Oluyemi Thomas - Sirone - Michael Wimberly: Beneath Tones Floor

Avant Jazz / Free Improvisation / Avant-Garde
premiera polska: 2011-04-26
opakowanie: Jewelcaseowe etui
opis:
multikultiproject.blogspot.com; 2011-04
Na stronie internetowej wydawcy jest napisane, że jest to ostatnie nagranie legendarnego basisty free-jazzowej sceny lat siedemdziesiątych - Sirone'a. Sama ta informacja jest elektryzująca.
Ale jest ono interesujące nie ze względu na jego dokumentalną wartość, lecz muzyczną zawartość krążka.

Miłośników tego gatunku pewnie nie będzie trzeba przekonywać do sięgnięcia po to nagranie, ale wszystkim innym postaram się je nieco przybliżyć.
Materiał został zarejestrowany w trio, z dwoma muzykami związanymi ze sceną free zachodniego wybrzeża - perkusistą Michaelem Wimberly oraz multiinstrumentalistą Oluyemi Thomasem. I chociaż mamy do czynienia tu z wolną improwizacją – nie ma tu komponowanych tematów - to bohaterem i liderem tria jest bez wątpienia kontrabasista. To on stymuluje poczynienia partnerów, rozdziela role w zespole, chociaż nie determinuje brzmienia tria. I chociaż tym razem ogranicza się tylko do swojego głównego instrumentu (nie chwyta za flet, ani nie udziela się wokalnie), to inwencji mu nie brakuje. Stosuje rozmaite techniki gry - arco, ale także gra jednym lub dwoma smyczkami. W tym ostatnim przypadku, jednym gra często poniżej mostka, co daje niezwykły, nieco aharmoniczny, i nie do końca kontrolowany przez instrumentalistę efekt. Najciekawsze są te fragmenty, gdy Oluyemi Thomas chwyta za musette - instrument z rodziny obojów, zwany także "obojem piccolo". Muzyka nabiera wtedy nieco rytualnego, etnicznego wymiaru.
Nie ma na tej płycie free-jazzowego szaleństwa, natomiast próżno szukać tu melodyki. To zresztą cecha charakterystyczna nagrań Thomasa, chociaż już Sirone przyzwyczaił nas do czegoś innego. I w jego grze ta melodyjna fraza wciąż jeszcze jest obecna, ale nie determinuje poczynań partnerów.

Polecam tę płytę gorąco, nie tylko miłośnikom spadkobierców "Wielkiej Czarnej Muzyki" - chociaż nawiązań do tej ostatniej tu nie brakuje.
autor: Marek Zając
Copyright © 1996-2017 Multikulti Project. All rights reserved

All About Jazz - ocena * * * *
Beneath Tones Floor is the last recording of Sirone (born as Norris Jones) and could serve as a fitting memorial to the great bassist as he is featured prominently throughout this egalitarian display. Perhaps best known as one-third of the legendary loft jazz outfit The Revolutionary Ensemble, Sirone also appeared alongside a galaxy of New Thing names including saxophonists Albert Ayler, Ornette Coleman, Pharoah Sanders and pianist Cecil Taylor, indicative of his astounding tone and sure sense of note placement. Joining him here in a 2008 live date from the Brecht Forum in NYC are Bay Area reed man Oluyemi Thomas and Cleveland native, drummer Michael Wimberly.

Part of the strength of this set, spread across 10 spontaneously generated pieces, is the tension created as the three never totally cut loose. They simmer with fierce intent, occasionally flaring but avoiding total combustion. Another of the main attractions is the intersection between Sirone's rich so-deep-it-is-almost-subterranean bass and Thomas' bass clarinet. Working through insistent phrases with the vocalized edge of an Eric Dolphy, the reed man overlays a nervy yelp in the upper register onto his gruff exclamations, while he is nasal on the musette but full-toned and astringent on soprano saxophone. Wimberly colors the exchanges, stoking the fires when needed, but largely supplies unselfish support for the double act of celebrated protagonists.

Though separately titled, the first five cuts form one continuous piece, as do the next two. But irrespective of demarcation, there is an abundance of both solo space and interaction. Considered improvisation opens the title track with Sirone plucking a vividly resonant counterpoint to Thomas' impassioned ruminations, all underpinned by sparse percussive textures. By the segue into "Where Sacred Lives," the bassist is alone, interpolating twanging single notes and vocal shouts into his energetic strums, while "Mystic Way" echoes the opening dialogue with the reed man's exuberant bass clarinet, braided with a sweeping bass impasto. "Heavenly Wisdom" begins with Thomas' spiritual-tinged bass clarinet, switching between sonorous woody mediations and squealing falsetto with split tones. Sirone's arco bass follows in delicious contrast, like a darkly anguished Bach Invention, accompanied by Wimberly's rumbling drums, the pairing conjuring one more high point on this fine album.
By JOHN SHARPE

freejazz-stef.blogspot.com - ocena * * * *
So far, I have only reviewed one CD, Nigeria, by saxophonist Oluyemi Thomas, and I praised it for its poetic power.That I have not reviewed many albums by him has more to do with his limited number of recordings than with the quality of his playing.

Thomas, wo plays bass clarinet, flute, soprano, musette and percussion on this album is joined by the late Sirone on bass and Michael Wimberly on drums. As on "Nigeria", the poetic power is still present, in the best of free jazz improvisations, with incredible openness, a total lack of structure, plenty of soloing. The album was recorded in 2008, in the year before the great bassist passed away. And for his fans - this is a must-have : there is as much soloing by Sirone as by the reedist, a real treat.

The absolute power of this album is the common language of all three musicians. Thomas' is much more an emotional player than a technical performer, and his notes are warm, sensitive, expressive, full of spiritual and human physicality at the same time, qualities that are all too present in Sirone's playing too. I did not know Michael Wimberley, and he is great in this setting, often taking a step back, letting the two other players do their thing, but he is magnificent in his rumbling duet with Thomas on "Dream Worlds".

This is deep music, as its title suggests, free in the associations, but not in loudness or volume, quite on the contrary, it is about timbre, about the coloring of feeling, the expression of universal emotions that can only manifest themselves through music ... and all this in a quite intimate setting. Expansive intimacy is the paradox that comes to mind, and possibly describes the inherent tension in the music quite well.

Beautiful!
By Stef

muzycy:
Oluyemi Thomas: bass clarinet, flute, soprano, musette, percussion
Sirone: bass
Michael Wimberly: drums, percussion

utwory:
1. Beneath Tones Floor 6:47
2. ... where Sacred Lives 3:37
3. Mystic Way 6:36
4. Reflections Of Silence, Painting Silence, Images Of Silence 9:27
5. Dream Worlds 3:22
6. Newest Happiness and Joy 3:23
7. Rotation 360 Degrees Hummingbird 6:49
8. Heavenly Wisdom 8:50
9. Silence On The Move 6:35
10. Spirit Of Ifa 6:43

wydano: 2010
nagrano: Recorded by Robert O'Haire at the Brecht Forum 2008.

more info: www.nobusinessrecords.com