Heavy Nichel|cs251

Parodi is a classically trained musician who started playing jazz when he was in his mid-20s. A meeting with Barre Philips in 1991 connected him with the improve scene. He plays piano, Turkish clarinet, tape electronics and tape. Involved in numerous collaborations and projects. On his new release ‘Heavy Nichel’ we learn more about him as a player of the Turkish clarinet. On this disc we find four lengthy solo improvisations. Parodi tells about his habit of continuously buying new instruments, “in order to find new tools to express my own music”. When the right moment is arrived, he arranges a recording to document what he learned from and through this instrument. ‘Heavy Nichel’ marks his research on the Turkish clarinet. As far as I know Creative Sources Recordings is specialized in improvisation that concentrates on sound research. This is also the case for this one. It is a journey full of subtleties and nuances. I feel sympathy for records like these on the one hand,
where a musician demonstrates his vocabulary and not for its own sake of course. On the other hand, abstract solo improvisations can give you something to work on. It is not a quick meal that is served. The magic worked best in the second part of this one-hour improvisation. A moving and concentrated improvisation. The session was recorded by Paolo Valenti at Loud Music, Genova, Italia on June the 9th, 2012. . Dolf Mulder (Vital Weekly)

I could guess that Claudio Parodi was sitting in his room different from the one you are in now. If you know some past stuff (in particular a release on Extreme that he tributed to Alvin Lucier...) from this Italian pianist and composer, who decided to focus on free improvisation, you fully understood my opening word. This release on Creative Sources opens the "Sound is my shelter" series by which Parodi is going to apply his personal stylistical imprint on single instruments: "the only rule I will follow is to record when the kairos (ancient Greek for "the right moment") has come, in terms of practising and reflecting". There was a Turkish clarinet in the above-mentioned room and Claudio cannot but squeeze it in order to extract four long-lasting improvisations with an impressive number of variations, tonal choke points, muffled phrases, stylistical ramifications and some occasional hooks to makram and traditional jazz, even if it could give the impression it's an end to itself and I cannot exclude that some iterations could sound heavier than nickel to listeners who are not accustomed to this kind of experiments and sonorities. Vito Camarretta (Chain D.L.K.)

The first “book” is a series entitled “Sound is my shelter,” where Claudio Paroti intends to devote one album to each wind instrument he plays. Heavy Nichel features his Turkish clarinet. Four solos, 12 to 18 minutes each, where Paroti explores the range and expressiveness of the instrument using extended and orthodox techniques. It’s obviously very focused work; interesting, artistic, but pinpoint-focused and, in the end, monotonous. François Couture (Monsieur Delire)

Claudio Parodi è un musicista di Genova che è entrato nel mondo dell'improvvisazione libera con uno scopo ben dichiarato: cogliere il kairos delineato dell'antichità greca, il cosiddetto "tempo opportuno". Nonostante vanti una preparazione classica e jazz completa (dal piano a molti strumenti a fiato passando per l'elettronica), Parodi si è concentrato ed interrogato sugli sviluppi della musica allo scopo di evitare di rientrare nella retorica dei compositori che fanno sempre le stesse ciambelle; discograficamente parlando, i pezzi reperibili con una certa semplicità sono un duo con Francesco Calandrino fatto in Setola di Maiale come Parodia del dito nel 2006 e poi i tre lavori pubblicati su Extreme, suddivisi in approfondimenti su elettronica, feedback e risonanze. La Creative Sources pubblica ora "Heavy Nichel", un altro solo incentrato sulle emissioni del suo Turkish clarinet. Si tratta di quattro lunghe improvvisazione (tra gli undici e i diciotto minuti circa) in cui Claudio suona ancora il clarinetto turco, ma in maniera molta diversa da "A ritual which is incomprehensible" in cui le emissioni erano alla ricerca di risonanze e punti di incontro con effetti concreti; in "Heavy Nichel" tutto si gioca sulle potenzialità acustiche dello strumento, cercando di costruire un catalogo di suoni che abbiamo più o meno sentito nella free improvisation. E' come volersi insinuare in una giornata propizia alla sperimentazione dei suoni, per il gusto di assaporare tutte le geografie possibili di essi, grandezza, lunghezza, forme, elasticità, etc., ottenibili attraverso dei particolari soffi. In alcuni frangenti questo lavoro mi ha ricordato certe sperimentazioni al sassofono di Christine Sehnaoui Adbelnour, tese a fornire nuove chiavi di interpretazione; tuttavia mi chiedo ancora se non ci sia saturazione anche in questa lettura.
"Heavy Nichel" ha naturalmente il carattere somatizzante della musica liberamente improvvisata, ed è per questo molto più difficile scovare panorami sonori rispetto a quelli immediatamente indotti dall'elettronica o dal droning acustico, che in questo, hanno un vantaggio in più, anche se solo iniziale. Sì, perchè il dopo riserva un enorme concetto: il nichel è il simbolo della vitalità estrema, un transfer per la materializzazione della musica vista come rilievo, un innovativo tema che già alcuni compositori stanno affrontando come possibile perno centrale della musica del futuro. Ettore Garzia (Percorsi Musicali)

Claudio Parodi is also a multi-instrumentalist, classically trained and active on piano, clarinet and electronics. On this album he plays Turkish clarinet only, in four almost equally long improvisations. The sound overall is very intimate, without any spacial resonance at all, as if Parodi were playing next to you in your living room, offering the overall sound a nice quality of authenticity and proximity.

The music itself is real free improv, without any attempt even to create phrases or patterns. Notes come and go, timbres shift, internal dialogues are created and left behind, yet at times, Parodi makes reference to Turkish and Middle-eastern music, as in the intro of the third piece, with slow stretched and moaning tones, meditative or spiritual, and in my opinion that works best and in the way he brings it, without any pretence or grand goal behind it, just beauty of sound for the sake of the beauty of the sound.

The album is part of his "Sound Is My Shelter" series of solo improvisations, of which more are to come. Stef (FreeJazz)

Musicien génois impliqué dans les musiques improvisées depuis près de 25 ans, Claudio PARODI est principalement pianiste, mais joue occasionnellement de la clarinette turque, et travaille aussi à partir de bandes magnétiques et d'instruments électroniques. Si ses productions personnelles sont essentiellement parues sur le label Extrême (parmi lesquelles des œuvres en hommage à Alvin Lucier ou Pauline Oliveros), il a eu l'occasion de se produire avec nombre de partenaires, parmi lesquels Lê Quan Ninh, Adrian Northover, Michel Doneda, la Fanfare de la Touffe. Heavy Nichel, qu'il présente comme étant le premier volet d'une série intitulée Sound is my shelter (le son est mon refuge) dans laquelle il souhaite à chaque fois proposer son travail avec un instrument spécifique, est dédié à la clarinette turque. Surtout utilisée dans le contexte des musiques traditionnelles, cette clarinette est accordée en sol, et offres des quarts de ton. Dans le quatre plages, entre une douzaine et dix-huit minutes chacune, que comporte cet enregistrement réalisé en février 2012 à Gênes, Claudio PARODI explore le différentes approches d'un instrument certes peu usité dans les réseaux habituels de la musique improvisée, mais dont les sonorités ne surprennent pas vraiment, dans la mesure où l'on peut parfois les entendre dans l'improvisation libre avec une clarinette classique. Le voyage sonore qu'il propose, qui côtoie aussi quelques références ethniques, est toutefois intéressant par sa variété. Pierre Durr (Revue & Corrigee)

For tracks, totaling over an hour, of solo improvisations on Turkish clarinet. I'm not precisely sure what a Turkish clarinet is though from what I can tell, it's somewhat longer than a traditional, Western version and, from what I can hear on this recording, sounds as though pitched a little deeper, say halfway between a clarinet and bass clarinet. The tracks are presented unadorned, in the order in which they were recorded, nicely bare bones. The playing has its roots in free jazz but generally carries tinges of folk musics, vaguely references via repeated kernels and, more often than not, a lyrical character. Which is not to say that Parodi doesn't indulge in extended techniques and atonality--he does, but pretty much keeps rein on them, remains thoughtful and often quiet. At its most vociferous, I'm reminded of the late Willem Breuker's bass clarinet excursions but Parodi tends to play things closer to the vest. I prefer those quieter moments when you get the sense that the inherent properties of the instrument are being investigated although, as this is closer to efi, situating the sounds in the room isn't so much of a concern. I can't say that there's much here that hasn't been covered before, but Parodi plays well and seriously and possesses a nice, underlying melodicism that supports the music very well, both at its most tenuous and most strident. Brian Olewnick (Just Outside)

Quattro lunghe impro soliste (nude e crude) per clarinetto turco.
Che stridono dronanti di FREE (Heavy Nichel 1), tutt'uno col silenzio circostante e poi opposte in urlo/raschio (la chiusura furibonda di Heavy Nichel 2).
Intrise di terra e avvitamenti muezzinici, a distendersi di meditativa pratica jazz/riduzionista (Heavy Nichel 3 prima di mostrar le unghie, la lenta panoramica di Heavy Nichel 4).
Un percorso di ricerca rilassato ed oltranzista, che porterà Parodi a confrontarsi con altri singoli strumenti, nella serie di impro da lui ideata, “Sound Is My Shelter”.
Dunque tempo, attesa, contrazioni ed urgenza.
Di pratica e riflessione (pregi e difetti inclusi). Marco Carcasi (Kathodik)

Sur clarinette turque et en mode méditatif, Claudio Parodi explore, recherche, n’abandonne jamais l’étude de l’instrument quitte à passer plusieurs fois par les mêmes chemins. En quatre longues plages, il explore-dissèque techniques étendues et clarté des lignes. Vont ainsi se succéder, s’enchâsser, se retrouver : unissons et modulations, souffles-murmures, harmoniques douces ou amères, sifflements et vibratos, fins caquetages, tentation du cri, polyphonies et molles stridences. Ni singulier, ni fastidieux. Mais intime et tout à fait convaincant. Luc Bouquet (Le Son du Grisli)

Pianista de formação clássica e no jazz, Claudio Parodi vem centrando uma parte da sua atenção na electrónica “lo-fi” e no tratamento de “field recordings” em contexto experimental, como ouvimos no álbum “Prima del Terzo”, e outra em projectos protagonizados pela voz, a sua e de outros, de que são exemplos “I Sent You a Tree, at Night” e “Taken from a True Story”, este em duo com o barítono Thomas Buckner. Um encontro com o contrabaixista Barre Phillips despertou o seu interesse pela livre-improvisação, bem como a vontade de, neste domínio, tocar instrumentos que não os seus habituais. Em “Heavy Nichel” o escolhido é o clarinete turco, à semelhança, aliás, do que aconteceu na sua parceria com Buchner, mas outros estão igualmente a ser envolvidos, com destaque para o saxofone soprano. Com um trajecto ao lado de figuras como Michel Doneda, Ron Anderson, Carla Bozulich, Nels Cline, Patrizia Oliva e Lê Quan Ninh, entre outros, a escolha do formato solo diz muito do seu investimento na exploração sonora como forma de descoberta pessoal.
Tirar do seu contexto um instrumento com tantas conotações étnicas como este clarinete afinado em Sol não é fácil, e daí que não o encontremos habitualmente em outras músicas que não as tradicionais da Turquia. O inevitável acontece, no entanto, e ocasiões há em que identificamos as origens desta curiosa palheta, por mais que Parodi desconstrua a própria identidade do instrumento para dele tirar sons menos comuns por meio de técnicas extensivas. Do mesmo modo, também transparece a costela jazzística do músico, ainda que neste caso muito mais intencionalmente. Por vezes, parece-nos ouvir um Willem Breuker que tivesse transitado para a “new school” da música improvisada. Agora, resta-nos esperar por mais volumes da série Sound is My Shelter… Rui Eduardo Paes (Jazz.pt)