The debut for this acoustic free improvising Amsterdam trio of Ziv Taubenfeld on bass clarinet, Henk Zwerver on guitar, and Maya Felixbrodt on viola, in a set of abstract improvisations of an active nature using unorthodox and extended techniques, with an upbeat sense of excitement and enthusiasm that allows for solo forays amongst great collective discourse.
Format: CD Condition: New Released: 2018 Country: Portugal Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold Recorded in Amsterdam North, the Netherlands, on May 2nd, 2018, by Alexandra Av.
"Zyft is an Arabic word for bad or poor quality, often used also in Hebrew and Yiddish slang. Zyft is also the Amsterdam-based, free-improv, chamber trio of veteran Dutch guitarist Henk Zwerver, bass clarinet player Ziv Taubenfeld, known from the Bones trio, who has played on previous albums of the Zwerv outfit led by Zwerver, and viola player Maya Felixbrodt, who also plays in the art-rock trio Sex Baby Kitten. Midnight Tea Suite is the debut album from the trio, which has been working for four years already, recorded in Amsterdam in May 2018.
There is nothing bad or poor in the six improvisations of Zyft, just eccentric and adventurous sense of breaking rules and taking risk. The free-associative interplay of Zyft investigates briefly ideas, timbres and sudden and nervous dynamics but most of the time with no attempt to focus or attach itself to any of it. Zwerver explores abstract ideas and exotic Eastern sonorities with fractured guitar lines. Taubenfeld takes the role of the responsible adult and goes deep down into more jazz-ier and coherent realms with the bass clarinet, especially on "And The Curtain Opens". Felixbrodt is the wild card of this trio. She plays with total abandon and arresting senses of imagination and humor, pushing constantly to wilder and more volatile terrains. Just check her tour-de-force solo on "Sip, Sip, Sip" to understand her uncompromising power."-Eyal Hareuveni, The Free Jazz Collective