Skulking in the Big House |cs259

Skulking in the Big House is another worthwhile improvised quartet album on Creative Sources, recorded by German bassist Alexander Frangenheim in Berlin, and featuring the Israeli players Ariel Shibolet (soprano saxophone), Nori Jacoby (viola), and Ofer Bymel (drums). Although I hadn't noticed it at the time, Skulking in the Big House prompted me to also have a listen to Berlin — another improvised quartet album recorded the previous year in Berlin by Frangenheim, with Bymel, but also Creative Sources director Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, and Chris Heenan on reeds. The similarities are obvious between the two groups, and likely Berlin prompted Rodrigues to also release Skulking in the Big House. In any case, although Rodrigues's technique on viola is quite advanced, Berlin is generally a very quiet album, either with not a lot happening, or remaining on the edge of audibility. (The final track does have a bit of an "animal roar" to it, but that fades away also.) I have nothing against exploring such areas in principle, but the fact is, an exploration of audibility doesn't suit my life very well: There's so much environmental noise around me, and trying to listen to music I have trouble hearing only makes it seem more frustrating. So I'm not all that personally compatible with Rodrigues's own style, even if I like much of what he does, particularly as a label director. Another natural point of comparison for Skulking in the Big House in this space is Martin Blume's quartet album In Just, with which I've had a bit of a strange relationship: This is the only album, so far at least, that I've dropped out of my favorites only to add again (and now dropped again). I enjoy much of In Just, even if it's rather quiet for extended periods, but apparently that enjoyment stops short of true enthusiasm. The comparison is likewise fairly obvious, with its two string players, reedist & drummer. I think that ultimately I feel similarly about Skulking in the Big House, in that it's an enjoyable album that doesn't force me to seek it out — not quite enough ideas for a full album, I guess, although the best parts are very striking. Nonetheless, some other thoughts are appropriate. Skulking in the Big House is not so much a study in quiet, although it's never very loud, but more of a chamber atmosphere with quick pointillist sounds often in extended technique. (The percussive attacks are specifically reminiscent of In Just.) I consequently enjoy the way the musicians interact when playing together simultaneously. Although certainly "indoor music," there is a bit of wildness to it in the evocations of insect & small animal sounds, an observation that could be made of a number of albums featured in this space. (Whether this is intentional, I do not know.) The result is a kind of hybrid sensitivity that deserves more exploration, and indeed seems to be getting it. This is one of the more compelling albums to appear so far this year, particularly since (as on Eye of the Moose) it mostly features musicians with which I was not otherwise familiar. Todd McComb (medieval.org)

Deste lote, “Skulking in the Big House” é o álbum que mais navega pelas águas do reducionista “near silence”. Porque o volume é baixo, muito baixo, mas não por haver qualquer frugalidade nas emissões sonoras – na realidade, há sempre algo a acontecer, numa mimetização do zumbido dos insectos. O que significa que não é por haver uma bateria (a de Ofer Bymel, um dos intervenientes israelitas que encontramos na companhia do alemão Alexander Frangenheim) que a música deixa de ser “pequena”. Se do reducionismo tivermos a perspectiva fundamentalista de um Radu Malfatti, não é disso que se trata: há demasiada actividade. Provavelmente, a mesma do free jazz, mas com uma drástica diminuição de decibéis e emoções. Mas não chega, o que neste CD vem, a ser um jazz de câmara – em lado algum se vislumbra o “deixar-se ir” que define o jazz.
Aliás, este é um trabalho algo monótono. Não há intriga nem surpresa. Nada que contrarie o que vem antes, nenhuma mudança de rumo, nenhum acrescento. O disco ouve-se bem até deixar de nos apetecer ouvi-lo, simplesmente porque a escuta se esgota. Rui Eduardo Paes (Jazz.pt)

Encore un de ces remarquables opus du label Creative Sources que je tiens sous le coude pour meubler ma rubrique, avant de laisser exploser dans ces lignes leur tout récent arrivage fin 2016. Le contrebassiste Alexander Frangenheim documente soigneusement ses aventures avec un nombre conséquent d’artistes internationaux (Gunther Christmann, Paul Lovens, Roger Turner, Phil Wachsmann, PatThomas, Isabelle Duthoit, Ariel Shibolet..) chez Creative Sources. Elles se situent à un très haut niveau d’exigence et de qualité et représentent une véritable authenticité en matière d’improvisation contemporaine, sans pour autant se fixer sur un «-isme » défini. Disons qu’AF adapte son jeu et son travail avec les personnalités qu’ils rencontrent, comme son duo assez lyrique avec le clarinettiste Harold Rubin. Avec ses trois improvisateurs israéliens, le batteur Ofer Bymel, le violiste Noel Jacoby et le saxophoniste Ariel Shibolet (avec qui il a enregsitré en duo), l’attention se focalise sur des mouvements furtifs où le détail sonore du jeu instrumental alternatif est mis en évidence. La recherche consiste à combiner spontanément les timbres rares du frottement des cordes, des divagations contrôlées et contorsionnées de la colonne d’air du sax soprano, des frappes faussement évasives du percussionniste. On court dans l’inconnu, vers l’inouï, si cela est encore possible. Et finalement, on s’en convainc. Des harmoniques soutenues et vocalisées de Shibolet restent suspendues au dessus des grondements des cordes graves et des craquements provoqués par l’extrême pression de l’archet. Ofer Bymel secoue, manie une plaque métallique dont les fréquences oscillent dangereusement, pendant qu’Alexander Frangenheim lance d’expressifs coups d’archets isolés. Dans l’action spontanée, chaque musicien use du silence pour mettre en valeur les sonorités des autres avec une profonde concentration. De temps à autres entraînés par le percussionniste, le quartette rentre progressivement dans une phase éruptive (cfr. Even If We Tried). C’est donc un excellent enregistrement répondant clairement à la question : musique improvisée libre, c’est quoi ?? Jean-Michel van Schouwburg (Orynx)