The Squid's Ear Magazine


Cranes: Matthias Muller / Eve Risser / Christian Marien: Formation < Deviation (Relative Pitch)

Darkly powerful sonic interaction through transformative use of their instruments, the trio of trombonist Matthias Müller, drummer Christian Marien and pianist Eve Risser obscure their sources through non-traditional techniques, energetically and mysteriously evoking industrial mechanisms with riveting nuance and inventiveness, an exceptional achievement.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Matthias Muller-trombone

Eve Risser-piano

Christian Marien-drums


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UPC: 5902249003505

Label: Relative Pitch
Catalog ID: RPR1127
Squidco Product Code: 30435

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2021
Country: USA
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded at Studio Borne 45, in Berlin, Germany, on November 11th, 2017, by Kassian Troyer.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Cranes is a brand new collaboration, a European project. Three extraordinary improvisors from Germany and France maintain their long term musical relations by dedicating themselves to cross-linked sonic experiments and the discursive use of forms. Their music is powerful and fragile at the same time."-Relative Pitch



"Referencing both the life-celebrating beauty and mating dance of aviary cranes and the heavy lifting and transporting power of mechanical cranes is this French-German trio of improvisers. Paris-based pianist Eve Risser has been involved in numerous small and large ensembles like the Orchestre National de Jazz and with singer Sofia Jernberg, who has also worked with German drummer Christian Marien. He and fellow Teuton, trombonist Matthias Müller, are part of an equivalent number of collaborations in Berlin with players like saxist Frank Gratkowski and trumpeter Axel Dorner, among others. Together the three Cranes concentrate on pulling unexpected timbres from their instruments during the CD's two extended tracks.

Comfortable plucking, stroking and twanging the strings of her instrument's internal piano-harp, Risser clips and clicks these treble tones when not implanting keyboard glissandi or intense note chiming in the narratives. Marien subtly rolls mallets or sticks on wood, metal and skin, while Müller's interface is a combination of basso lowing, plunger expulsions and restrained tongue stops. Often subdividing their work into duos, brass puffs go up against cymbal buzzes at points; pressurized string strums meet stretched tongue vibrations elsewhere; and often intermittent key slaps and woody drum resonations define both piano and drums as percussion instruments.

The three often skirt cacophony, especially at the beginning of "Illusion of Innocence". But there and elsewhere, skill and smarts still allow the trio to express tonal extensions that arise from watery brass bluster, continuous player-piano-like pumping and shaking drum ruffs without neglecting episodic forward motion. With the expression of nearly limitless individual techniques while projecting a continuous narrative, the jagged and judicious program is a satisfying compromise between sound deviation and formation."-Ken Waxman, The Squid's Ear



This album has been reviewed on our magazine:

The Squid
The Squid's Ear!

Artist Biographies

"Matthias Müller was born 1971 in Zeven, Germany and starting playing trombone in the local trombone choir at the age of 10. From 1994 to 1999 he studied jazz-trombone at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen, where he also made his first steps into improvised music. His CD "Bhavan", which was released in 2004, was produced by Chicago based musician and journalist John Corbett. In the same year he moved to Berlin and has since been regularly playing with internationally recognized improvisers such as John Edwards, Mark Sanders, George Lewis, Johannes Bauer, Jeb Bishop, Tobias Delius, Olaf Rupp, Paul Lovens, Toshimaru Nakamura, Clayton Thomas, Michael Vorfeld, Axel Dörner, and many more. He is a member of the 24-piece improvising ensemble, "Splitter Orchester", and was also a member of the "German-French Jazzensemble" under the direction of Albert Mangelsdorff. In addition, Müller is also active in the field of contemporary music, having worked with the Berlin-based ensembles "Xenon", "Work In Progress", and "Zinc & Copper Works". He also took part in the performance and CD-recording of composer Mark Andre's opera "...22, 13...". Müller has toured Africa, Asia, North America and many countries in Europe, having played on numerous festivals, and released more than 20 CDs of his own projects."

-Matthias Muller Website (http://matthiasmueller.net/about)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Eve Risser has her musical roots in chamber music as a flutist and pianist. While residing in Alsace, France, she merged in to the contemporary and jazz/improvised music world. In June 2008, she got the 1st Piano Price in Jazz & Improvised Music at National Conservatory in Paris, a soloist price at the International Competition of La Défense. From 2009 to 2013 she took part of National Jazz Orchestra of Fance (ONJ) directed by Danie Yvinec. Eve's multifaceted musical creativity has been heard in various settings, festivals and groups throughout the world.

She performs solo with piano or electric harpsichord and a her own improvisations or compositions. She leads and co-leads, plays, and composes in the Donkey Monkey with Yuko Oshima ; in the quartet The New Songs with the swedish singer and composer Sofia Jernberg, Kim Myhr and David Stackenäs ; in the trio EN-CORPS (Risser/Duboc/Perraud) ans many others.

Currently Eve's musical life is based out of Paris where she is involved in organizing creative music live performances and the label UMLAUT. Eve has had the possibility to play and collaborate with great musicians such as John Hollenbeck, Billy Hart, Benoît Delbecq, Jon Irabagon, Mickael Formanek, Médéric Collignon, Marc Ducret, Emile Parisien, Jean-Luc Guionnet, Mickael Zerang, Andreas Werliin, joel grip, eivind lohning, Wolfgang Mitterer, Quatuor Bela, MAGMA, Le Sacre du Tympan, Magnetic Ensemble, The Bridge #5, les solistes de l'Ensemble Intercontemporain Nicolas Crosse & Pascal Gallois, Pascal Niggenkemper Vision 7 and many others.Je suis un paragraphe. Cliquez ici pour ajouter votre propre texte et modifiez-moi. Je suis l'endroit parfait pour raconter une histoire, et pour vous présenter à vos utilisateurs."

-Eve Risser website (http://www.everisser.com/biography)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Christian Marien , born 1975 in Münster (Westf.), Has been playing drums since his thirteen years. Punk and rock are his roots, but he found an early access to jazz and art, eventually studying jazz drums in Amsterdam and Berlin where he has been living since 2000. There he first made a name for himself in the jazz scene, including as co-founder of the ensembles Olaf Ton and Stereolisa. More and more, he turned to the improvised music, played with a large number of high-caliber improvisation artists (like Frank Gratkowski, Gebhard Ullmann, Jürgen Kupke, Christian Weber and many others) and became an integral part of Berlin's improvisational and jazz- Scene.

For many years, he has worked extensively with his duo "Superimpose" (with Matthias Müller - Trombone) and the trio "The Astronomical Unit" (with Matthias Müller-Trombone and Clayton Thomas double bass). He plays concerts in Europe and North America, among others, at the Montreux Jazzfestival, the Jazzfestival in Hermannstadt, the Leipzig Jazz Festival, and the Jazzfestival. He is also a member of numerous other ensembles (Z-Country Paradise, UnbedingT, Benjamin Weidekamp Quartet, Miss Platnum, Hannes Zerbe Jazz Orchestra) Rüsselsheim, Jazzfestival Frankfurt, Moers Festival and releases CDs on labels such as "leo records", "Jazzwerkstatt", "Klangräume", "NRW Jazz" or "2ndFLOOR Edition".

His interest in genre-encompassing artistic exchange brings him together with visual artists (Thomas Bratzke, Philip Wiegard), actors (Judith Strößenreuter), or dancers (Hans-Werner Klohe, Kadir "Amigo" Memis, July Hamilton). The performance group "Ritsche, Zast & Marien", which combines improvisation in music and painting, contests performances, festival performances and exhibitions."

-Christian Marien Website (translated by Google) (http://www.christianmarien.de/?page_id=158)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. The Inevitability Of Truth And Mistake 17:48

2. Illusion Of Innocence 23:19

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
Trio Recordings
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