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Fünfzehn Jahre nach
Piano Duets - Live in Berlin 93/94 (FMP) war ein musikalisches Tête-à-tête
des Pianistenpaares AKI TAKASE - ALEXANDER VON SCHLIPPENBACH überfällig.
Iron Wedding (Intakt CD 160) meint jetzt keine 65 Jahre, sondern spielt
wohl auf alle mit Handschellen aneinander gefesselten Pärchen der
Filmgeschichte an und vielleicht auch auf die Manschetten, mit denen
die beiden manchmal Piano für 4 Hände spielen. Ähnlich
eisern halten die beiden einer Vorstellung von Kreativität die
Treue, die den Schubladen Jazz, Improvisierte oder Neue Musik spottet.
Hier sind 'Twelve Tone Tales‘ und 'Passacaglia 1, 2, 3‘,
bei denen Schönberg und B.A. Zimmermann durchschimmern, keine fremden
Bettgenossen neben den New Things aus New York, London, Antwerpen oder
Berlin. Wer die Musik von Takase und Schlippenbach im Ohr hat, solo
oder in kleineren Besetzungen - sie etwa im Duo mit Silke Eberhard,
ihn im Trio mit Parker & Lovens oder mit Monk‘s Casino - ,
besser noch, wer diese Klangwelten live im Sinn hat, den wird hier kaum
etwas wirklich überraschen, außer der gemeinsamen Fähigkeit,
nicht nachzulassen, was markante Erfindungen und intensive, kluge Interaktionen
angeht. Der Beginn, 'Early Light‘ ist fast impressionistisch,
Sonnenaufgang à la Monet und Debussy, mit 'Dwarn‘s Late
Night‘ als sternfunkelndem Gegenstück. Schon 'Circuit‘
steht dann unter Strom, als gehämmerter Futurismus, während
'Steinblock‘ lautmalerisch im Steinbruch klopft und dabei an den
Auftaktriff des Sacre du printemps erinnert, dessen archaischer tänzerischer
Duktus in 'Yui‘s Dance‘ modern und sprunghaft wiederkehrt.
Die 'Suite in Five Parts‘ stellt sich zu Webern, um gemeinsam
eine letzte Zigarette zu rauchen und den Vögeln für Morgen
eine Handvoll Körner zu streuen. 'Gold Inside‘ meint keine
Nuggets, sondern das Innenklavier als Schatztruhe, während 'Eight‘
barocke Motorik ans Tempolimit treibt. Bei 'Zankapfel‘ bringt
einer der beiden eine Celesta ins Spiel, eine vielleicht nicht diskordianische,
aber pfiffige Strategie. Die Aleatorik von 'Thown In‘, die auch
‚Off Hand‘ durchtröpfelt, bekommt bei 'Rain‘
ihren wahren Namen. Das Titelstück, nach der 'Suite‘ der
zweitlängste Track, macht dann gut hörbar, dass Paare ganz
anders als Alleingänge funktionieren. Mögen die Partner noch
so sperrig und eigen sein, hier verstärken und verbinden sich ihre
Persönlichkeiten in inniger Empathie, die immer auch eine Technik
ist, ein Know-how.
Rigobert Dittmann, Bad Alchemy, Deutschland, 61/2009
Aki Takase / Alexander Von
Schlippenbach «Iron Wedding»
Mesterlig tospann
Da Alexander Von Schlippenbach feiret 70-årsdagen sin i Berlin
i fjor høst, ble hans stilling som europeisk jazzikon tydeliggjort.
Med Globe Unity Orchestra og Schlippenbach Trio på samme scene
fikk publikum oppleve den tyske pianistens historiske betydning og hans
evne til å vitalisere improens aldrende form.
På Iron Wedding møter Schlippenbach den japanske berliner
Aki Takase, og som tittelen antyder, skjer ikke det for første
gang. Begge utøvere liker å bevege seg mellom post-bop
og fritt vokabular.
De er begge svake for Thelonious Monk og lar gjerne Fats Waller møte
Anton Webern mellom tangentene.
Lang erfaring
På dette albumet har Takase og Schlippenbach komponert alt selv,
og samspillet byr både på nerve og modenhet. Det er den
varierte anvendelsen av form som nærer lytteopplevelsen.
Grove og tunge akkorder kontrasteres av fjærlett gjerrighet, uten
at inntrykket oppstykkes. Den organiske kvaliteten virker nærmest
selvfølgelig, men den har livslang erfaring som sin forutsetning.
På «Gold Inside» spiller de på innsiden av pianoet,
og på «Thown In» fører de en dialog som utvisker
stilistiske forskjeller. Iron Wedding er et balansert album der de to
utøverne griper tak i sin egen historie og skaper et nytt alvor
og en ny energi det er godt å trekkes inn i.
ARILD R. ANDERSEN, Aftenposen, Norway, 07.01.09
Sammen for musikken
De to grensesprengende pianistene Aki Takase og Alexander von Schlippenbach
er nær hverandre på de fleste plan.
Iron Wedding, eller jernbryllup
på norsk, betyr at et par har vært gift i 70 år. Siden
von Schlippenbach er den eldste av de to med sine 70 år, så
har nok ikke de to vært gift så lenge. Japansk-fødte
Takase har runda 60 år og de to har tilbragt mange år sammen
i Berlin og i et svært så kreativt miljø der mye
av den europeiske frijazzen har blitt unnfanga. Begge de to har vært
viktige i unnfangelsen.
Det er 40 år siden von Schlippenbach danna det stilskapende bandet
Globe Unity Orchestra – et band som lever i beste velgående
den dag i dag. Både med det bandet og i en rekke andre konstellasjoner
har tyskeren vært en grensesprenger.
Aki Takase blei vi først oppmerksom på her hjemme under
en Molde-festival for noen tiår siden da hun dukka opp sammen
med den portugisiske vokalsensasjonen Maria João og den danske
mesterbassisten Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. Hvilken åpenbaring
det var!
Her har de to funnet sammen for første gang – som pianoduo,
må vite – på nesten 15 år. «Piano Duets
– Live in Berlin 93/94» var parets første utgivelse
og at den musikalske kjemien fortsatt er noe voldsomt tilstede er «Iron
Wedding» et glitrende eksempel på.
17 felles «komposisjoner» står på menyen og
det er dynamisk frijazz der lytting er en helt avgjørende faktor.
Her er det elementer av klassisk musikk og av samtidsmusikk og til sammen
skaper de to samtaler som bare de to kan gjøre det. Vi snakker
om unike samtaler som aldri vil bli gjentatt og som det derfor er spesielt
viktig å låne øre til.
Aki Takase og Alexander von Schlippenbach har vært med helt der
fremme siden slutten av 60-tallet. De er fortsatt med blant de aller
viktigste også når vi skriver 2009.
Tor Hammerø, Side 2, Norway, 13. Januar 2009
If there was ever anything
predictable about these two pianists coming together on record, the
results are anything but. Alexander von Schlippenbach is the senior
figure by some decades, but this is still such a meeting of minds that
the difference of time pales into insignificance. This is their first
meeting on record in fifteen years. Time passing has honed their dialectic,
rendering it the product of evolving sensibilities.
That's clear enough on the ten minutes of "Suite In Five Parts."
The duo seems to dance around each other before settling by mutual and
slowly agreed consent on a mood of contemplative unease. Every note
is played serving to ensure a state of enticement, to keep the listening
closely for things to evolve, even though the prospect of resolution
is something perpetually and constructively deferred.
The mood, something antithetical to music that is anything but a music
of mood, is on "Twelve Tone Tales" again one of unease, although
this time the processes of deep thinking are closer to the music's surface,
serving as indicators of dialogue in a perpetual state of flux.
The brief "Eight" gets as close as anything here to Cecil
Taylor's hyperactivity, although the contours of the music are inevitably
and entirely of the duo's own making. Lennie Tristano comes into the
reckoning too with the deployment of long lines strung out for the soundest
and most trenchantly resounding of musical reasons.
Neither player is credited with the celeste, but it's that instrument
that turns up beneath one pair of hands on "Zankapfel." It
adds a whole different color to proceedings which have even less truck
with resolution. The music seems to take on an unassuming force of its
own, turning the two players into mere servants even while they consciously
avoid both bombast and every empty gesture that goes with it.
The title track is almost a repeat performance in terms of the dynamics
of the music, but of course the very notion of repetition to musicians
like these, is another take on anathema. Even in such circumstances
the music is again given the time to breathe and the exchanges between
the two are seamless.
"Passacaglia 1, 2, 3" is perhaps as close to conventional
in its development as anything here. Underplaying is the mutually agreed
order of the day and the slightly faltering progress of the music sounds
as much like a homage to Claude Debussy as it does to Thelonious Monk.
Nic Jones, All
About Jazz, January 15, 2009
The
Wire, London, January 2009
John
Fordham, The Guardian, London, January, 30, 2009
Martin
Schuster, Concerto, Österreich, Februar-März 2009
Piano Duets ist der nüchterne
Untertitel dieses dialektischen Doppelwhoppers, der auf grandiose Weise
einmal mehr auf den Punkt bringt, wie nicht nur zwei individuelle Spielweisen
lebendig miteinander umgehen können, sondern auch zwei idiomatische
Genres, nämlich 12-Ton-Musik und Jazz, um es einmal ganz kernig
und salopp zu sagen, um damit wie meist der Wahrheit am direktesten
Rechnung zu tragen. Man kommt schnell zur Sache: vom Impressionismus
zum Expressionsimus, vom Zarten zum Harten und wieder zurück und
nebeneinander und gleichzeitig und immer am selben Ort und stets nomadisierend.
Das musikalische Debut gab sich diese private Partnerschaft bereits
vor 15 Jahren, damals auch mit Fremdkompositionen, heute ist man sein
eigener bescheidener aber wissender Klassiker: bodenständig, hochtrabend,
spitz, cool, heißspornig, intelligent, immer noch weit draußen
und tief drinnen.
"made my day" by HONKER, TERZ 03.09
Jason
Bivins, Signal to Noise, USA/Canada, Spring 2009
Jörg
Kondrad, Pianist, Deutschland, März 2009
Peter
De Backer, Het Nieuwsblad, Belgium, March 2009
Die private
Liaison diesmal als Pianopaar. Takase & Schlippenbach setzen die
Tradition der großen Klavierduos im Jazz grandios fort (Beirach
& Laverne, Burmester & Laginha, Gulda & Corea, Hancock &
Corea, Hines & Byard, Williams & Viklicky, Crispell & Schweizer,
Schlippenbach & Theurer, Evans & McPartland, um nur ein paar
dieser Einspielungen aufzuzählen). Das Material stammt ausschließlich
von den beiden Protagonisten. Die Improvisationen (Kompositionen) sind
stringent und zeigen die beiden Pianisten im vertrauten Umgang miteinander.
Das Fordern und Gefordertwerden, die Interaktion werden virtuos ohne
billige Effekthascherei in einer 65-minütigen Seance dargeboten.
Der frühe Vogel in ’Early
Light’ fängt da nicht den Wurm, sondern eine ganz zarte und
sympathisch melancholische Morgenstimmung ein; die Ereignisse der Nacht
klingen noch ein wenig nach, aber der beginnende Tag ist in seinen festen
Umrissen und Strukturen schon spürbar. Reduziert und wach klingt
die ’Suite In
Five Parts’, beim Titel ’Zankapfel’
meint man als Hörer fast eingeladen zu sein, der intimen Entstehungsgeschichte
dieser Zusammenarbeit beiwohnen zu dürfen. Die doch sehr unterschiedlichen
’Musiksprachen’
von Takase und Schlippenbach machen einen weiteren nicht unwesentlichen
Reiz dieser CD aus. Ein intimes Zwiegespräch entstand, bei dem
die beiden Musiker sich und dem Zuhörer nichts beweisen mussten,
man machte keine Jagd auf Spektakuläres und schaffte es so ’Iron
Wedding’ wirklich gelingen zu lassen. Im ’Far
On’, der letzten Komposition der CD, schließt sich der Kreis,
und man fühlt förmlich den Puls einer meditativen, stoischen
Ruhe, der über den Tönen schwebt. In unseren Zeiten der Krisen
und der Skandale keine schlechte Sache, so ruhig und doch bestimmt an
unsere biedere Endlichkeit erinnert zu werden.
Ernst Mitter,
freiStil, Magazin für Musik und Umgebung. Nr 24, 2009
Japanese
pianist Aki Takase and German pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach are
no strangers to each other or to European jazz fans. The senior von
Schlippenbach has been on the jazz scene a good bit longer, having led
two orchestras, with Takase replacing Misha Mengelberg as second pianist
in his Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra. Their earlier duo piano CD,
Live in Berlin, displayed a sense of humor and an incredible range of
musical interests, while they have also worked together in other settings.
Iron Wedding consists of just over an hour of duo improvisations, recorded
over two days in the studio. While the pianist spouses are not identified
by individual channel, these performances sound as if they have come
from one mind, as both Takase and von Schlippenbach quickly react to
each other's sudden changes in direction, tempo or mood. At one point,
in the haunting "Twelve Tone Blues," a celeste is briefly
heard (though not mentioned in the credits nor in the liner notes),
then just as rapidly disappears for good. This is music without boundaries
that demands total attention, but the rewards of listening to it are
immense.
Ken Dryden,
"Five Piano Duos", www.allaboutjazz.com,
April 4 2009
Yvan
Amar, Jazzman, France, April 2009
Ken
Dryden, All About Jazz New York, USA, April 2009
Alexander
von Schlippenbach, Aki Takase and Rudi Mahall: Betting on Tradition.
European improvisation began to set itself apart when it built its own
tradition, drawing from folk forms and concert music rather than providing
provincial answers to questions posed by Ornette Coleman, Thelonious
Monk or Duke Ellington. Of course, all these figures factored into the
music of players like trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff, drummer Gil Cuppini
and reed player John Surman, but it was their geography and local traditions
that made their approaches different. German pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach
has been at the forefront of the jazz vanguard in his home country and
in Western Europe since the 1960s. Beginning as a hard bop player, Schlippenbach's
free playing was early on compared to Cecil Taylor and his orchestral
works with the Globe Unity Orchestra, a proposal out of the left field
of Darmstadt.
But Monk's music has long been a major part of Schlippenbach's work,
whether resulting in pure renditions or obtuse reference. His piano
playing is relentlessly rhythmic and beholden to an earlier tradition
than his peers and immediate forebears—in Schlippenbach's solo
work, it's possible to hear vestiges of Fats Waller, for instance. Three
new discs examine Schlippenbach's piano from the point of solo, duet
and lasting influence: a late 1970s solo date originally issued on FMP;
duets with Aki Takase; and Takase's duo project with Globe Unity Orchestra
bass clarinetist and Schlippenbach collaborator Rudi Mahall.
...
Schlippenbach and his partner, Japanese-born pianist and composer Aki
Takase, have collaborated since the 1990s, and Iron Wedding is their
third recording of duets. Though the scope of their independent work
is rather different, they are extraordinarily intertwined—no attribution
of phrases is necessary as their approaches are complementary. "Circuit"
places delicate glissandi and jumpy blocks in close proximity, a stuttering
dance that teases out pirouettes and motivic swing until clusters and
runs become ever closer together, masses superimposed until the tune
flames out. "Suite in Five Parts" begins with sharp floaters
and bubbles creeping in from the periphery and re-approached with a
sustained touch. It's a play between coagulated but defined patches
of notes and gauzy singularities, combining into a very pure and layered
improvisational carpet. Schlippenbach's composition "Twelve Tone
Tales" is given the duet treatment. Here its deliberate spirals
are wrapped in rhapsodic flesh and augmented by a brief flourish from
Takase's celesta. Iron Wedding is most interesting when Schlippenbach
and Takase are given space, whether that's the dual agitation of wooden
knocks and string rustling in "Gold Inside" or the intertwining
boppish songbirds of "Eight." Sheer muscle does impress, but
the beauty of this record lies in the oft-atmospheric contours between.
Clifford
Allen, www.allaboutjazz.com,
USA, May 5, 2009
La relazione
umana e artistica tra Alexander Von Schlippenbach e Aki Takase è
più lunga di quella che si potrebbe dedurre dal titolo: il termine
The Iron Wedding è infatti usato dai coniugi quando celebrano
il sesto anno di matrimonio.
La loro primo duo risale all'inizio degli anni novanta (Piano Duets
- Live In Berlin 93/94) e più recentemente i pianisti si son
trovati a dialogare nel lavoro di Vincent Graf, più noto col
nome DJ Illvibe, che è poi il figlio di Alexander.
La relazione artistica si è sviluppata altre volte in concerto,
in un confronto quanto mai ricco e creativo che Aki ha poi definito,
in un'intervista, "una piccola battaglia in palcoscenico".
Il confronto pianistico di cui parliamo ora, promosso dal Kulturradio
Berlin Brandemburg il 19 e 20 marzo 2008, è l'epilogo di una
nuova serie di concerti tenuti nel biennio 2007/2008 che hanno ulteriormente
affinato quest'empatica relazione artistica.
Il disco è completamente improvvisato e la relazione si sviluppa,
al massimo, sulla base di qualche frammento tematico: ciò che
conta è la concentrazione, la capacità di dialogare in
tempo reale, rispondendo alle sollecitazioni reciproche. Una formula
rischiosa, che richiede alta partecipazione (anche all'ascoltatore)
ma che - in situazioni come questa - ripaga ampiamente: si ha l'opportunità
di assistere in diretta ad un profondo, quasi telepatico, dialogo creativo.
Il disco si snoda attraverso 17 conversazioni musicali generalmente
di breve durata (l'unico brano esteso è diviso in cinque parti)
che si caratterizzano per l'originale fisionomia personale: all'interno
di una comune dimensione astratta si passa da episodi lirici, spesso
d'impronta cameristica, ad altri di fattura quasi tradizionale, per
toccare momenti di libera improvvisazione free.
È ovviamente difficile stilare preferenze in questo percorso:
molto dipende infatti dalla sensibilità dell'ascoltatore e dalla
sua capacità di individuare le rispettive individualità.
Ma l'empatia è intensa e - molto spesso - ci si dimentica di
ascoltare due pianoforti e sembra di aver di fronte un solo grand piano,
capace di formulare straordinari percorsi.
Angelo
Leonardi, All
About Jazz Italia, Italy, 26-05-2009
Duncan
Heining, Jazzwise, UK, June 2009
Rolf
Thomas. Transkontinentale Künstler-Ehe. Jazzthetik, Juli/August
2009
Improviseren kan je leren en is ook een verhaal van elkaar aanvoelen.
Deze twee pianisten spelen al een hele tijd (Von Schlippenbach sinds
de jaren ’60) in de eerste divisie van jazz, avant garde en zelfs
klassiek. Bovendien zijn het levenspartners. Vreemd dan toch dat dit
slechts de tweede plaat is die ze als duo uitbrengen – de vorige
dateert al van 15 jaar geleden. Van bij de eerste tonen lost het koppel
de verwachtingen in. Hier wordt op het scherp van de snee en met volle
overgave gespeeld. In die eerste track nog rustig, zoekend naar klankassociaties,
maar wel zo kort op elkaars vel dat het onmogelijk is te bepalen wie
wat start of afmaakt, de rollen wisselen constant en vaak ook midden
in een idee, dat door de ander weer wordt afgewerkt. De tweede track
‘Circuit’ bevat al veel meer pit en wordt behoorlijk intens,
maar de piano’s blijven innig vervlochten. ‘Suite In Five
Parts’ is de langste track en toont hoe de twee in cycli denken.
Vijf keer wordt van een stacato opvolgen van korte tonen vertrokken
om via verschillende paden in schoonheid te eindigen. Een sterk gevarieerde
plaat ook waar je je best in zijn geheel aan overgeeft. Al schudt de
titeltrack je toch flink wakker met zijn heftige, zware en doorzinderinde
tonen (het metaal uit de titel) die overgaan in stevige power play.
Aan genres en hokjesdenken heeft dit koppel lak en dus is jazz soms
ver weg en hedendaags klassiek dichtbij (en omgekeerd) – al hoor
je vooral liefdevolle onrust en intens maar doordacht samenspel. Ferm!
Soundslike. Jazz!! Belgium, 10/06/2009
When Aki Takase and Alexander
von Schlippenbach get together, it is an occasion of note. Both have
done this to good effect in the past and, of course, both have an enormous
track record in the music. This is a meeting of titans. Does it live
up to musical expectations?
Yes. Artists of this caliber have reached a level where there is structure
in every two notes played. What Serialist composers painstakingly notated
and pianist spent hours to master in the ‘50s and ‘60s has
been assimilated as part of the spontaneous vocabularies of these two,
along with what has gone before in the Improv and Jazz syntaxes. Their
playing reflects all of it, one way or another, and they give out with
their seat-of-the-pants structuring as two-way dialogues with a seeming
ease born of much work and keen sets of ears.
A Modern Classical sounding moment of rarified, exotic harmonies and
abstract melodies is what “Early Light” conveys. With “Circuit”
the chords have a jagged feel and alternate with glisses in an abstract
kind of bounce. It transforms to a dense barrage. “Suite in Five
Parts” is in some ways the centerpiece of the disk. Pointillistic
beginnings of serial sounding note groupings transform to quiet chords
and tone blocks containing an abstract melody. On to more slowly unfolding
musical events—pointillism, chord blocks, then on to sprawling
melody. It ends with choppy, busy 12-tonish expressivity. All the movements
hang together as a single piece. It sustains one’s attention by
its movemental episodes all filled with plenty of musical interest.
The title cut, “Iron Wedding,” presents jagged, forceful
lines and clusters. The playing gets pretty dense and tumultuous with
powerful thrusts of piano notedness, then quiets down a touch. Can all
the tortuous complexities of notation for the Serialist form of avant
now be replaced by Free sorts of improvisations like this? There’s
room for both, of course. And if you listen closely to both sorts of
musics they begin to distinguish themselves. Those looking for some
rigorous structure behind their cacophony may be more satisfied with
the written musics. The objective with Serialism is a kind of clarity;
for Free music the emphasis is on expression. But even a superficial
listen reveals affinities. Sometimes, like the very rapid linings toward
the end of “Iron Wedding,” the music extends beyond the
possibilities of notation, and so it enters the “oral-aural”
realm. Ultimately no system of notation captures all that happens in
a performance, though, so there you are either way.
And that in many ways sums up the value and interest of this session.
It is often far more than what could be notated. Two masters of the
art of listening and responding do what they do best. The music captivates.
It is exceptional. Need I say more?
Grego Applegate Edwards, Cadence, USA, July/August/September
2009
Alain
Drouot, Downbeat, USA, November 2009
Iron Wedding no
es únicamente el encuentro de dos pianistas excepcionales como
son la japonesa Aki Takase y el alemán Alexander Von Schlippenbach.
También es la celebración musical de dos compañeros
que en lo puramente personal caminan juntos desde hace ya muchos años.
Éste es un encuentro fascinante y sorpendente, en el que la música
muestra bastante más que lo que se pudiese sospechar a priori.
Iron Wedding es un terreno de juego neutral en el que ambos pianistas
dejan trabajar con comodidad a su compañero. Como no podría
ser de otro modo allí aparecen ecos de muchos músicas
y músicos. De Monk y de Fats Waller. De Cecil Taylor, de Ornette
Coleman y de Mingus. Pero también de Webern y de Schönberg.
Todos ellos cohabitan, coexisten en las manos de estos artistas. La
breve duración de las piezas, así como unos diálogos
buscados y magníficamente conseguidos, que buscan la belleza,
y que no rehuyen sino que por el contrario se empeñan en adentrarse
en terrenos aparentemente ajenos al jazz (tal y como ocurre, por ejemplo,
en el magnífico final del disco los dos minutos y seis segundos
de "Rain", seguidos por los cuatro minutos y once segundos
de "Far On"), hacen de Iron Wedding una obra magnífica,
así como un magnífico ejemplo de lo que debiera ser el
acercamiento y el entendimiento entre dos músicos en un terreno
tan aparentemente complicado como es el de los dúos de piano.
Pachi Tapiz, www.tomajazz.com, 22 de octubre de 2009
Johan
Hauknes. Alexander von Schlippenbach Portrait. Jazznytt, Oslo, 50 /
Nr. 1:2010
Jürg Solothurnmann, Jazz'n'more, Schweiz, März-April 2018
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