RETURNINGS (ECM) 9/10 Self-effacement is a handy trait for an improviser. You would never discern that Jakob Bro was this band’s leader, for instance, simply by listening. The Danish guitarist’s main concern has been creating contexts to maximise his colleagues’ creativity. And what colleagues! From the absolute vanguard of Scandinavian…
Category: Album Reviews
DIGITAL ANALOGUE (Newmarket) 8.5/10 Christopher Young has a gift for crafting charged atmospheres in which to improvise. This gift is especially prominent on this double album’s 20-minute centrepiece, the slow, dreamy Out of Time, which has minimal harmonic movement, instead using layers of post-Robert Fripp guitar played by guest Brendan…
URGENCY! (Kimnara) 8/10 Most people use language lazily, in pre-fabricated modules, whether speaking or writing. Musicians can also be snared, regurgitating pre-digested patterns, whether composing or improvising. Rare ones devise the actual language: its syntax, vocabulary and potential for expressing the new. This is what drummer Simon Barker does on…