Eye of the Moose |cs256

Eye of the Moose est un quartet qui publie son premier disque sur le label portugais creative sources. On y retrouve quelques noms déjà connus des musiques improvisées scandinaves : Andreas Backer à la voix, David Stackenäs aux guitares, Joe Williamson à la contrebasse et Ståle Liavik Solberg à la batterie & percussions.

Encore une fois, il s'agit d'improvisation libre non-idiomatique sans trop de surprise. C'est moins énergique et plus spontané, avec de nombreuses phases calmes et contemplatives qui se placent en ruptures avec les passages les plus énervés. Mais dans l'ensemble, on est bien dans le cadre d'une droite lignée de l'improvisation libre telle que l'avait imaginé Derek Bailey. Un langage atonal et arythmique sans référent musical, une négation du jazz et du passé pour construire un langage neuf et personnel. Enfin tout ceci reste théorique, car au final, il s'agit d'une musique comme on en entend aujourd'hui dans toutes les salles et festivals de jazz qui s'intéressent de près ou de loin aux musiques improvisées. Alors certes oui, c'est très bien joué, il s'agit de quatre instrumentistes virtuoses et de quatre improvisateurs très réactifs, mais à un niveau musical plus général, leur musique reste assez commune malgré les quelques belles trouvailles sonores des instrumentistes. Julien Héraud (ImprovSphere)

In spite of the bull moose on the cover artwork whose blood-red background and the dissection in four parts of the outline of the hugest member of deer family, it's neither a leaflet for butchers nor a christmassy idea of gift, even if the debut release by this fourtet is much more interesting than the invasion of records from mainstream musicians that majors normally led in this period by means of marketing necromancers! The initiative got drawn up by talented Norwegian vocal artist Andreas Backer who grouped Stale Liavik Solberg, a brilliant drummer who was his mate at Stavanger music academy, Swedish guitarist David Stackenas - we already met his name and his skills on some collaborative releases with Ernesto and Guilherme Rodrigues - Canadian expat double bass player Joe Williamson together and recorded this amazing live session in Sweden, where they insert contemporary classical music, free-jazz and European improv hooks as well as a remarkable numer of sonic ideas in a blender that flushes amazing dynamics out. The opening title-track "Eye Of The Moose" manages to keep a certain poise as if they were trying to find a first cautious attunement, but things radically changes on the following tracks: "Antler Of The Moose" charges eardrums by means of twisted scratches, more dissonant interactions and swirling cracks and Backer's vocals brilliantly follows this gradual nervous breakdown and could sometimes surmise a preacher fighting against rising voltage of an electric chair; "Claw Of The Moose" digs into eardrums by the slow asphyxation that got rendered by gargling vocals, eruptive torsions and crumpled guitar strokes and the rattling final track "Tail Of The Moose", where last and almost breathless vocal runs by Andreas meet the last amazing instrumental rush of popping mute hats, thundering double-bass and tangled mess of guitar tones. Vito Camarretta (Chain DLK)