A concert of sophisticated and introspective improvisation from the long-running duo of multi-reedist Ab Baars performing on tenor sax, clarinet & shakuhacih, and viola player Ig Henneman, who invited NY pianist Dave Burrell to join them at a concert at the Bimhuis, Amsterdam for a sublime series of unhurried, delicate and reflective improvisations.
Format: CD Condition: New Released: 2017 Country: The Netherlands Recorded at Bimhuis, in Amsterdam, Holland, on September 24th, 2016, by Micha de Kanter.
"Dutch multi-reedist Ab Baars has been active, mostly in Europe, since the 1970s, recording for several labels on the continent and touring in both rock and jazz capacities. His unique style had been dubbed "Ab Music" by the late Misha Mengelberg with whom he had recorded Circus (Instant Composers Pool, 2006) along with Han Bennick. More recently he teamed with Ingrid Laubrock, Tom Rainey and violist Ig Henneman on Perch Hen Brock & Rain (Relative Pitch Records/Wig, 2016).Henneman again joins Baars on Trandans. The musical, and life partners had toured and recorded as Duo Baars-Henneman on Autumn Songs (Wig, 2013), their second duo release. Henneman has worked as a violist in orchestra settings as well as with her own rock group and jazz quintet and sextet. Dave Burrell needs little introduction. The pianist has worked in groups with saxophonists Archie Shepp and Pharoah Sanders, composed for a jazz opera and has been recording as a leader since 1968's High Won-High Two (Black Lion). He received high praise for his album Expansion (High Two, 2004) which featured William Parker and Andrew Cyrille.The duo invited Burrell to join them at a concert at the Bimhuis, Amsterdam, in September of 2016 where Trandans was recorded. The eight compositions are group improvisations that often center on Baars choice of instrument. The title track opens darkly with Burrell's well-spaced chords and notes and the drone of Henneman's viola. It takes on more shrill properties as Baars enters with the shakuhachi, a traditional Japanese flute whose sound can range from the depths of a didgeridoo to something akin to the braking of a subway train. "Fyllevägen" and "Dis vid Hulan" follow and, as with most of the album's material, the improvisations are more about textures, silence and tones rather than song structure.The first real explosion of sound occurs on "Laggarebo," a twelve minute improvisation played out in episodes that include Baars running the upper and lower registers of the tenor. Further into the piece, Henneman uses her viola as a fiddle for an unexpected bit of hoedown. Much of the closing "Korsekebacken" is given over to Burrell who essentially performs an avant-garde solo for much of the eleven-plus minutes before Baars joins in on clarinet.The live recording often segues from track to track without interruption and the audience is not heard until the set is completed. While there are melodic segments throughout, the parts are very open, but controlled. The overall tone is not at all harsh though the high ends of the flute, viola and piano working in tandem can occasionally be penetrating. Fortunately, these passages are limited and balanced with reflection. Trandans is interesting music with an audacious spirit."-Karl Ackermann, All About Jazz
"Sometimes it is better not to react, or, to be more precise, to react with silence. Listening to this delightful record by Ab Baars, Dave Burrell and Ig Henneman will help you to remember why. There are many great examples of silence as a suitable answer to be found on Trandans. My favourite episode in this adventure is the part where pianist Dave Burrell lays out for a long time, letting the viola of Ig Henneman and the shakuhachi and tenorsax of Ab Baars do the powerful and sometimes even frantic talking. I remember seeing Burrell sitting at the Bimhuis piano, hands in his lap, just listening, but listening with an almost manifest eagerness. It is only when Henneman and Baars end the wonderful pieces titled "Regn segel" (Rain sail) and "Rassel runt brunnen" (Jangle around the well) that Burrell starts to play, at another pulse and adding ideas from a different source like some stride piano, but still as an obvious reaction to what is happening. Henneman and Baars now prove their excellence by keeping their calm and staying collected till their turn comes. No, it is wrong to say it comes, they catch it, or rather, find it, create it, bringing it to life by being loving, attentive and determined. Their quiet re-entrance into the music is perfectly timed, we can hear that, but the brilliance of this trio is proved most powerful when we start to think about all the other moments they could have uttered a note and most certainly would have changed the direction of the music, maybe would even have ruined it. There are no ruins on Trandans, from beginning to end this is marvellous, improvised music. A music so marvellous that we tend to forget that it did not exist before Ab Baars, Dave Burrell and Ig Henneman stepped on the stage of the Bimhuis that one night in September. And which after that intriguing concert did exist only as a memory. Until now."-Mischa Andriessen