Etwa

Avant Jazz / Free Improvisation / Avant-Garde
premiera polska: 2007-02-28
kontynent: Europa
kraj: Francja
opakowanie: plastikowe etui
opis:
'Etwa' means 'somesuch' or 'more or less' in English and is the work of the for me unknown Betrand Gauguet, who plays alto & soprano saxophones. The seven pieces were recorded at two different chapels in France. I suspect that has nothing to with some religious aspects of improvised music, but rather the spatial qualities of such locations. Placing the microphones seems to be an important thing for Gauguet. By placing them in various positions in the space, they will pick up both his playing aswell as the space it is played in. This is done rather well: Gauguet's music has indeed a spatial quality. Like «Kreis» this is music that lies in the modern improvisation.
His saxophones never sound like saxophones, but could very well Axel Dörner's trumpet or Alessandro Bosetti's clarinet. If you are aware of my reservations against traditional saxophone playing, you can imagine that I am more than happy with this new form of playing. The saxophone becomes an electro-acoustic object, albeit one in a bigger space, investigated and proved to be a usefull thing. 'Etwa' has some intense playing, leaving the attentive listener breathless. Probably the player aswell. Frans de Waard (Vital Weekly)

"Etwa" to moj dopiero pierwszy, acz nadzwyczaj satysfakcjonujacy, kontakt z tworczoscia francuskiego muzyka, o ktorym wiem zaledwie, ze nauke gry na trabce rozpoczal w wieku dziesiaciu lat, a nastepnie, po uplywie lat osmiu,
zamienil trabke na saksofon. Do polowy lat 90. przez lat blisko dziesiec gral rock oraz jazz, uczac sie jednoczesnie, w jaki sposob mozna w procesie komponowania muzyki wykorzystywac zdobycze cyfrowej technologii. Od roku
1999 poswiecil sie wylacznie muzyce improwizowanej oraz tzw. "sztuce dzwiekowej". Wspolpracuje rownie chetnie z artystami z kregu szeroko pojetych sztuk plastycznych, jak i tanca i teatru oraz, co oczywiste, z wieloma muzykami, wsrod ktorych znalezli sie m.in.: Michel Doneda, ktoremu notabene dedykowany jest, otwierajacy plyte "Etwa", jeden z zawartych na niej siedmiu pozbawionych tytulu utworow, Jack Wright, Barre Phillips, Le Quan Ninh, Martine Altenburger i Dan Warburton.
Nagrania wypelniajace omawiana plyte zarejestrowane zostaly w ciagu czterech dni w dwu francuskich kosciolach (badz kaplicach, niestety nie orientuje sie, co to za obiekty) - zapewne miejsca nie zostaly wybrane w sposob przypadkowy, lecz ze wzgledu na ich akustyke. Podejrzewam, ze przynajmniej jeden z nich znajduje sie gdzies na uboczu, poniewaz w pewnym momencie, gdy dzwiek saksofonu na moment przycicha, uslyszec mozna cwierkanie ptakow, i nic ponadto, co chyba swiadczy o tym, ze gwar swiata tam nie dociera. Jak juz wspomnialem, zawartosc "Etwa" to siedem utworow, bedacych dzielem improwizujacego solisty. Bertrand Gauguet, bo o nim mowa, gra na saksofonach altowym i sopranowym, jednak dzwieki dochodzace do naszych uszu niewiele, lub zgola nic, nie maja wspolnego z typowym dla jazzu brzmieniem tych instrumentów. Dosc szeroko rozpowszechnione we wspolczesnej muzyce improwizowanej, traktowanie ich jako "obiektow dzwiekotworczych" sprawia, ze "Etwa" zaliczyc nalezy do swiata elektroakustycznej muzyki improwizowanej. Saksofony Gaugeuta szemrza i szumia, raz wydaje sie, ze tylko oddychaja, to znow chrapliwie dysza, a momentami wrecz warcza, czy nawet, niczym ranne zwierze, cicho skowycza. Pojawiaja sie takze troche mocniejsze - okreslilbym je mianem: "metaliczne" - nieco bruitystyczne brzmienia. Nie nalezy sie jednak obawiac, ze "Etwa" to tylko zabawa dzwiekiem, bowiem poszczegolne utwory sa precyzyjnie rozegrane. Pelna skupienia celebracja dzwieku jako tworu samego w sobie, nie jest prowadzona kosztem procesu skladania tych dzwiekow w calosc. Skupienie sie na detalu, nie powoduje utraty z pola widzenia calego nagrania, ktore prowadzone jest w sposob nadzwyczaj przejrzysty, i na pewno nieprzypadkowy. Warta podkreslenia jest rowniez znakomita akustyka pomieszczen, w ktorych zarejestrowano nagrania i doskonale rozmieszczenie mikrofonow je rejestrujacych, ktore powoduja, ze wyraznie slyszalny jest kazdy, nawet najdrobniejszy, szczegol. Wszystko to, w polaczeniu ze znakomitym panowaniem Gaugeuta nad instrumentami, daje prawdziwie wybuchowa mieszanke, nie zostaje mi wiec juz nic - poza zacheceniem do poznania tej plyty - do napisania. Warto tez wspomniec, ze okladka jest nadzwyczajnej urody.
Choc to dopiero poczatek roku, zaryzykuje i stwierdze, ze "Etwa" zostanie odnotowana na wielu listach najciekawszych plyt wydanych w 2005 roku. Tadeusz Kosiek (http://www.diapazon.pl/)

Os microtonalistas da improvisaçao estao mesmo a inventar um novo léxico, e isso é particularmente evidente no caso dos sopradores. Se os primeiros a faze-lo com algum relevo terao sido Axel Dörner e Franz Hautzinger, ambos desenvolvendo paralelamente, no entanto, uma actividade musical com técnicas mais convencionais em contextos bem menos interessantes esteticamente, o primeiro na área do neo-free jazz e Hautzinger numa fusao excessivamente devedora ao Miles Davis dos últimos anos, depressa, no entanto, outros surgiram, e com outros instrumentos, primeiro com o sax soprano, depois alargando a mais variantes da família dos saxofones, aos clarinetes e ao trombone, com a particularidade de tudo investirem neste tipo de prática: Bertrand Gauguet é disso bom exemplo. O corte radical com a escala, a nota musical ou a própria musicalidade, pelo menos no sentido tradicional (senao mesmo literalmente, nalguns casos), a opçao pelo trabalho textural e pelo primado do som, levando a exploraçao das possibilidades periféricas de sonorizaçao (sopro, respiraçao, amplificaçao do manejo das chaves, por exemplo), sao características comuns. Podemos até achar que as técnicas introduzidas sao algo limitadas em número e alternância, mas a verdade é que, em vez de apostarem na variedade, procuram aprofundar as abordagens escolhidas. É verdade que, neste domínio, nao é fácil distinguir a identidade pessoal do soprano Gauguet da de um Stéphane Rives, cujo solo na etiqueta Potlatch se tornou paradigmático, mas esta nova música improvisada tem igualmente uma outra particularidade: a neutralizaçao do ego enquanto determinante musical. É por isso que nao podemos distinguir as estratégias do saxofonista alto e soprano Gauguet das do seu compatriota e tenor Bertrand Denzler. John Cage teria gostado desta metamorfose da música feita por intuiçao. Rui Eduardo Paes (JL)

"Etwa" is a pretty harsh work, not easy to absorb at a first try but full of propulsive energy anyhow. Gauguet is one of the several saxophonists exploring the peculiar aspects of his instrument, he's from the "air team" of the Bosettis and the Donedas (the first track of the album is dedicated to the French improviser) yet his bubbling saliva, incredible harmonics and most of the sounds coming out of those tubes and keys are permeated by a kind of "lo-fi" character, like if Bertrand had placed microphones in experimental manners or even used some effects, which gives the music a spartan, "post-radiation" pale skin. That doesn't detract in any way from the pieces, all very interesting and expressing a well definite identity in a not easy to penetrate sense of aesthetic value that is surely the most notable character in Bertrand's world. I really believe that repeated listening will help in a full comprehension of this musician's attitude. Massimo Ricci (Touching Extremes)

Etwa consists of seven soprano and alto saxophone solos recorded by Pierre-Olivier Boulant in February and July 2004 in two secluded French chapels in the Morbihan and Tarn departments. As with Stéphane Rives‚ recent Potlatch release, Fibres, we are in the world of closely observed airflows that determinedly avoid the physical configurations that lead to the sounds conventionally associated with the saxophone. Using circular breathing techniques, Gauguet produces an array of sounds, including sliding exhalations, hisses, guttural gurgles, subterraneous rumbles, ringing overtones, whistles, and a sound like distant wind heard from within a tunnel. Such an unorthodox approach to pitch and timbre is worthwhile in itself, but more successful still is Gauguet‚s fashioning of this material into articulated streams of subtle changes and sharper modulations that challenge and delight the ear and do so without recourse to schematic prefabricated structures. One disadvantage of circular breathing is that its relentlessness reduces the opportunity for effective deployment of silence, but Gauguet does pause from time to time, which provides relief and allows the sounds of the wider soundscape, especially the calls of the birds around the chapel, to percolate evocatively into the recording. Wayne Spencer (paristransatlantic.com)

Etwa est un ensemble de pieces solo improvisées aux saxophones alto et soprano enregistrées dans deux chapelles (l'une en Bretagne, l'autre dans l'Aveyron). Premier disque du musicien français Bertrand Gauguet sorti sur le label portugais Creatives Sources, Etwa développe un travail sur le souffle et véhicule un vocabulaire sonore singulier ou naît une musique de l'effacement et de la transparence du temps. Cette expérimentation trouve ses racines dans les musiques ethniques et parvient a restituer des sons tres proche des sons naturels de notre monde et de notre corps, transformant ainsi l approche instrumentale comme une expérience physique, une incarnation. Philippe Gimet (Octopus)

Le saxophone est un instrument a vent dont le son est produit par le passage de la colonne d'air dans le creux du tube et sa vibration. Ce sont littéralement le passage de l'air dans le tube de ses sax alto et soprano et le son du souffle que nous fait entendre Bertrand Gauguet et a cet égard cet enregistrement solitaire est une réussite. Les deux enregistrements de ce cd ont eu lieu en 2004 dans les chapelles de St Jean des Landes a Concoret et de Las Planques a Tanus, l'acoustique de ces deux lieux faisant partie intégrante de la musique. Les deux photographies qui ornent la pochette du cd (scenes de plage en Bretagne) cultivent un air de familiarité avec la prise de son de Pierre - Olivier Boulant. Les sept plages du disque sont sans titre ni numéro, B.G. se contentant d'indiquer leur minutage pour un total de 41'56". Si Etwa évoque la tournure d'un Michel Doneda, ou d'un Bhob Rainey, la musique de Gauguet n'a rien a envier a quiconque. La plage 04:10 développe un son assez rare dans le grave que je n'ai jamais entendu ailleurs. 06:52 lui fait écho en passant du grave a l'aigu avec le plus grand naturel. On découvre dans la musique de Etwa un vrai bonheur pour l'écoute sensuelle, un souffle inspiré, une authenticité qui fait parfois défaut chez certains improvisateurs "réduxo-lower case". Le musicien assume vraiment l'improvisation en évitant l'écueil de la démonstration -catalogue de sons. Avec ou sans la vibration de l'anche, il a acquis une tres grande variété d'effets, de sons et de timbres dans l'utilisation de ces techniques alternatives, mais celles-ci affleurent dans le flux de l'improvisation par un processus organique, poétique et vibratoire. Par exemple, les multiphoniques douces qu'on entend distinctement dans la plage 05:36 qui clôt ce tres beau disque. Chaque son utilisé entretient un rapport homogene avec un ensemble jamais monotone. En se cantonnant dans un registre bien particulier, qu'on pourrait croire "limité", Gauguet étend le champ du possible en le faisant chanter comme le vent dans les branches. Il y a dans Etwa (allemand pour c'est possible) un lyrisme éperdu et une maniere qui suggerent que Bertrand Gauguet, ici soliste, doit aussi etre un authentique improvisateur collectif. Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg (Improjazz)

L'etichetta portoghese Creative Sources sta attraversando un momento particolarmente felice, lo testimoniano le numerose pubblicazioni di recente data, quasi tutte su ottimi livelli qualitativi. Ecco qua, dopo "Pocket Progressive" del trio fhievel, Sigurta & Rocchetti gia recensito su queste pagine, tre nuovi lavori in grado di soddisfare gli appassionati.
[...] Un concetto dei fiati, e del loro trattamento sonoro, va affilandosi ancor di piu nei sette esercizi, tra alto e soprano, del sassofonista francese Bertrand Gauguet, "Etwa" presenta un nuovo enfant prodige dell'improvvisazione astratta con forti richiami all'operato di colleghi conterranei quali Michel Doneda e Pierre-Oliver Boulant, quest'ultimo anche responsabile della registrazione finale di tutto il disco. Un aspetto ancor piu ammiccante, che contribuisce alla resa / raffinatura di un determinato suono, e in cio che Gauguet trae dall'uso dei microfoni in rapporto allo strumento e dall'ambiente in cui avviene la performance. In questo caso il 'misfatto' e avvenuto dividendo le registrazioni negli ambienti contemplativi di alcune cappelle francesi. Quindi c'e un'attenzione a certi particolari che tira in ballo le costruzioni musicali di Alessandro Bosetti. Musica, suoni, fraseggi estremi e viscerali. Ondulazioni del respiro circolari che tanto ricordano la precisione in tale tecnica della scuola fiatistica inglese di John Butcher ed Evan Parker.
Tre dischi dal mood introspettivo che, esclusa qualche riserva per il mazzacanoso "A cavall entre dos cavalls", convincono appieno e fanno ben sperare per la prossima sfornata della Creative Sources... che gia incombe sulle nostre scrivanie. Sergio Eletto (Sands-Zine)

This is improvisational music done with alto and soprano saxophones. I know this because I read it, not because the things that I heard on this CD immediately reminded me of saxophones. Actually, many people are going to say that some of this minimalist experimentation sounds more like an attempt to blow into the instrument without much success in producing anything resembling music. Honestly, I can see where they are coming from. This is difficult material to digest, and it certainly isn't "traditional" structured music with notational possibilities. This is outside the language of music per se. I see it a s more of a recorded artistic expression, maybe something more theatrical and emotional than it is firmly representational or entertaining. This is an "in the moment" kind of thing, that is maybe difficult for those of us who are "out of the moment" to understand. Still, it is worth a try for those who want to hear things done with a saxophone that have probably never been done with a saxophone before in the history of the instrument. That's got to spike at least 1-2 interests. (neo-zine)

[...] L'admirable poeme des colonnes d'air de Bertrand Gauguet dans Etwa (CS 021) est la matiere vivante et réfléchie du souffle a l'état pur, sublimé par la prise de son de Pierre Olivier Boulant. La chronique d'Etwa par votre serviteur est parue dans le no 115 d'Improjazz. [...] Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg (Improjazz)



Bertrand Gauguet (as well as all the discs that came out on Portuguese label Creative Sources this year) challenges sound and the limits of his own instrument. The solo saxophone improvisations on Etwa sounded more like a duet between a man and the French chapels that these pieces were recorded in. The most finite details of the saxophone were fully exposed as though microphones had been placed inside the horn, yet Gauguet's tone was saturated in reverb, as though we were listening from the back of the chapel. Subtleties like the simple sound of wind blowing through a pipe didn't sound like a lack of decision, but more like room breathing and a style of playing that reflected the speed of reality rather than music tailored for a recording. Gauguet was also capable of making some of the most uniquely violent sounds of any sax player I've ever heard. Through an endless display of non-traditional techniques, Gauguet's playing usually sounded more like guitar feedback and industrial machinery than a saxophone. Whatever he was doing, it was unrecognizable as a saxophone and he philosophically treated sound as vibrations that dissipate into the atmosphere. Okay, so that's literally the definition of sound, and it makes for a truly unforgettable listen (whether you like it or not) that's both primal and glorious. w.c. (Eureka!)

Portugal's Creative Sources has quickly become a must listen label. Focusing on music that sits in the cracks between European free improvisation and "lowercase sound" or "eai" music, label head and ace improviser Ernesto Rodrigues has kept up an active release schedule and built up an impressive catalogue of provocative improvisations.
If Scott Rosenberg's wet gurgles encountered Stéphanne Rives' intense high tones in Bill Dixon's echo chamber and mated there, their offspring might be Bertrand Gauguet's intense Etwa, whose whooshing matallic whorls of sound compel from the outset. There are no tricks here, first and foremost, Gauguet has simply developed a weird array of techniques for his alto and soprano, which he exploits via close-miking. There are seven untitled tracks in 42 minutes, each one relentlessly exploring a different technical area: the restrained breath noises of the opening track, the superb low-end growl of the fourth, the chasm-like whooshing of the third, or the very high overtone range of the second. After multiple listens, a slight repetitiveness creeps in, but overall it's tight and focused stuff. Can we now speak of post-Butcher, post-Doneda saxophone? Who knows. This is lovely, state of art stuff, regardless. The kind of thing to play softly on your own, late at night, or blaring in the middle of the day, with the windows open and noises blending in. Jason Bivins (Signal to Noise)

Auf Etwa (CS 021) sind 7 Solostücke von BERTRAND GAUGUET versammelt, Improvisationen für Alto- & Sopranosaxophon. Das erste davon ist seinem Landsmann Michel Doneda gewidmet, einem der Wegbereiter für die Exkursionen der Reedfraktion in mikrobruitistische Extremzonen. Gepresste, schmurgelnde, schleifende, schnaubende, diskant und manchmal schmerzhaft schrill pfeifende Überblastöne zerren an den Trommelfellen. Tinnitusvorgeschädigte und andere arme Hunde krümmen sich vor Schmerz. Klang wird geliefert mit all dem Schleim und Sand, Luftwirbeln und Begleitgeräuschen, die ansonsten im wohltemperierten und harmoniegefälligen Kontext der abendländischen Kunstmusik als Part maudit ausgesondert und unterdrückt werden. So brutal wie Gauguet die musikalische Sphäre enttemperiert, liegt es nahe, dass er selbst das für eine notwendige und reizvolle Aufgabe hält. Nun, vielleicht ist es das. Die Vögel draußen vor der St. Jean-Des-Landes-Kapelle von Concoret hat der seltsame Vogel drinnen kein Bisschen gestört. (Bad Alchemy).

muzycy:
Bertrand Gauguet: alto & soprano saxophones

utwory:
1. 08:25
2. 06:19
3. 04:04
4. 04:10
5. 06:52
6. 06:30
7. 05:36

total time - 41:56
wydano: 2005
nagrano: 2003-02-12
more info: www.creativesourcesrec.com