WHO Trio: Less is More

Avant Jazz / Free Improvisation / Avant-Garde
premiera polska: 2009-04-06,
Wydawnicto Audiofilskie
opakowanie: kartonowe etui
opis:
Audio Video, 2009-05
'...Nazwa WHO Trio pochodzi od nazwisk tworzących je muzyków - są to Michel Wintsch, Gerry Hemingway i Banz Oester. W składzie tym na płycie spotykają się bodaj po raz drugi (pierwszy album to 'The Current Undemeath' z 2004 roku), jednak dopiero tutaj, korzystając z tradycyjnie już znakomitej realizacji brzmienia przez portugalski Clean Feed, możemy w pełni rozkoszować się muzyką grupy. Jest ona w pierwszej mierze oszczędna - tutaj ważna jest każda, najmniejsza, najbardziej delikatna nuta i współbrzmienie dźwięku i ciszy, która w muzyce kolektywu ma także wielkie znaczenie. WHO Trio tworzy dwóch szwajcarów i jeden osiadły tam amerykanin. Wśród triowych składów wyróżnia tą płytę jedno - obok starannych przemyślanych i pięknych, w bardzo tradycyjnym sensie kompozycji jest to poszukiwanie nowych, nieutartych i nieoczywistych rozwiązań w brzmieniu tria z fortepianem. Brak tu pianistycznych pasaży, muzyka nie swinguje (chociaż nikt nie ma wątpliwości co do jej przynależności do jazzowego świata), a gdy trio już się na rozpędzi - trwa to ułamek minuty. W moim odczuciu to najciekawsza propozycja jazzowego tria ostatnich lat...'
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Editor's info:
"Less is More" brings this decade lengthed collective trio into its finest document to date shining with its uncanny ability to interact with extraordinary subtlety and delicacy yet scrupulously controlled power. As the trio has developed it's sound and conception, a compelling evolution has developed from the diverse compositional sensibilities of all three members. What has grown from those sensibilities is an openness, a willingness to listen and dig deeply into open improvisation. The WHO trio are now clearly three musicians whose refined listening yields an uncommon musical sensitivity, an unspoken agreement that the collective creation is priority over individual contributions, and an honesty and immediacy that engage every audience in every context. In the course of their many years of touring together as a trio and occassionally with larger ensemble settings, the WHO trio have developed what in music is often enigmatic, a sound as a group. This sound has many characteristics, among them, a transparency that allows the more delicate and subtle details to be perceivable to every listener. They have also achieved a more elastic sensibility with rhythm that lends a fluency, tension and excitement to their powerful rhythmic interaction.

freejazzblog.org * * * * *
The piano trio is probably one of the most common ensembles to be heard in jazz, and truth be told, I am a little weary of them, preferring the expressiveness of a horn section. Yet once in a while, a piano trio comes forward that has something new to tell. When I listened to WHO Trio's "The Current Underneath" (Leo Records) a couple of years ago, I was immediately enchanted by the sheer musicality of the project. This one, "Less Is More", is even better. The trio consists of Michel Wintsch on piano, Gerry Hemingway on drums and Bänz Oester on bass. I have rarely come across a band who can create the perfect marriage of tension and lyricism, like this trio does. The "less is more" concept really describes the music well, there is lots of open space, but there is also tension in every note being played. Every sound is full of restraint, as if it only hints at the vast hidden world that made it possible, yet that remains unseen. Implicit music. The note that isn't played is as important as the one that is. Real beauty is revealed by suggesting it. Despite this sparsity of notes, the music itself makes sense. There is a simple beauty in it, with evolving melodic concepts, interesting compositional structures, and some extended techniques. Each piece is different, though, but all tracks fall within the same logic and supertight control. If the Japanese saying is true that beauty is "controlled passion", then this album is for sure a great example of it.
by Stef

muzycy:
Bänz Oester: bass
Gerry Hemingway: drums
Michel Wintsch: piano

utwory:
1. Inside the glade
2. Still alone
3. The Pump
4. Wedding suite
5. Stardance
6. Hasna
7. The eastern corner

wydano: 2009
more info: www.cleanfeed-records.com
more info2: www.gerryhemingway.com