The Squid's Ear
Writing about improvised, contemporary, experimental and unusual music,
following the activities of Squidco...
  •  •  •     Join Our Mailing List!



The Squid's Ear




Heard In

Reviews of artist releases:
cd's, books, magazines, &c.


  Martin Kuchen / Johan Berthling / Steve Noble 
  Night in Europe
  (NoBusiness) 


  
   review by Brian Olewnick
  2016-05-11
Martin Kuchen / Johan Berthling / Steve Noble: Night in Europe (NoBusiness)

This is a live improvised set, recorded in December, 2014 at the famed Glenn Miller Café in Stockholm, Sweden and an enjoyable enough one at that. Listeners who are aware of Küchen's impressive, gut-wrenching solo work in recent years ("Hellstorm" and "The Lie & the Orphanage", for example) should understand that there's none of that conceptual bedrock in place here.

Instead we find Küchen (soprano, alto and tenor saxophones, including various plugs and stoppers for same), Berthling (double bass) and Noble (drums and percussion) engaging in a not atypical round of free improvisation, well-wrought though not noticeably different from any dozens of others one could cite. The music ranges from the muscular—an approach that Küchen's guttural, growling tone well serves and which dominates here—to the subdued and elegiac; indeed, there's a point near the end of the first track where they near "Come Sunday" tonality. Berthling, who this listener had only really heard in very different contexts, with Tape and Oren Ambarchi, for instance, has a nice, dark tone, blending into the mix quite well and pushing matters forward with great strength but also unobtrusively, no mean feat. Noble's drumming is crisp and apt though, one should say, indistinguishable from many a colleague.

Three tracks, two at 22 and 17 minutes, one just over four. The trio negotiates the longer cuts very well, never really allowing interest to flag, skipping along nimbly, though the shorter one has a nice, tough concision that was welcome. Still and all, quite an attractive outing. When Küchen, near the end of the last track, lifts multiple reeds to his lips before transferring to soprano, the effect is exhilarating and moves the music to a higher level, well worth the wait and causing one to hope that the trio might continue to explore that particular avenue in the future.







Comments and Feedback:



More Recent Reviews, Articles, and Interviews @ The Squid's Ear...


The Squid's Ear presents
reviews about releases
sold at Squidco.com
written by
independent writers.

Squidco

Recent Selections @ Squidco:


Derek Bailey/
John Stevens:
The Duke of
Wellington
(Confront)



Paul Dunmall:
Away With
Troubles And Anxieties!
(Discus)



Shifa (
Musson/
Thomas/
Sanders):
Ecliptic
(Discus)



Natsuki Tamura/
Satoko Fujii:
Ki
(Libra)



Borah Bergman/
Anthony Braxton/
Peter Brotzmann:
Eight By Three
(Mixtery)



Hedvig Mollestad Trio:
Bees In
The Bonnet
(Rune Grammofon)



Acid Mothers Temple &
The Melting Paraiso
UFO:
Black Mountain
ide
(Rolling Heads)



Evan Parker/
Bill Nace:
Branches (
Live at Cafe OTO)[VINYL]
(Open Mouth)



Alexander Hawkins/
Taylor Ho Bynum:
A Near Permanent State
Of Wonder
(RogueArt)



Joseph Holbrooke (
w/ Derek Bailey/
Gavin Bryars/
Tony Oxley):
Last Live 2001 -
In Memoriam
Derek Bailey
And
Tony Oxley
[2 CDs]
(Tzadik)



Zeena Parkins:
Modesty Of
The Magic Thing
(Tzadik)



Dave Douglas (
Douglas/
Ridout/
Adewumi/
Brennan/
Pass/
Royston):
Alloy
(Greenleaf Music)



Ivo Pereleman/
Nate Wooley/
Matt Moran/
Mark Helias/
Tom Rainey:
A Modicum
Of the Blues
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)



Angles 11:
Tell Them
It's The Sound Of Freedom
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)



Sifter (
w/ Lisa Mezzacappa):
Flake/
Fracture
(Queen Bee Records)



Jean-Marc Foussat:
Abbatage
(Fou Records)



Chester Hawkins:
Apsis
(Intangible Arts)



Karl Evangelista's Apura +
Andrew Cyrille:
Bukas
(577 Records)



Frode Gjerstad/
Alexander von Schlippenbach/
Dag Magnus Narvesen:
Seven Tracks
(Relative Pitch)



Kaze (
Fujii/
Tamura/
Orins/
Pruvost) with/ Koichi Makigami:
Shishiodoshi
(Circum-Libra)







Squidco
Click here to
advertise with
The Squid's Ear






The Squid's Ear pays its writers.
Interested in becoming a reviewer?




The Squid's Ear is the companion magazine to the online music shop Squidco !


  Copyright © Squidco. All rights reserved. Trademarks. (8852)