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Including per my little Fundacja Sluchaj rundown last week, Udo Schindler continues to release prolifically: Besides that double album with bassist Paul Rogers, adding Eric Zwang Eriksson (drums) to the second half of the second disc (which, unlike most of those to be mentioned here, wasn't recorded consecutively, but rather more than a year later, in December 2023...), Schindler's recent releases involve a number of prominent colleagues, generally oriented around duos. (Zwang Eriksson is the only musician added to form trios for this recent output: A frequent partner of Schindler, but otherwise unknown, I mentioned him here with Canto Senza Parole Allegria in a June 2023 multi-review, i.e. discussing a "trio of trios" around Schindler, including as well the "Low Tone Studies" Dachau Polyphonics & Hybride Synergetics. The latter series is continued now with Rogers on the noted Ephemeral Locations from Sluchaj, involving a sometimes-ecstatic interaction suggestive of "world" styles at times, but also yielding a real "sax trio" vibe later when adding drums....) The recent duo collaborations include pianists as well, and although Schindler has collaborated with pianists in the past (including two albums on Creative Sources with the more minimalistic Masako Ohta, from 2019 & 2020, and already a duo anthology on Confront from 2017...), I hadn't really associated his output with piano (& its fixed pitches). However, e.g. the duo interaction with Swiss pianist Michel Wintsch (of WWW trio) apparently dates back many years, yielding now a lyrical & affective (even tender...) result in Toute L'âme résumée (recorded November 2023 & released by FMR). And then the double album (also on Creative Sources) with pianist Rieko Okuda is even more revelatory, vivid & edgy right from the start: Disturbed Terrains is the duo (& overall title...), recorded in the Munich area this past January, featuring one long track plus a (still exploring...) encore, but then Rummaging in Disturbed Terrain presents a trio (adding Zwang Eriksson) recorded the next night, yielding a particularly dynamic interaction, lines snaking in all directions-dimensions, but also various moments of repose.... (Schindler has released a third session with Okuda on his Bandcamp, also a duo, but with shorter tracks, almost "character pieces" showing distinct textures. That's from a third consecutive date in January — and there's a next day concert with Wintsch there as well....) And although she's not as well known as Schindler's other duo partners here, I'd indeed noted Okuda previously, first on CS, but then with Takatsuki Trio Quartett featuring Silke Eberhard At Kühlspot (from 577 Records, reviewed here September 2021) — an album that I thought could capture some broader attention: Eberhard was in peak form, coming off a prestigious award, while Okuda displayed a particularly protean quality, continual dynamism & versatility (even playing viola on earlier albums...), including command of various traditional piano styles: Her combination here with Schindler is especially scintillating for the trio with drums, suggesting a strong connection throughout (even though the project began as a first meeting...). E.g. the extensive passage around tuba (which seems to have been lost in the credits, but appears in a photo!) for the second track is distinctive, and so is e.g. Schindler's tuba texture to close out HerzAtmungen, his duo album with Olaf Rupp (recorded in June 2023, noted here already in the review of F.I.M. earlier this month, where I'd wanted to compare Schindler's characteristic brass & string combos...). That album with Rupp (also from CS) is also over an hour, slowly building at times, but seemingly a natural combo, so maybe they'll continue... (& perhaps even add a third musician, e.g. a bowed string?). And then there's the release (again from FMR, recorded last July) with guitarist Andreas Willers (again in trio with Zwang Eriksson), Cassiber Complex, a stranger & more exploratory album, guitar basically providing only suspension & swell through the first half.... (Of course, Willers has appeared here prominently with Grid Mesh, most recently with Four, also on CS, reviewed June 2021....) And finally for this particular batch of releases, BASIS acoustronics with Thomas Lehn (recorded last November) is a shorter album released only on Schindler's Bandcamp, more intricate/intimate perhaps than some, but also relatively thin at times & exploratory.... In any case, besides the "obvious" (& suggestive...) collaboration with Rupp, the trio Rummaging in Disturbed Terrain makes the strongest impression here (amid this explosion of creativity from Schindler...): I don't review a lot of horn & piano combos (& Schindler does rely mostly on reeds, despite my brass comments...), but it's a long album that grabs me right from the start (while being the most recently recorded to be mentioned here as well...), remaining engaging & with strong energy. Like many artists, Schindler can seem so restless, always looking for something more or different, but it also seems that things really clicked with Okuda for this sequence. The entire series of releases seems to mark a next step.... Todd McComb's Jazz Thoughts |