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  Koch / Rohrer / Gianfratti 
  Aico
  (Creative Sources) 


  
   review by Jeph Jerman
  2011-09-28
Koch / Rohrer / Gianfratti: Aico (Creative Sources)

Hans Koch plays soprano sax and bass clarinet along with Thomas Rohrer on another soprano and c-melody saxes and rebeca, (a type of violin) and Antonio Panda Gianfratti on percussion. The style these gentlemen display fits somewhere between the really quiet, minimal explorations and the older "European-style" improvisation. There's a lot of space and airiness in their playing, and at times a semblance to some of the 20th century composition school of John Cage or Christian Wolff. They never quite rise to the level of out and out free jazz, but do raise the energy level while following the tried and true quiet-and-slow/faster and louder/soft-and-end sequence that an awful lot of improvisers follow.

Along the way there's some very fine playing. During the first (unnamed) track, the horns dance around each other while the percussionist adds the weft to their warp. The contour of the piece is akin to a conversation that starts off politely and gradually becomes more animated as the group makes their interjections faster and with more emphasis. The second, longest piece stays in quiet mode much longer, eventually giving way to some upper-register squeaking that sounds remarkably like a duet between a bird and a tin whistle. Short punctuations from the drums announce a section of legato and overblowing before the whole structure topples and then wobbles to its feet again somewhat drunkenly.

There are big ears in evidence here, and there doesn't seem to be any hemming or hawing while waiting for the next idea to form. They just go straight from one thing to the next and manage to keep it all interesting melodically, rhythmically or timbrally. Later on there's a nice extended section of breathy sounds from the horns and shuffling whispers from the drums, which is capped by single whistle tones before a left turn into low-end warble and mid-range sput.

The final piece features bowed cymbal with pops and short notes from the horns. I can't tell how Gianfratti is causing the cymbal tones to waver like that. The whole piece is a bit more "abstract" than the preceding stuff, and shows a weird witty sense of humor without getting cutesy. The cymbals seem to slice the structure into bits, and at times the whole enterprise seems electronically made or manipulated. Lots of high/low juxtaposition and variations in density make for a very interesting capper.



Koch / Rohrer / Gianfratti: Aico
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