografiach mozna znalezc przynajmniej kilka udanych plyt, wszyscy zdazyli wspólpracowac z wieloma uznanymi muzykami, od Brötzmanna, Kowalda i Schlippenbacha po Gustafssona, Lehna i Malfattiego. Wracajac do insect improv wypada tez wspomniec, ze grywali równiez z muzykami zwiazanymi kiedys z SME: Evanem Parkerem, Paulem Rutherfordem, Johnem Butcherem i Kennym Wheelerem. Moze te wlasnie nazwiska zacheca Panstwa do siegniecia po "The Long and The Short of It". Choc plyta ta nie odkrywa nowych horyzontów, ani nie wnosi wiele do klasycznej juz stylistyki, naprawde warto ja poznac. Tadeusz Kosiek (Diapazon.pl)

Dass E. Rodrigues die diskrete Ausrichtung seines Labels nicht puristisch hütet, zeigt sich einmal mehr mit The Long And The Short Of It (CS 091). Denn der Sopranino- & Alt-saxophonist Stefan Keune (*1965) und seine Partner, der Drummer Achim Krämer (*1955) und der Kontrabassist Hans Schneider (*1951), sind alle drei altgediente Bergleute und Froschmänner im Who is Who des Plinkplonk. Keune, der mit seinem Solo Sunday Sundaes (CS 030) bereits das Lissabonner Terrain sondiert hatte, ist im Duo mit John Russell und mit dessen Projekt Quaqua seit Jahren direkt verlinkt mit dem britischen Way of Improvising. Krämer & Schneider sind sogar seit noch Längerem schon Kumpel im Georg Gräwe Quintett und im Grubenklangorchester, Schneider ist daneben noch auch noch in Quatuohr zu finden und immer wieder an der Seite von Paul Lytton. Krämer heuer in Moers bei Eckard Koltermanns Border Hopping. Die Hauptparameter ihrer Ästhetik als Trio sind daher nicht ,Geräusch' und ,Reduktion'. Im Gegenteil. Weitgehend maximalistisch spritzen sie mit quicken und quirligen Klangverwirbelungen um sich, interagieren mit abrupten dynamischen Changes. Im Austausch der Incus- & Bead-Versuchsreihen mit Soundaspekten der kontinentalen King Übü Örchestrü-Schule des Ungehorsams werden quasi Lachenmann'sche Partituren mit der Virtuosität von Varietékünstlern oder Falschspielern wie Asse aus dem Ärmel geschüttelt. Das Cover zeigt Stapel alter Säcke. Nichts könnte irreführender sein, um das ständige Funkeln und Blitzen in der Trioretorte zu illustrieren. Selbst abgeflachte und gepresste Passagen wie etwa der lange Ausklang von ,In due form' oder das molekular ausgedünnte ,Three' und selbst ,On the quiet' sind noch durch ihre Äquivalenz zu Pollock'scher Expressivität geprägt. Rigobert Dittmann (Bad Alchemy)

The enormous variety of improvisational styles offered by Creative Sources is once again explicated by this trio for sopranino and alto sax (Keune), double bass (Schneider), drums and percussion (Krämer). More punched in combinations than whispered, these conversations are vaguely reminiscent of what the world knows as “free jazz”, a noticeable step in a different direction for a label that welcomes EAI artists from literally everywhere. Keune’s garrulous style finds places for silence, too; his listening ability allows for a spacing between the hits and misses which draws the map of tolerance among three spontaneous personalities. Schneider is a complete instrumentalist, at his very best when he plays long arco drones constituting the low-frequency bed of a turbulent river of loquacious explanations; Krämer is one of those drummers who seem to have forgotten the “correct” disposition of the pieces in the set, such is the perplexing ease with which he executes figurations that one would expect to obey to a handful of technical rules but, instead, come from somewhere else altogether. Mostly fast-paced, often tending to hot with a few tranquil exceptions, the nine tracks sound both like a photograph of the trio’s playful spirit and, in a way, a parody of that jazz club whose members take themselves too seriously. In any case, the result equals “very good”. Massimo Ricci (Touching Extremes)

Velha escola ou nova escola? Ou escola de meia-idade? É debate que pouco importa, face ao trabalho que este trio de renomados e experientes improvisadores europeus nos apresenta. Da velha escola emerge, por ventura, a formação clássica de trio de saxofone, contrabaixo e bateria, triângulo responsável por algumas das mais importantes páginas do jazz e da música improvisada em geral, de há 50 anos a esta parte, com particular ênfase para os anos quentes do free jazz. Da escola intermédia, digo assim, já que me meti por este caminho, encontram-se as bases em que assentou a também designada Escola Inglesa de improvisação total, que começou em meados de 60 e daí para a frente não mais parou de se transformar até aos nossos dias. Cá se descobre o mesmo tipo de estratégia, a horizontalidade da progressão, a igual preponderância entre os instrumentos na criação de um som que só releva enquanto criação colectiva, os gestos, a permutação tímbrica, a combinação e a recombinação de padrões. É evidente que o trio ouviu muito bem Evan Parker, Trevor Watts e Spontaneous Music Ensemble, por exemplo. E da nova escola? A utilização de técnicas heterodoxas na abordagem dos instrumentos, o primado das texturas e dos timbres sobre a harmonia e a melodia, atonalismo versus as novas cores do som, mutações lowercase, invenção espontânea, a expressividade levada para campos desconhecidos, a ausência de marcação de tempo, realidade imponderável. Vem isto a propósito de The Long and The Short of It (Creative Sources Recordings), disco de 2007 (Fevereiro) do trio de Stefan Keune (saxofones alto e sopranino), Hans Schneider (contrabaixo) e Achim Kramer (bateria e percussão). O que eles fazem é free music no sentido amplo do termo, com permanente injecção de energia e intensa actividade em pouco espaço, afirma-se hoje tal como nasceu e cresceu na Europa como acção positiva no sentido de procurar um espaço próprio e enquanto reacção inteligente ao jazz massivamente importado dos EUA ou imitado e produzido localmente para consumo interno. The Long and The Short of It é um excelente disco, nove temas (67') cheios de surpresas, variações dinâmicas, espaços de silêncio, musicalidade e expressividade. A coisa funciona em pleno e faz faísca. Eduardo Chagas (Jazze Arredores)

Real-time, pedal-to-the-floor Free Jazz is the long and the short description of this CD, with this German trio proving that masterful improvising can result from the almost extrasensory interaction among experienced players.
Improvisers who also dabble in New music, bassist Hans Schneider and percussionist Achim Krämer both played with pianist Georg Gräwe in the 1970s and since then have collaborated with such other experimenters as reedists Wolfgang Fuchs and Joachim Zoepf, in the bassist’s case, and violinist Albrecht Maurer and the KHW Trio in the drummer’s. Saxophonist Stefan Keune too is versatile enough to not only improvise in n the intense fashion he advances on this CD, but in more restrained chamber-music-like settings with British guitarist John Russell among others.
This session will never be confused with chamber music however. Keune’s reed eruptions encompass frequent wheezing, crying and spitting. He engages in enough parlando interfaces with the others to suggest that the saxophone is taking a theatrical lead role in a highly melodramatic opera. Meanwhile Schneider maintains the tempo of the tunes with either swift sul tasto sweeps or a steady bowed ostinato. Criss-crossing the others’ output Krämer breaks up the time with rolls, pops, pitter-pattering, cymbal resonation and sudden bell ringing.
Parallel improvising such as this means that the saxophone’s compact unattached drone can also be the base on which winnowing double bass tones or ruffs and flams from the drums are showcased. Alternately as on “Alive and Kicking”, Schneider’s double-string stroking is muscular enough to suggest the presence of two bassists instead of one. Because of this the saxophonist has license to striate his tone even more, with reed-biting fortissimo wails, bell-shaking internally voiced false register explorations and animal cry-like split tones.
Cunning enough to be able to also improvise in a quieter mode, Keune at one point decelerates his output to curt, mouse-whimpering peeps matched by sliding and stopping resonations from Schneider and restrained hand-drum pattering from Krämer.
The bassist’s double-stopped thumps define lower-key tracks such as the self-descriptive “On the Quiet”, though this is not the sort of quiet that would satisfy mainstreamers. Instead Keune’s slide-whistle-like reed timbres and the drummer’s pinpointed ruffs, bangs and cymbal sways merely downshift a bit from all out agitato. However an extended interlude of legato style plucks and stops from Schneider could be the reason for the track’s title. Building these variations to summation, first Krämer’s rebounds and strokes join with the bass line, and then intersect with irregularly vibrated trills from the reedist. Polyphonically, additional slurred overtones echo from the horn’s body tube as well as its bell and mouthpiece.
Distinctive definite Free Jazz is the trio’s rasion d’etre and its achievement. Ken Waxman (JazzWord)

Free improvisations that range from rapidly quirky, busy improvisations to somber and mysterious moods in acoustic lowercase. All three are strong players with great ideas using extensive and extreme language on their instruments. They present a diverse set of creative concepts over which they improvise, from lyrical work to frantic and skronky material. Captivating, energetic and unexpected. Phil Zampino (The Squid's Ear)