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Barry
Guy New Orchestra. Inscape - Tableaux. INTAKT CD 066
CHOC
DE L'ANNEE 2001:
BARRY GUY NEW ORCHESTRA
«Dès la première seconde,
uns scalpel. Une heure plus loin, une vision de la planète. Sept
tableaux qui son tout sauf contemplatifs. Mouvant, implosant, bruissant,
virulent, l'univers du contrebassiste anglais n'a jamais paru aussi
littéralement sidérant. D'une extrême tension, la
musique de son tentette euro-américain dit les soubresauts du
monde et ses îlots de tendresse désespérées.
Le FREE da la passion.
jazzman.
le journal de tous les jazz. Paris, Dezembre, 2001
DIE BESTE
Der
Bassist, Bandleader und Komponist Barry Guy hat mit seinem New Orchestra
eine Plattform geschaffen, die höchst individuelle Klangsprachen
in wechselnden Kontexten miteinander vernetzt. Die Ausdrucksgeste des
frühen Free Jazz ist in dieser Musik ebenso aufgehoben wie das
Strukturbewusstsein einer post-webernschen Neuen Musik. Was entsteht,
weist über die genannten Traditionen hinaus auf eine hochkomplexe,
dabei durchaus sinnliche Synthese aus Komposition und Improvisation,
die den Exzess des Geräuschhaften ebenso zulässt wie den kontemplativen
Klang.
Bert
Noglik, WoZ Music 2001, WochenZeitung, WoZ, Zürich, Nov. 2001
CD-TIPP
2001
Sie
ist wild, frei, ungestüm und eigensinnig, die Musik, die der englische
Komponist und Bassist Barry Guy für sein zehnköpfiges New
Orchestra geschrieben hat. Die rund siebenteilige Suite "Inscape - Tableaux",
gespielt von einigen der herausragendsten Köpfen der amerikanischen
und europäischen Free-Szene, verbindet das Beste vom europäischen
Freejazz, die gewaltige Ausbruchsenergie und die ekstatische Expressivität
der freien Kollektivimprovisation, mit den spannendsten Errungenschaften
der Neuen Musik, dem Weg zu einer "strukturierten Freiheit" mittels
grafischer Notation, zu einem Pastiche unterschiedlichster musikalischer
Materialien und zu einer neuen Dialektik von Inhalt und Form. Was kann
man von Musik mehr erwarten?
Christian Rentsch, «Tages-Anzeiger», 5. Dezember 2001,
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Barry Guy New Orchestra. Photo: Francesca Pfeffer
Behind
Barry Guy's New Orchestra
By Greg Buium
When the Barry Guy
New Orchestra reassembled in Vancouver last June for just its
fourth concert, its first in over a year, the improvised music
set couldn't believe their luck. It was, by any standard measure,
a coup. Considering the ten-piece group's lineup, an exceptional
gathering of European and American improvisers, and the sheer
size of its signature piece, Guy's seven-part composition, "Inscape
- Tableaux," finding a festival for its first (and only) North
American appearance wasn't easy.
"We've got so many
amazing players in this band we can present almost anything,"
Guy told me in the middle of the group's four-day whirlwind through
town. "It's very hard to persuade a festival organizer to utilize
the potential of the group. To say, 'Well, look: Other than the
big band we actually have the [Evan] Parker Trio, we have the
Guy/[Mats] Gustafsson trio. Or you can have the Marilyn Crispell
Trio. And more.'"
But the Vancouver International
Jazz Festival didn't need much convincing. Breaking off into a
variety of duos, trios, and quartets, the orchestra blanketed
the festival's first few days. In some respects, the BGNO (as
Guy is given to calling it) simply recreated its first performances
in Dublin last year. To debut the new group Guy set-up four days
of music, plotting out a compelling network of groupings and daily
rehearsals, culminating in the premiere of "Inscape-Tableaux."
For some of the players it was the first time they'd ever met.
"The process that
took place in Dublin was actually quite important," Guy explained.
"One thing I wanted to do was to acquaint us all, and the audience,
with the voices in the band. Kind of lay the skeleton bare before
we ever came around to playing the final piece. And it was a very
interesting process not only for the audience but for ourselves
because all the players always listened to everybody else. So
we were informing ourselves of the way the players interacted
in different groupings."
It was a masterstroke
-- and, for Barry Guy, something not unfamiliar. For nearly thirty
years with the London Jazz Composers Orchestra (LJCO) he's tackled
the often problematic relationship between composition and improvisation,
a lifetime trying to make improvised music work in large group
settings. "Guy's LJCO recordings," Bill Shoemaker recently suggested,
"comprise a Teflon-like argument for the legitimacy of the composer
in improvised music, as his works are casebook studies in the
integration of improvisation and predetermined materials and the
empowerment of improvisers to substantively shape the work." Indeed,
the BGNO fits snugly into this tradition. Built on the questions
(and problems) posed in the LJCO, Barry Guy's New Orchestra was
born out of its predecessor's unwieldy economics.
"The genesis of the
new group, I suppose, came out of the fact, the horrible reality,
that getting work for the London Jazz Composers Orchestra was
actually getting more and more difficult," Guy recalled. "The
LJCO was always a large animal to deal with, to keep it moving.
There was no such thing as funding. We funded it basically by
selling instruments over the years. I suppose I can put my Baroque
music days as the progenitor of the LJCO."
After the LJCO's last
concert at the 1998 Berlin Jazz Festival (with Marilyn Crispell
and Maggie Nicols as guests) -- "a remarkable evening," Guy recalls,
"because the band was on absolutely top form" -- the prospects
looked bleak. "The months passed after Berlin, we tried to get
some more work, and basically the information coming back to us
was that nobody has any money for big bands, unless you have government
support. Patrik Landolt from Intakt wanted to do another album
and he said, 'Look, why don't you think of a smaller band.' Which
to me was the unthinkable because in a way that's my baby, the
LJCO, with the size of it -- the orchestration, the understanding
how I could write for it. A ten-piece band seemed a proposition
that was untenable. However, it was suggested as a financially
easier option."
Landolt persisted.
"He said, 'Why don't you just give a thought to who you'd want
in the band.' That was the difficult thing because I had all the
guys that were in the LJCO who I'd worked with for years. But
I decided to just let that be, to push that to one side and find
the reasons for putting a ten-piece band together -- and who to
get into it. It seemed to me that the best way of doing this was
to almost get back to the first principles that I had with the
LJCO: to gather around under this umbrella a group of players
that I had recently been working with in small groups, in duos,
trios. And also players that had played with each other in various
groupings over the years.
"So the Parker Trio
was the obvious starting point because I love working with Evan
and I love working with Paul [Lytton]. And of course then there
was the Swedish trio with Mats Gustafsson and [drummer] Raymond
Strid. So there were two, for me, very interesting trios: one
younger one, and the other established but dealing with trio music
in a completely different way. I thought that would be quite an
interesting focus, and axis point. And then I had been working
with Marilyn in trio formations, either with Gerry Hemingway or
Paul Lytton, so it would seem to be a necessity to get Marilyn
in. And I was wanting to write some things for Marilyn anyway
-- some ballads, slower things -- since she was interested in
that area. And she had also made records with the Parker Trio
and the Gustafsson Trio.
"I wanted a band that
was reasonably international, which reflected my experiences over
a period of years. I had done some excellent duos with Hans Koch
and wanted a bass and contrabass clarinet sound in this ensemble
because I realized that once you're coming down from the seventeen-piece
to a ten-piece, coloration is quite important, absolutely vital
to this orchestration.
"But I wanted to keep
a strong brass section. [Trumpeter] Herb Robertson had played
with the LJCO in America and Berlin. He came in and I thought
he was an excellent player, kind of revitalized the brass section
in a way. And he had made an album with Paul Lytton, so there
was that connection. Then [trombonist] Johannes Bauer. I'd done
quite a lot of duos with him in Germany, on and off. We kept on
meeting. And I thought he had a very positive attitude to improvising
and reading music. He's a very good reader, strong sound, and
also a really nice guy, as well. I was also interested in the
chemistry of the group. What I didn't want was a lot of superstars
in the ensemble who would just get on each other's nerves. So
I tried to find this arcane balance: to get not only the music
to work but the people to work with each other, as well.
"And tuba: Per Eke
Holmlander, a Swedish player that played in Mats's big band. He
was such a good player, very powerful, good improviser, really
nice guy, knew the Swedes well, of course. So that was the Viking
Trio, in a way (with Raymond Strid on drums), a very special dimension.
"The other thing was,
I had to devise music in which I could play bass instead of conducting
all the time. You see, I do some conducting in this piece but
also I had to imagine a piece in which I could actually step back
and let the direction of several parts of it take place within
the band itself. So I had to have people who had good initiative.
Mats had directed his own orchestra so there was already a fellow
traveler. If I needed somebody else to go, 'OK, guys, mobilize
here,' he could be relied upon to do that."
Having, as Guy characterized
it, "accepted the ultimatum that this was going to be a reality,"
he began to write -- or to at least think about writing. "For
quite a while I didn't necessarily do anything on the piece,"
he recalls. "But there were moments, when I was walking somewhere
or sitting at the drawing board working on something else, I would
suddenly visualize the BGNO and how it could come together, just
sound-wise, as an ensemble. There was a period of gestation: I
was having to adjust to the possibilities, the sonic expectations,
compared with the LJCO. But there came a point where new things
started to stir, reducing the larger orchestra down to a compact
aural scenario in my head, but at the same time I was realizing
that because they're singular instruments a new sonority started
emerging in a very subtle and nonspecific way.
An idea was forming
itself in my head about clarity and sharply defined gestures.
For instance, 'OK, there is one trombone. But that one trombone
is powerful and it can actually have a very important and decisive
effect within an ensemble,' whereas the three trombones in the
LJCO were used in a strategically different way. "It was a slow
and not very scientific way of forming the sounds of the band.
But as these things were happening I found myself more and more
making marks on paper, like an artist with a paintbrush. Even
before this all started coming into place I'd just get excited
by the imagination of a particular instrumental grouping, or one
player playing against a construct. And I would just make a mark,
or a series of marks, not actually writing notes even. Just a
very soft pencil, just digging the paper in a way. It's almost
like cavemen making marks on rocks, just images to remind you
exactly what you want to do. But in the context of the other things
that might have been accumulating, they made sense: something
to do with a density of sound, or tailing off to a lightness.
I would even change pencil thicknesses sometimes to give a sense
of density change."
While a number of the
drawings were eventually discarded, specific ideas began to emerge.
"As I went through this process they started shaking themselves
out into numbers, if you like. This is where the aural imagination,
which had been just thinking of grouping, started to enter the
drawing facility. I would just put 'Marilyn,' or something like
that, at the end of a sequence of lines. That would indicate to
me a certain type of activity ending in Marilyn, or, for instance,
a specific logical meeting point of certain instruments to support
this moment.
"In the early part
of 'Inscape - Tableaux' I wanted the exposition to present the
two powerhouse trios of Parker and Gustafsson. Before that, however,
I wished to present the brass players in short vignettes that
would gradually accumulate in energy to the point where they would
come together and comment on the progress of the trios as they
made their way to a sonically elevated level.
"Then there was this
memory of hearing Marilyn and Evan doing a circular stream of
activity, and that was the first release point, where the focus
changes: from the grand to the specific. And then through that
process, and a little short ballad section, we actually pick up
pretty much where we left off with the whole band, with the background
thing coming to the foreground picking up everybody on the way.
This rounds off the first section.
"For me it was important
after that to dramatically change the architecture, where suddenly
you've got one person in an open space. There you have Marilyn.
Having exposed the whole band, I just remember having the, 'This
is the Marilyn moment.' It goes right down to one instrument and
that's her.
"The whole tension
has changed here; the focus has changed. In some ways I think
of it as highly architectural but with some cinematics. I'm not
a great cinema buff but it's always interesting the way films
have the ability to show the bigger vista, then they pan and bring
the focus to one specific detail: it could be an eye, or it could
be a hand, or it could be a small gesture. But I'm interested
in how you can focus the sound. You're channeling everybody into
a particular way of listening.
"The other thing that
I did at this initial stage was put all the names on a list and
connect up who, to my knowledge, had played with whom. There were
the obvious trios and parings that had featured in my musical
life. But what about Johannes Bauer, for instance. There evolved
this very complex, spaghetti-like diagram. And then I started
looking at the diagram to realize who hadn't played with somebody
in a particular situation. So not only were there the familiar
groups, but also the unfamiliar, as well -- which became a useful
tool to evaluate structural procedures.
"What I try to do is
also think of the possibilities of it going wrong as well as right
-- if it deviated into an area which wouldn't be appropriate.
But then you have the trust of the players. I always have the
complete trust in the improvisers: they instinctively know where
in the creative process it should go. There's a kind of mystery
in this, as well, about how these things might work. But I try
to assess the probabilities of where they might go. And it can
come up with massive surprises, but on the other hand, its creativity
is assured."
"Inscape-Tableaux"
may be a monument to Barry Guy's ingenuity and these improvisers'
singular skills, but it will be a balancing act to keep the BGNO
a viable affair. While a number of national arts councils have
generously supported the band, it's been difficult just getting
everyone in the same place. "In reality, of course, it's been
the biggest nightmare ever," Guy explains referring to the logistics.
"The old days of meeting the London Jazz Composers Orchestra at
Heathrow Terminal 2 was not to happen anymore." Still, the BGNO
regrouped in Nickelsdorf, Austria this August, followed by a three-city
Scandinavian tour in the fall. This spring it seems the group
will be in Paris and in Mulhouse in the summer.
With the LJCO on hold,
Guy is committed to making the New Orchestra an ongoing project.
Not only is he hoping to produce more music, but Mats Gustafsson
has plans to write for the group, as well. And after this second
spell of gigs, one might expect "Inscape-Tableaux" to still find
its place in the band's book. "Could be," Guy responds. "Since
the piece is actually taking on a good feel, people are relaxing
into the music now.... The thing that I definitely want to present
to an audience is something which is organic and growing in front
of you. I want the process to be joyous and energizing -- to breathe."
Copyright
Greg Buium . 2002 . Used with his permission .
This article first appeared in Coda , # 302 , March - April ,
2002 .
For subscriptions contact : 161 Frederick St . , Toronto , ON
M5A 4P3 , Canada; lisa@warwickgp.com
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Ungestümer Strukturalist
Der Brite Barry Guy ist nicht nur ein herausragender Komponisten
zwischen Freier Improvisation und Neuer Musik. DLF über einen, der ganz
nebenbei auch noch meisterhaft Bass spielt.
Die Frage taucht selbst im Kreise versierter Jazzfans immer wieder auf:
Ist das Komponieren von Werken für Freie Improvisation nicht ein Widerspruch
in sich? Keineswegs, entfalten doch gerade Musiker dieser Szene in der
Regel meterlanges Notenpapier, ehe sie loslegen. Doch wer sich solche
Blätter aus der Nähe ansieht, wird daraus selten schlau. Freie Improvisation
funktioniert weniger mit konventioneller Notation und linearen Abläufen
als mit Mustern und komplex konstruierten Strukturen.
Freejazz im Barockgewand
Barry Guy ist ein Meister solcher Strukturbauten. Die Werke des 54jährigen
Ex-Architekten aus London zeichnen sich aber nicht nur durch ihre Komplexität
aus, sondern insbesondere durch die Vielfalt der Baumaterialien. Ausgegangen
vom europäischen Freejazz der wilden 60ties, hat sich Guy stetig der
Neuen Musik angenähert. Mehr noch: Guy liebt Barock- und Renaissance-Weisen
und integriert selbst solch streng geregelte Klangelemente in sein Schaffen.
Die Kombination aus ungestümer Free-Mentalität und der ins Mathematische
tendierenden Präzision Neuer Musik macht das Schaffen von Barry Guy
einzigartig. Welch glückliche Fügung, dass er ein Workaholic ist, der
sämtliche Aspekte seiner musikalischen Weltsicht auszuloten scheint.
Guy konzipiert und schreibt und spielt was das Zeug hält - ohne qualitative
Reibungsverluste wohlgemerkt. Sein Album Inscape-Tableaux ist nicht
nur von Bert Noglik (WoZ) und Christian Rentsch (Tagesanzeiger), sondern
auch vom renommierten französischen Magazin Jazzman zum Jazzalbum
des Jahres 2001 gekürt worden. Eine Sensation angesichts der marginalen
Stellung Freier Improvisation im weitläufigen Jazzkosmos.
Stammgast in Zürich
Für Inscape-Tableaux hat Guy zehn der spannendsten Köpfe aus den USA
und Europa zu seinem New Orchestra zusammengesucht; darunter auch den
Bieler Saxophonisten und Klarinettisten Hans Koch. Zur Schweiz hat er
naturgemäss eine enge Beziehung, lässt sich die hiesige Impro-Szene
doch hören (siehe nebenstehenden Bericht). Er spielt regelmässig mit
Schweizer Musikschaffenden, ist Stammgast bei der Fabrikjazz-Reihe
in der Roten Fabrik und gibt einen guten Teil seiner Alben beim Zürcher
Label Intakt heraus.
Und dies mit unterschiedlichsten Formationen. Barry Guy - obendrein
ein meisterhafter Bassist - ertastet mit Duos und vor allem Trios, was
er mit Grossformationen zur voluminösen Perfektion bringt. Mit seinem
1970 gegründeten London Jazz Composers Orchestra hat er das Klanggefäss
Big Band schlicht neu definiert. Er schreibt aber auch für klassische
Orchester wie die City of London Sinfonia oder die London Sinfonietta,
sowie Kammermusik für Kronos Quartet oder Hilliard Ensemble. Unter dem
Titel Die Verwandlung der Schwerkraft unterhält sich DLF-Redaktor
Michael Engelbrecht mit Barry Guy über Komposition, Improvisation und
Fusion.
Frank von Niederhäusern, Radiomagazin, Zürich, Februar 2002
A reimagining
The momentous
music marks the auspicious recorded debut of Barry Guy's newly retooled
and streamlined large ensemble, concisely christened the New Orchestra.
His well-established London Jazz Composers Orchestra held a reigning
position as the preeminent grand-scale improvising ensemble in Europe
and abroad for years. This new assemblage builds upon the strengths
of its predecessor while striking out in bold new directions. Rather
than a distillation of the earlier colossus, it's more of a reimagining.
Expanding the pool of suspects from a predominately British cohort to
one drawing from a broadly multinational base, Guy's outfit remains
redoutable in its ability to flatten the skeptics. As in previous meetings
of the LJCO, the new piece balances complex composition and free improvisation
with an Ellington-like emphasis on individual voicings. the rallied
players are among the most formidable and unique in the global improvisatory
community and Guy's score maximises their choices for individual and
collective invention. The musicians in turn seize upon the structured
freedom, rallying through an inventory of inspired combinations.Crispell's
piano is a guiding beacon throughout much of the melee, manoeuvring
the group and joining together the piece's myriad sections. The shifts
between lyrical and the tempestuous are so sudden and numerous as to
become dizzying. Sections of relative reverie intersperse moments of
collective and concerted high impact blowing, bowing, pounding and bashing.
In the first segment alone Bauer, Parker, and Gustafsson self immolate
in instrument splintering solos above a percussive conflagration. Crispell's
piano and Parker's circular blown soprano burst forth from the ensemble
trailed by the unctuous brass of Robertson. Bauer and Holmlander only
to resurface again together in the early minutes of 'Part II.' Later
Guy and Crispell meet in a sombre contemplative duet commented on by
growling, suspirating horns. It's a pairing they return to and explore
more fully in the opening minutes of 'PartIV' only to be joined again
by the horns and percussion, this time in meditative confluence. The
disc is filled with these sorts of diadic interactions, initial forays
that are eventually amplified through renewed associations in subsequent
sections of the piece. 'Part V' quickly redeposits the group in dissonant
surroundings, eventually parting for soaring turns from Bauer and eventually
Robertson. Crispell's categorical clusters part a path for first Holmlander
on deeply resonating tuba, and then Koch on register bucking bass clarinet
during the initial segments of 'Part VI.' The concluding 'Part VII'
offers a final descent into the maelstrom with individual solos giving
sway to volley after volley ensemble energy - a fitting end to hear
the group converge a full muster. Guy has effectively reshaped his most
renowned composing vehicle into a new entity every bit as arresting
as its predecessor. Engineer Peter Pfister deserves special commendation
for capturing the massive sonic complexity of the band with such pristine
clarity. Each instrument is clearly and concisely discernible even during
the most opaque and violent moments of full ensemble release.
Derek Taylor, Cadance, N. Y., October 2001
Barry
Guy: ein Chef d'Oeuvre
Für frei improvisierende Musiker ist es äusserst diffizil, einen adäquaten
und stimulierenden Kontext zu kreieren, der es ihnen erlaubt, in einer
strukturierten und dennoch uneingeschränkten Art spontan zu «komponieren».
Dem britischen Kontrabassisten Barry Guy gelingt dieser Spagat immer
besser. Bereits für sein legendäres London Jazz Composers Orchestra
hat Guy, der sich ausschliesslich für Barockmusik und Free Jazz interessiert,
ausgeklügelte Suiten geschaffen. Das jüngste Werk, Inscape-Tableau,
das er für sein «New Orchestra» kreiert hat, ist seine bislang stärkste
Komposition. Die auch optisch wunderbar gestaltete Partitur enthält
sowohl grafisch notierte wie auch konventionell geschriebene Teile.
Im hochkarätig besetzten Tentett finden sich zwei auch autonom konzertierende
Trios sowie - als Hauptsolistin - die grossartige Pianistin Marylin
Crispell. Diese Subformationen werden verzahnt, mal separat, mal im
Kollektiv behandelt. Die ausladende, überraschungsreiche Komposition
umfasst - wie bei Guy üblich - hymnische, beinahe pathetische Episoden,
Jazzklänge (die oft an den Big Band Sound Duke Ellingtons erinnern)
und unzählige stimulierende, ja elektrisierende Muster, die - wie früher
die Big Band Riffs - den frei improvisierenden Solisten den Weg deuten.
Ein zukunftsweisendes Meisterwerk!
Nick Liebmann, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 5. April 2001
21st century
orchestral sound
Just as the European Union (EU) and the Euro have begun to win over
Continental rivalries and local currencies, so composer, orchestra director
and bass master Barry Guy has decided to put together a new international
aggregation that's showcased on this exceptional disc.
After 28 years leading the
mostly British, usually 18-piece, London Jazz Composers Orchestra (LCJO),
the now Ireland-based has organized an all-star tentet to perform this
multi-faceted composition which took two years to perfect. As multinational
as the EU, the Barry Guy New Orchestra (BGNO) features only two other
Englishmen, as well three Swedes, two Americans, a German and a Swiss
national.
Most have worked with the
bassist before -- some extensively like Evan Parker and Paul Lytton.
All are at the top of their form. It would be stupid to say that the
colors brought forward by the LJCO's additional eight to 10 players
can be equaled by BGNO's fewer musicians. But together these improvisers
are so proficient on so many instruments and so cognizant of so many
techniques that what they produce easily has the resonance of a larger
band. Though scored, Guy's "Inscape - Tableaux" leaves plenty of space
to take advantage of each individual's talents.
Especially noteworthy
is pianist Marilyn Crispell, who as well as being integrated into the
ensemble, is featured in three keyboard-centered interludes between
the larger orchestral sections. Sometimes pastoral, as in the beginning
of "IV"-- practically a duet for her and Guy's flying fingers -- sometimes
powerful, Crispell seems to bring her classical chops to the fore here.
Distinctively unique, her playing no more resembles that of Cecil Taylor
--as some lazy commentators have suggested -- than Jesse Helms' politics
resemble those of Jesse Jackson's.
Trombonist Johannes Bauer's
showcase comes on "V," an exploding comet of cacophony, which harkens
back to the earliest days large ensemble free jazz. Here and elsewhere
his vocalized, guttural cries simultaneously suggest New Orleans tailgate
and outer space. "V" also features some of Herb Robertson's best Maynard-Ferguson-meets-Cootie-Williams
explosions. With only three valves, the American trumpeter is able to
produce the sort of multiphonics saxophonists need many keys to generate.
Speaking of saxophonists,
how can a band go wrong with a section made up of Parker's circular
breathing, Mats Gustafsson's lung bursting blowouts, and on "VI," Hans
Koch's top-to-bottom bass clarinet forays?
Still, this Ellington
band-like aggregation of stylists shouldn't obscure that the BGNO is
very much a composer's vehicle, with echoes of European New music and
on "II" Charles Mingus' scores for mid-sized ensembles. Listen again
to an interlude in "V" and observe the perfect clarity of Per ke Holmlander's
tuba making its way like a hippo across the Veldt as the untamed wild
birds that are the horns vocally leap and frolic overhead. Like Ellington
and Mingus, Guy writes with the idiosyncrasies of his players firmly
in mind and the score sounds that much the better for it.
One could go on and
on appending extended examples of sophisticated and eventful writing
and outstanding solos, but how many more superlatives can be heaped
on this groundbreaking disc of modern music? Suffice it to say that
Inscape - Tableaux deserves to be heard by anyone at all interested
in modern composition and the state of 21st century orchestral sound.
We can also hope, that sometime in the future, this Valhalla of improvising
giants will tour in this formation.
Ken Waxman, USA, April 2001, www.jazzweekly.com
Ungetrübter
Spass
Bisher meinte ich noch in jeder Einspielung von Barry Guys Jazz Composers
Orchestra ein Haar in der Suppe zu finden. Das BARRY GUY NEW ORCHESTRA
macht mir dagegen bisher ungetrübten Spass. Was für eine Besetzung aber
auch. Auf der 7-teiligen Suite Inscape - Tableaux (Intakt 066) spielen
Marilyn Crispell (piano), Evan Parker und Mats Gustafsson (sax), Hans
Koch (clarinet, sax), Johannes Bauer (trombone), Herb Robertson (trumpet),
Per ke Holmlander (tuba) und die beiden Perkussionisten Paul Lytton
und Raymond Strid neben dem Komponisten selbst am Kontrabass. Vereint
im Bewusstsein, dass "music is sound... truth-bearing sound... beautiful
sound that relocates the locus of beauty". Guys Comprovisation entwickelt
unmittelbar eine mitreissende Verve, Passagen wilder Dramatik wechseln
mit nahezu mystischem Tasten nach dem richtigen nächsten Ton. Der unverwechselbare
Klang jeder einzelnen Stimme ist ein Element der Komposition. Individuelle
Expressivität und Introspektion werden fugenlos integriert in eine musikalische
Gussform, in der Guy seine ganze Erfahrung mit und seine Vision von
Aussenskelett und Substanz eines Orchesterklangkörpers einfliessen lässt.
Wie in allem Perfekten, schwingt Perfektes mit: Die so ganz englischen
Brassinnovationen eines Michael Gibbs, John Surman, Keith Tippett, Mike
Westbrook... - der elegische Part IV klingt aber nicht nur wie eine
Reminiszenz an dessen Blake-Hommagen, er scheint den Geist des Proto-Blueser
John Dowland zu beschwören und im folgenden Posaunensolo klingen die
herzzerreissendsten Lamentos der Musikgeschichte mit an.
Bad Alchemy, Würzburg, Deutschland, 38/2001
There are so many levels on
which this magnificent set of performances led and orchestrated by bassist
Barry Guy can be appreciated. What he calls his New Orchestra is essentially
a pared down version of his larger London Composers Jazz Orchestra,
but this smaller group is no less potent or any less convincing. For
one thing, there is Guys brilliant writing, which permits the players
and these include some of the cream of the European jazz avant-garde
to flourish through individual solo contributions wrapped around kernels
and flashes of magical insights. Saxophonists Mats Gustafsson and Evan
Parker exemplify the high level of improvisation, but there is a wealth
of talent everywhere, including pianist Marilyn Crispell, trumpeter
Herb Robertson, and trombonist Johannes Bauer. At heart, Guy is a landscape
artist who paints broadly and passionately, but who pays careful attention
to details. His own voice on bass is heard here more than with his larger
conglomerations an additional treat. In the end, it is the broad strokes,
the vision, the grandeur that most impress. A magnificent achievement.
Steven A. Loewy . All Music Guide, March 2001
Präsenz und variantenreichen Klang
Der englische
Bassist und Komponist Barry Guy hat 28 Jahre lang das London Jazz Composers
Orchestra geleitet und sich auch in kleineren Formationen als ein wichtiger
Proponent des europäischen Free Jazz etabliert. Ein wesentlihces
Element in seinem Schaffen war und ist der Grenzgang zwischen Avantgarde,
E-Musik und Jazz; so hat Guy auch schon Partituren für die Academy
of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, das Kronos Quartet oder das Hilliard Ensemble
geschrieben. Die vorliegende CD ist die erste des Barry Guy New Orchestra,
eine quasi kondensierte, 10köpfige Ausgabe des LJCO, in dessen
Besetzung sich drei von Barry Guys ständigen Trios vereinigt finden:
das Evan Parker-Barry Guy-Paul Lytton-Trio, das Marilyn Crispell-Barry
Guy-Paul Lytton Trio sowie eines mit den schwedischen Musikern Mats
Gustafsson und Maymond Strid. Für sein New Orchestra, das noch
um je einen Musiker aus den USA, Deutschland, Schweden und der Schweiz
ergänzt wurde, hat Guy eine siebenteilige Suite geschrieben, in
der sich teils sehr aufwühlende oder oszillierende Tutti mit Solo-Features
für die New Yorker Pianistin Marilyn Crispell aubwechseln. Das
überaus disziplinierte und hdanverlsesen Ensemble besticht durch
Präsenz und variantenreichen Klang, lässt den Hörer ob
der Intensität der Darbietung auch ein wenig sprachlos zurück.
schu, Concerto, Wien, April 2001
Pleine de sève,
haletante, foisonnante et passionnante
L' arrivée
d'un nouvel enregistrement de Barry Guy sur le label suisse Intakt es
toujours un événemet (Le dernier London Jazz Composers
Orchestra, Double Trouble Two, CD 053, était une merveille et
il y a sûrement beacuoup à attendre de sons trio avec Lytton
et Crispell, CD 070 …) Le présent album offre un casting
ahurissant et une musique dont l'agilité nerveuse prouve que
le tentet du New Orchestra n'est pas un LJCO de poche: il regroupe deux
trios ave lesquels Barry Guy (b) travaille - Evan Parker(ss, ts) et
Paul Lytton (perc); Mats Gustafsson (saxes) et Raymond Strid (perc)
- et qui ont enregistré avec Marylin Crispell (p). On n'en finirait
pas d énumérer les liens qui existent entre tous les musiciens
convoqués ici: Hans Koch (cl, saxes), Johannes Bauer (tb), Herb
Robertson (tp) et Per Ake Holmlander (tuba); on notera malgré
tout que le Nu Ensemblen de Gustafsson, à l'effectif comparable,
comprenait entre autres Guy, Holmlander et Strid et certaines ressemblances
stylistiques rapprochent les deux teams. Séquences frémissantes,
d'un minimalisme pointilliste, tutti au lyrisme presque sucré
bientôt cinglés par les draches de Crispell (particulièrement
exposée dans trois des sept mouvements de cette suite) et les
écorces jetées de Parker ou Gustafsson. Une oeuvre pleine
de sève, haletante, foisonnante et passionnante.
Guillaume Tarche, Improjazz, France, Mai 2001
|
Barry Guy
: une musique qui déambule ?
Récemment invité
par le Centre culturel Einstein à Munich, le contrebassiste, improvisateur
et compositeur Barry Guy présentait de nouvelles compositions.
A Jazz Magazine, il fait le point sur ses activités.
Né à Londres et aujourd'hui
installé en Irlande, Barry Guy est l'un des contrebassistes et
compositeurs les plus innovants de la musique d'aujourd'hui. Partageant
très tôt ses activités musicales entre la musique baroque (tout
particulièrement au sein du London Sinfonia pendant près de vingt
ans) et la musique librement improvisée (membre dès 1966 du Spontaneous
Music Ensemble de John Stevens), Barry Guy a écrit -- à l'instar
d'un Duke Ellington -- une grande partie de ses compositions pour
le London Jazz Composers Orchestra (LJCO), un grand orchestre
créé au début des années 70 qui connut au fil des années des avatars,
des motivations et des personnels différents. D'autres compositions
de Barry Guy, pour des ensembles de musique de chambre et pour
d'autres big bands, témoignent de son étonnante versatilité. En
tant que soliste, il se produit en compagnie de jazzmen et/ou
d'improvisateurs de premier ordre, tels qu'Evan Parker, Bill Dixon,
Irène Schweizer, Barre Phillips, Marilyn Crispell ou Mats Gustafsson.
Initiateur du festival "Come Sunday" qui se tient régulièrement
à Munich depuis trois ans (en collaboration avec le Forum International
de Compositeurs & d'Improvisateurs), l'office culturel de la ville
de Munich (sous l'instigation de Christoph Hoefig) est aussi à
l'origine de résidences de compositeurs-improvisateurs invités
à venir travailler avec l'Ensemble ICI : Vinko Globokar (1998),
Barry Guy (1999) et Giancarlo Schiaffini (2000). Après une première
année de résidence en 1999, la ville de Munich commandait à Barry
Guy deux nouvelles compositions pour l'Ensemble ICI (présentées
en première mondiale) : Gaia et Switch, ainsi que la reprise d'une
composition ancienne, After the Rain. C'est la configuration architecturale
particulière du Centre culturel Einstein -- une immense bâtisse
située en plein cur de la capitale bavaroise, divisée en multiples
salles, couloirs et recoins -- qui a donné à Guy l'idée de Gaia,
composition conceptuelle déambulatoire. Issus de l'Ensemble ICI
(au sein duquel on remarque le saxophoniste Martin Fredebeul,
ancien compagnon de Philippe Deschepper et Jacques Mahieux en
France dans les années 80), divers petits groupes de musiciens
sont dispersés dans l'architecture du bâtiment, ils peuvent (ou
non) se déplacer, voire se répondre les uns les autres, le public
étant invité à les suivre à son gré.
"En écrivant cette
pièce, raconte le contrebassiste, je voulais permettre à la musique
de remplir le bâtiment, de se déplacer à travers l'espace, afin
de faire des transitions en expérimentant différentes ambiances
musicales".
Le public est alors
convié à suivre un duo improvisé de violonistes -- la violoniste
baroque Maya Homburger et le chef d'orchestre Christoph Poppen
-- pour s'installer dans une autre salle et se préparer à apprécier
After the Rain, par le Münchener Kammerorchester sous la direction
de Christoph Poppen, avec son compositeur Barry Guy en invité
très particulier à la seconde contrebasse. Ecrit pour orchestre
de chambre, After the Rain est une commande du London Sinfonia
datant de 1992. Forte et méditative, délicate et raffinée, la
pièce possède une sensibilité baroque tout en étant traversée
de traits contemporains vifs et acidulés.
"After the Rain
a été joué par différents orchestres de cordes, affirme Guy, mais
je dois avouer que jusqu'ici c'est l'orchestre de chambre de Munich
qui l'a le mieux joué, c'est extraordinaire d'obtenir un tel niveau
d'expression."
Nouveau déplacement
dans une nouvelle salle pour la création de Switch par l'Ensemble
ICI. Il s'agit d'une composition graphique assez sophistiquée
en cinq mouvements où les musiciens sont invités par moments à
prendre des décisions rapides.
"La composition
est centrée sur la relation entre le musicien et l'ensemble, ainsi
que sur les interventions solistes qui ouvrent un dialogue d'investigation
et de compréhension mutuelle".
Une organisation vive
et contrastée laissant découvrir des solistes de qualité, tels
que le guitariste Gunnar Geisse ou le tubiste Tomas Zemek. Il
reste à louer ici les efforts de Christoph Hoefig, au sein de
l'office culturel de la ville de Munich, pour tenter d'ouvrir
les portes de la capitale bavaroise (jusqu'ici lourdement dévolue
à des formes artistiques très institutionnelles) aux musiques
contemporaines créatives, écrites et improvisées.
Barry Guy, qu'avez-vous
ressenti à vous retrouver "simple contrebassiste" au sein de l'orchestre
de chambre de Munich ?
J'ai commencé à jouer
avec le London Sinfonia en 1973 et c'est avec plaisir que j'ai
repris ma vieille position de contrebassiste dans un orchestre
de chambre. C'est une expérience étonnante de se trouver derrière
les cordes et d'entendre ce son, cette expression, dans toute
sa plénitude, tout particulièrement avec ce superbe niveau d'orchestre
et de musiciens ici...
Comment conciliez-vous
votre amour pour la musique baroque et pour la musique improvisée?
L'an dernier, j'ai
eu le grand plaisir de jouer des cantates de Bach avec John Elliot
Gardner, des uvres prodigieuses qui nous disent aujourd'hui encore
tellement de choses... Mais la musique improvisée, le jazz improvisé
créatif, est une musique tellement importante pour moi que je
voudrais qu'elle le soit aussi pour les autres car c'est une expression
de la condition humaine, c'est une expression de la manière dont
les gens pourraient travailler ensemble. Si on travaille dans
une situation librement improvisée, que ce soit avec deux personnes
ou dix ou n'importe quel nombre, il faut apporter de l'interaction
entre ses expériences, sa vie, ses espoirs de travailler ensemble,
avec toute sa créativité, sa compétence, sa technique...
Qu'en est-il du
London Jazz Composers Orchestra, ce big band créé il y a une trentaine
d'années et qui a neuf albums (notamment sur Intakt) à son actif
?
L'orchestre se repose
un peu, mais il existe encore. L'un de nos principaux problèmes
est l'argent, les grands orchestres ne sont pas bon marché. J'aime
payer mes gars correctement parce que les musiciens du LJCO n'ont
fait que jouer leur musique toute leur vie, ils sont presque tous
quinqua- ou sexagénaires et il n'est pas question de retourner
en arrière. Si on regarde l'Italian Instabile Orchestra ou l'Orchestre
National de Jazz français, on constate qu'ils reçoivent une aide
très substantielle de l'Etat, et je trouve que c'est une bonne
base. Nous n'avons jamais reçu ce type de subventions, je suppose
que si je m'étais occupé du LJCO toute ma vie et si j'en étais
devenu l'administrateur, j'aurais pu trouver de l'argent pour
aider l'orchestre. Mais je suis un musicien et je ne peux pas
passer mon temps assis derrière une machine à écrire à remplir
des formulaires. D'une certaine façon, nous n'existons pas pour
les institutions britanniques, la situation est très difficile.
C'est la raison
pour laquelle vous avez décidé de créer le Barry Guy New Orchestra
?
C'est Intakt Records
qui a eu l'initiative de monter ce groupe, un tentet basé autour
de deux trios : le trio composé d'Evan Parker (saxes), Barry Guy
(b), Paul Lytton (dm, perc) et le trio avec Mats Gustafsson (saxes),
Raymond Strid (dm, perc) et moi. Nous avons aussi Marilyn Crispell
(p) qui a joué avec les deux trios et pour qui j'avais envie d'écrire
des choses de toute façon, Herb Robertson (tp), Johannes Bauer
(tb), Hans Koch (cl) et Per *ke Holmander (tuba). L'idée était
de former un orchestre plus réduit, capable d'être plus souple
au niveau des cachets, mais le problème est que tout le monde
habite dans un pays différent : Herb et Marilyn vivent en Amérique,
Johannes à Berlin, nous avons deux Suédois, je vis en Irlande...
Avec le "vieux" LJCO, à l'exception de Barre Phillips qui vit
en France, nous étions tous basés à Londres, nous pouvions facilement
nous rencontrer là-bas pour répéter et prendre un avion pour aller
jouer. L'argent continue donc d'être un problème, mais nous tâchons
d'y remédier au mieux, Maya Homburger travaille très dur pour
essayer d'amener le groupe dans les festivals. Les deux groupes
sont très différents, c'est intéressant d'avoir un orchestre composé
d'instruments uniques (à l'exception des deux saxes et des deux
percussionnistes), en tant que compositeur cela me donne une dimension
complètement différente, la musique est davantage laissée dans
les mains des musiciens, ce n'est plus seulement moi qui dirige
l'orchestre, nous essayons que les choses se passent de manière
plus ouverte, que la musique ne se déroule pas dans un ordre particulier,
il y a divers individus qui peuvent prendre l'initiative de certaines
musiques, c'est donc un groupe très excitant et très maniable...
Le trio avec Evan
Parker et Paul Lytton existe-t-il encore ?
Oui, mais Evan est
très occupé partout, il est invité à participer à de nombreux
ensembles différents et il ne pense pas nécessairement à trouver
du travail pour le trio. Une tournée est prévue l'an prochain
en Amérique sur la côte ouest, nous irons probablement au Japon
cette année, et peut-être en Nouvelle-Zélande et en Australie.
Quels sont les projets
de Maya Records, le label animé par la violoniste baroque Maya
Homburger et par vous-même ?
Le label est resté
en sommeil pendant deux ans et demi et nous allons recommencer
la production. Je vais faire un album en solo, nous aurons aussi
les Variations Goldberg de Bach avec le claveciniste irlandais
Malcolm Proud, puis un trio avec Evan Parker, Laurence Casserley
et moi avec de l'électronique et de la musique pour ordinateur,
puis quelque chose en trio avec Mats Gustafsson et Raymond Strid.
De plus, sur Intakt, un album en trio avec Marilyn Crispell et
Paul Lytton va sortir incessamment avec mes compositions, ils
vont aussi rééditer "Harmos" et "Double Trouble", tous les vieux
favoris, puis Evan et moi ferons un album en duo pour Intakt.
Si vous êtes arrivé directement sur cette page et ne voyez pas
de barre de menu sur la gauche de l'écran, cliquez ici. Vous pourrez
ainsi naviguer facilement dans tout le site.
Reportage, photos
et interview : Gérard Rouy.
htttp://www.jazzmagazine.com/
|
Bassist/composer Barry Guy
aligns a multinational band for this newly released CD featuring other
modern jazz/improvising luminaries such as Guys longtime musical partner,
saxophonist Evan Parker, pianist Marilyn Crispell, trumpeter Herb Robertson,
percussionist Paul Lytton and others. Basically, the music might elicit
notions of one huge traffic jam amid moments of subtly stated interludes
and the soloists quietly energetic exchanges. Overall, the bassists
new effort is a noteworthy entry into the ever expansive British Free/Euro
jazz movement. Hence, Guy has always been a significant and altogether
important player in these modern jazz and improvisational based genres.
Glenn Astarita, All About Jazz, USA, Juli 2001
British virtuoso bassist
and composer Guy continues to explore the ambiguous area between improvisation
and composition, this time exchanging his London Jazz Composers Orchestra
for an all-star tentet. In addition to being frequent collaborators
in smaller bands, all of the participants have specialized abilities
Guy puts to good use-such as Mats Gustafsson's percussive saxophone
pointillism, Johannes Bauer's trombone brashness, drummers Paul Lytton's
and Raymond Strid's crisp, unsystematic accents, and the rapid articulation
of saxophonist Evan Parker and pianist Marilyn Crispell. Inscape-Tableaux,
in seven sections, ranges from quiet and tranquil to jagged and volatile;
passages of intense improv distill down to concentrated statements,
with scored episodes offering respite and focus. As the instrumental
combinations multiply and divide, there's a friction of unexpected voicings,
and sparks fly. Though the reduced forces allow more flexibility and
freedom, the music benefits from Guy's guidance.
Art Lange. http://pulse.towerrecords.com/contentStory.asp?contentId=2667
This music is wonderfully
complicated. British bassist/composer Barry Guy has taken the ideas
behind his London Jazz Composers Orchestra (LJCO) a considerable step
further. The idea for the Barry Guy New Orchestra sprang from the logistics
problems that he continuously encountered with the LJCO. For example,
planning for the travel and accommodations for up to twenty other musicians
is often a Sisyphean task. Funding is another issue altogether. Guy
and Patrik Landolt of Intakt Records brainstormed, and when the dust
had cleared, the idea for the Barry Guy New Orchestra was born: an international
collective consisting of ten musicians. Funding is more dependable this
way, from the international angle, at least for part of the group. The
Swedish and Swiss governments are quite dedicated to the forward progress
of their artists. Germany too, to some extent. The British Council lends
a hand when it can to its musicians, as it has for many years with the
LJCO. Then there are the Americans, but that is for another essay. Physically,
it is also easier to move around ten musicians than it is eighteen.
The only real remaining complication is ensuring that everyone's schedules
jibe, which, under the circumstances, will often be hit or miss. With
these intricacies ironed out, Guy could focus on composing for his new
group. He imagined the unification of two of his working sax/bass/percussion
trios to create a base for the new project. Because pianist Marilyn
Crispell had experience with these trios, not to mention that she is
such a dependable improviser, he chose to include her as a sort of common
ground between the two units. The backbone of the music for "Inscape-Tableaux,"
the orchestra's maiden composition, fell easily (Guy admits) into place
from this approach. Incidentally, healthy segments of the piece were
written specifically for Crispell. Guy colored the composition further
with equally demanding roles for the remainder of the group--trombone,
trumpet, tuba, and more woodwinds. In a class by itself, the music that
is "Inscape-Tableaux" bears the boldness of the LJCO, the consistent
intelligence of its composer, and the complexity that is inherent in
such a grouping. Guy conducts the orchestra, while playing contrabass
simultaneously. Crispell is on piano, with Evan Parker and Mats Gustafsson
on saxophones. The brass section is Herb Robertson on trumpet, Johannes
Bauer on trombone, and Per ke Holmlander in the tuba chair. Percussionists
Paul Lytton and Raymond Strid complete the (ahem) "rhythm" instrumentation.
And Swiss multi-instrumentalist Hans Koch plays soprano saxophone, bass
clarinet, and contrabass clarinet. The 66-minute composition begins
("Part I") as if the orchestra has been hired for a Hitchcock film score,
bright and fluttering. There is a break, and Bauer tears away with a
brief trombone cadenza, which rises back into the collective. The orchestra
wails again, breaks, and Robertson comes in with his own frantic lines,
similar to those of the trombone. This pattern repeats itself several
times, although not identically. There is a building of tension that
comes with each successive break, between which different soloists make
statements, sometimes in duos, larger in others. And so a barely detectable
and complex pattern is revealed. "Part I" is a long, aggressive intro
movement that does not cease until each musician has had his or her
say, some of them bonding and some dramatically contrasting. Parker
and Gustafsson have their own improvised section with the percussionists.
Crispell and Parker mimic one another on piano and soprano saxophone,
respectively. "Part I" momentarily becomes a handsome ballad, before
returning to primary patterns, written structures interlaced with improv.
"Part II" begins with Crispell following written material, and improvising
in large areas. Parker joins her on soprano, in a similar flavor to
their duet from "Part I." Their improvisations are textured by glissando
entries and cut outs from the brass section. "Part III" and "Part IV"
rival one another for the most aurally captivating "movement" of the
piece. Almost entirely improvised, "Part III" consists heavily of wind
and air sounds, and intermittent symphonic perturbations. These are
achieved by discrete, seemingly random partnerships. "Part IV" is mostly
a Crispell/Guy duo, both written and freely improvised and serves as
an interim resolution amidst the controlled chaos of the rest of the
piece. The piano and bass meet briefly to establish a theme before Guy
launches, alone, into a free solo using a lightning pizzicato technique.
He reconnects with Crispell, and the orchestra, restating the previously
hinted theme. The remaining parts of "Inscape-Tableaux" are a commensurate
extension of the first three. They are by no means alike in sound, but
similar in energy and in the conductor's employment of individual musicians.
It is fascinating to listen to the music in segments, or, to isolate
contrasting trios of musicians playing against or in congruity with
one another. The soloists are impeccable. Herb Robertson has a few show
stopping moments in "Part VI." Koch's bass clarinet is a central figure
in "Part VII." But Marilyn Crispell--largely due to much of the music
being written around her--is the essence of "Inscape-Tableaux." Listeners
can latch onto her from the get-go, clinging to the piano with one hand
and inspecting the dark of the layered instrumentation with the other.
So every good idea begins with a problem, although the music of Inscape-Tableaux
leaves no indication otherwise. It is an astonishing accomplishment
that should be experienced.
Alan Jones. One Final Note, Issue 7 /2001. http://www.onefinalnote.com/issue7/guy.html
One Final Note, Issue 7 /2001
è personaggio avvezzo alle
avventure, alla sfida di assemblare suoni e personalità, Barry Guy:
per quasi trent'anni ha diretto la London Jazz Composers Orchestra e
ora snellisce l'organico e lo rende più internazionale per la sua New
Orchestra, in cui trovano posto svedesi, tedeschi, svizzeri e americani,
oltre ai vecchi compagni di avventura Evan Parker e Paul Lytton. Guy
si ritrova quindi tra le mani un'orchestra più agile - e questo è un
vantaggio anche dal punto di vista logistico e economico - ma non per
questo di minore impatto rispetto alla sua "sorella maggiore": le personalità
dei musicisti coinvolti garantiscono infatti al contrabbassista londinese
una perfetta adesione alle parti scritte e una varietà improvvisativa
a largo spettro. Se vogliamo curiosare dentro i meccanismi dell'orchestra
scopriamo che alla base stanno due trii con cui Guy lavora da tempo:
quello con Parker e Lytton e l'altro con Mats Gustafsson [per leggere
la recensione del disco di Guy in duo con il sassofonista svedese, Frogging
clicca qui] e Raymond Strid: già in passato a questi trii si era aggiunta
Marilyn Crispell, che in questo disco svolge una precisa funzione di
collante (oltre che di assoluto rilievo), specialmente nelle parti specificamente
scritte per lei che fungono da interludio tra i momenti di maggiore
compattezza orchestrale (si ascolti ad esempio la "Part IV", che si
regge quasi esclusivamente sul duo tra piano e contrabbasso). Con queste
solide fondamenta - paragone quanto mai appropriato quando si parla
del musicista inglese, dato il suo interesse per l'architettura e la
struttura profondamente architettonica della sua scrittura - Guy ha
potuto felicemente lavorare sugli altri fiati, lasciando loro il terreno
per scorribande di grande libertà (come nella Part V, con Johannes Bauer
e Herb Robertson in evidenza tra free incendiario e modalità strumentali
che tagliano obliquamente la storia della musica improvvisata). Tutta
la suite è attraversata da accumuli sonori e zone di distensione che
si alternano, a volte inquietanti, a tratti pensosi, a incominciare
dalla lunga "Part I", in cui si inseguono brucianti collettivi e isole
dialoganti, ma lungo l'intero svolgersi del disco si scoprono una scrittura
e una concezione orchestrale in cui le singole parti si scompongono
e ricompongono a seconda della funzionalità espressiva del momento,
assecondando in maniera particolarmente felice le idee di Guy. Sicuramente
disporre di musicisti che affrontano il proprio strumento in maniera
così particolare, come Parker o Gustafsson, ma ottimi sono anche Hans
Koch al clarinetto basso e la tuba di Per Ake Holmlander, dona all'insieme
una notevole particolarità timbrica e Guy sfrutta appieno le possibilità
di questa tavolozza, con il risultato che "Inscape-Tableaux" risulta
un disco stimolante e riuscito, che consacra una volta ancora lo straordinario
apporto che Marilyn Crispell sa portare (un po' com'era successo nel
bellissimo After Appleby del trio Parker/Guy/Lytton) e che non deluderà
gli appassionati delle avventure orchestrali più creative.
Valutazione: * * * *
Enrico Bettinello, Allaboutjazz.Italy
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/italy/reviews/R1101_008_it.HTM
Barry Guy ist einer der Väter
des europäischen Free Jazz. Stets haben den Bassisten und Komponisten
die Wechsel von Dissonanz und Harmonie interessiert. Oft siedelte die
Dichte des Klangs nah an den akademischen Neutönern Europas. Leichte
Kost war das nie. Mit zehn Musikern ist das neue Orchester kleiner.
Hervorragende Solisten, voran Marilyn Crispell und Evan Parker, bieten
eine robuste Melange von Eksatse hin zu erhabner Einkehr umd umgekehrt.
Leipziger Volkszeitung, 12. April 2001
Inscape-Tableaux is breathtaking
- right off the bat. As the ten-piece orchestra spits up a screech,
bustling, Per Ake Holmlander's tuba bumbles in, a lopsided lorry settling
into a complex landscape. Bassist Barry Guy's New Orchestra is, simply,
an extraordinary collection of european and American impovisers: Marilyn
Crispell (piano); Evan Parker, Mats Gustafsson, Hans Koch (reeds), Johannes
Bauer (trombone), Herb Robertson (trompet), Holmlander (tuba), Paul
Lytton and Raymond Strid (percussion). Guy, Lytton, and Parker's recent
work with Crispell is always close to the surface: the 'tableaux' -
a suite of seven multi-layered pieces clustered with frightening discord
and stark, irreducible beauty - builds up around them. Indeed, Crispell
is in excetpional form. Frequently presented with open spaces, she unleashes
labyrinths or tears pockets of space into chasms. Even when she runs
below the ensemble, Crispell can set you into revierie or run you flat
up against a wall.
Coda Magazin, Canada, July/August 2001
Laurence
Svirchev, Inteview with Barry Guy, Misteriose, June 2008, Part
1, Part
2
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