Travelling Sound Images cs851

Udo Schindler appeared with Soundforge Laboratory here in September, shortly after flipping this page, and I'm already turning to a related trio release of note, Travelling Sound Images - Cognitive Transfers [Trio], recorded in Munich this past May: Soundforge Laboratory had involved adding to a duo recorded the previous day (in April) with Austrian cellist Noid, and that trend continues for Travelling Sound Images - Cognitive Transfers with double bassist Werner Dafeldecker, Travelling Sound Images - Cognitive Transfers [Duo] having been recorded the day prior (& released in August on Schindler's Bandcamp). There're further parallels, in that both string players have a relatively austere style, precise & exploring resonances, including via planning or sound installation.... (And Dafeldecker, an original member of legendary composed-music ensemble Polwechsel — which actually released a massive 4LP set late last year, Embrace on Ni Vu Ni Connu — has appeared elsewhere here, e.g. with Induction....) But there're non-parallels as well, as Soundforge Laboratory had added flute (i.e. a melody instrument) to form its trio around cello, while Travelling Sound Images - Cognitive Transfers [Trio] adds Gunnar Geisse on laptop guitar (which isn't as much a guitar played from a lap, as it is interfaced with a computer...) around the initial reed-bass pair. Geisse is then another musician whom I've heard only with Schindler, and who seems also to contribute to various of his trios (like flautist Erhard), e.g. already the more rock-infused GAU & superGAU (reviewed here together in August 2019), and then more recently Dachau Polyphonics (reviewed October 2022) by MUC Chamber Art Trio (in its second album), with another bassist (Sebastian Gramss). So the latter features a similar ensemble, but also more textural variety, including some genre references, forging wilder & often more involved counterpoint. (Geisse has joined Schindler as well for a trio series with pianist Max Arsava, Sightings and Stratifications recorded this July, with a first volume already released....) Travelling Sound Images - Cognitive Transfers does emphasize Dafeldecker & bass, though (i.e. as framed by the texture) — & these recordings return too to Schindler's Low Tone Studies series (contra the work with Noid...), now Nos. 19 & 20 — bringing as well a more focused exploration versus Dachau Polyphonics. Indeed Geisse not only projects an often Braxtonian aura for the trio, but generally uses electronics (per SuperCollider?) to "frame" a space (via both high & low...) for both acoustic players to interact. So there can be tremendous bass exploration here, not only per the precision of Dafeldecker himself, but with Schindler employing especially "double bass clarinet" (as well as cornet, tenor sax & even sopranino at times...), and then Geisse with low hums too (plus e.g. shimmering highs at various points). Although he can even sound like piano at times on Dachau Polyphonics, Geisse is usually much more spectral for Travelling Sound Images - Cognitive Transfers [Trio] then, even as he does emerge into more musico-figural expressions at times... including some "spacey" (but subtle) synthesizing electronics (& still a bit of piano). (And the Braxton comparison can be extended here to Schindler's variety of horns: Braxton himself employs other low reeds, including within analogous textures.) There's less evocation of genre at this point then, but various textures evolve, including slowly shifting resonances (& various subtle swells, sometimes suggesting accordion...), occasional jazzier snippets (especially from tenor range...), even another sort of nautical vibe (e.g. around cornet calls...). But it's generally not "outdoor" music either, with senses of interiority asserting themselves as well, "impersonal" senses of interiors (or installations...), sometimes more humanized by horns. And moreover there're senses of anticipation, already from the softly (scuffling) pregnant opening — building & shifting — fading away again to close.... In between, the trio conjures a distinctive sonic environment, overtone spectra aligned by hazy yet sparkling electronics, while leaving considerable space in the middle of the texture (especially) for a variety of (sometimes even tuneful...) investigations. Less melodically intricate than typical of Schindler then, Travelling Sound Images - Cognitive Transfers [Trio] (released on Creative Sources) forges its own sound world, a geometric (in the sense of "acoustics") world well-grounded in bass resonance(s), but also framing high into the audible spectrum (while being traversed & imbricated by snaking lines...). There's thus darkness to this music, but light too, awaiting further elaboration & illumination. Todd McComb's Jazz Thoughts