Berne, Tim

Snakeoil

Label: ECM Country: Germany

"After compelling contributions to ECM discs by David Torn and Michael Formanek, here is Tim Berne's first leader date for the label. Snakeoil introduces a fascinating ensemble, a "chamber-like group" in Berne's words, albeit one that packs some power. Tim's tough alto is heard with Oscar Noriega's earthy clarinets, Mat Mitchell's cryptic piano, and Ches Smith's tone-conscious drums, tympani, gongs and congas. Berne: "I'd decided on this very transparent instrumentation to try and avoid obvious stylistic references and to focus the listener on the musical ideas being presented." Two years of wood-shedding preceded the recording of Snakeoil at New York's Avatar Studios early in 2011, and the band was ready to roar."-ECM Records

"Recent opportunities to hear the influential American composer and saxophonist Tim Berne have included free-funk adventures with guitar wildmen such as Marc Ducret and Nels Cline - but Berne's current band, Snakeoil, is a different story. He still balances interlocking, rhythm-rooted melody with an affecting modern lyricism, but this group (with Oscar Noriega on clarinets, Matt Mitchell on keyboards and Ches Smith on drums) downplays electric rawness for more of a chamber ensemble sound. The opening Simple City begins as a beautiful acoustic piano melody that keeps resolving in yearning dissonances, until the drums rise around it, Noriega's bass clarinet drifts across the soundscape, and a subdued melee develops for Berne's long alto-sax notes to gleam through. The punchy postbop themes of Scanners and Not Sure are typical Berne works - exultant, convoluted twisters over edgy, driving percussion. It's a terrific set, and an object lesson in balancing composition, improvisation and the tonal resources of an acoustic band."-John Fordham, The Guardian