In the hinterland
in which improv can sound like contemporary classical music, spontaneity
like composition and postbop like 21st-century Bach, the pairing of
Swiss pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and her violinist husband Mark Feldman
represent one of the most creative combinations. Feldman is a former
Nashville country fiddler with a classical player's tone and precision,
Courvoisier is an improvising pianist who has worked with guitarist
Fred Frith, but whose classical training often surfaces. This quartet
session is completed by the young bassist Thomas Morgan (recently heard
in the UK with Craig Taborn) and drummer Gerry Hemingway. This absorbing
session's free-improv associations are conspicuous in episodes of drifting
violin figures against trickling piano musings, and abrasive chords
over stabbed low-end notes and percussion furores, yet the overall impression
is of audaciously reworked lyricism, and an accessible narrative shapeliness.
The dancing melody of the opening Messianesque is typical of Courvoisier
and Feldman's long-evolved empathy, and the suite-like Five Senses of
Keen is a miniature masterpiece of solemn high-register violin figures
and subtly harmonised chords, like distant Gregorian chants, interspersed
with Courvoisier's punchier percussive departures. The pianist even
sounds eerily like Thelonious Monk on the tramping Coastlines.
John Fordham, The
Guardian Friday 5 March 2010
24
heures, 25 Janvier 2010, Lausanne
Im SYLVIE COURVOISIER - MARK
FELDMAN QUARTET setzten die Mephista-Pianistin aus Lausanne und ihr
Lebenspartner, der Masada-Geiger mit ECM-Sensibilität, ihre musikalische
Partnerschaft vom Trio Abaton und von Lonelyville (Intakt, 2007) fort.
An ihrer Seite bei "To Fly To Steal" (Intakt CD 168) spielen
Thomas Morgan am Kontrabass und der erfahrene Gerry Hemingway an den
Drums eine hybride Form von Chamber Jazz, bestehend aus Kompositionen
von ihr (2) und ihm (2) und 3 Kollektivimprovisationen. Um dieser Musik
nicht nur Anerkennung zu zollen, sondern sie zu mögen, muss man
vor allem Geige mögen. Ist man dafür empfänglich, dann
wird man überreich beschenkt von Feldmans reichhaltiger Virtuosität
bei "The Good Life" und seinen Kadenzen bei "Coastline"
und dem Titelstück. "The Good Life" ist typisch für
den nichtlinearen Verlauf der Stücke, die einen fast collagenhaften
Charakter zeigen wie hier, oder sich vegetativ verzweigen und verästeln.
Tänzerische und wuselige Passagen, speziell das immer lebhaftere
"Fire, Fist and Bestial Wail", wechseln mit impressionistischen
wie bei dem zart gegeigten Morgenschimmer, Geflimmer und Käfergekrabbel
bei "Whispering Glades" und atemberaubend bei "Five Senses
of Keen", wo nur ganz allmählich der Tag aufblüht, mit
schrillem Amsel-Tixen in spitzen Pianonoten. Courvoisier skizziert auch
den kantigen Saum von "Coastline", das im Dunst versinkt.
Morgan erweist sich durchwegs als ein Pointillist mit grünem Daumen,
die stöbernde, tröpfelige, klickende und knisternde Feinarbeit
von Hemingway ist prickelnd und pochend allgegenwärtig. War der
Auftakt "Messiaenesque" messiaenesk gewesen, schließt
das Titelstück den Reigen mit romantischem Schmelz. Es gibt Schlimmeres
unter den Hinterlassenschaften des 19. Jahrhunderts.
Rigobert Dittmann, Bad Alchemy Magazin 65, Deutschland, Winter 2009/2010
Two on Two: Courvoisier
& Feldman Are Both Jazz and Life Partners
Pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and violinist Mark Feldman have had a long
and creative partnership, performing onstage together since 1995 and
collaborating on that life project called marriage since 2000. It's
an interesting balancing act that some creative couples are never able
to reconcile, but these two couldn't see it any other way.
"It would be trickier if one of us was the district attorney or
a gym teacher or something," Feldman points out. "Both of
us like to work a lot and go out on the road. I think if we both weren't
musicians it would be harder for the other one to understand. So we
never have these issues."
The two have taken very different paths to get to this point. Courvoisier
grew up in Switzerland, the daughter of a jazz pianist. She studied
composition, piano and conducting at Conservatoire de Lausanne, and
jazz at Conservatoire de Montreux. She was already established on the
European avant-garde scene (playing with people like trumpeter Enrico
Rava and guitarist Marc Ducret) when she met Feldman in 1995; nonetheless,
her move to New York in 1996 was an important next step in her career.
"At first it was a little scary to play in New York, but the scene
is great because there are so many great musicians and it's really challenging
and inspiring," she points out. "I've met a lot of people
who push me to do better."
Feldman grew up, studied and worked in Chicago before landing in Nashville,
where he played violin in a variety of styles including classical, pop,
and country. Something of a late bloomer in regards to jazz, his first
paying gig playing avant-garde jazz came at age 31. "I couldn't
take it anymore," Feldman says of the change. "I was becoming
so unhappy and it was just nagging at me. So when I was around 30 years
old, it seemed like a good last moment, at least it seemed like the
last moment at the time, where I could make a big change. So I sold
my house in Tennessee, quit my job with Loretta Lynn and moved to Brooklyn
in 1986."
Feldman still has occasional sideman gigs with guitarist John Abercrombie
and he's performed as a soloist for orchestras nationally and internationally.
Courvoisier can be found playing various groups or leading her own –
one highlight is 2003's 'Abaton,' which features Feldman and cellist
Erik Friedlander. Both with several albums to their credit, Courvoisier
and Feldman are active in New York City's downtown jazz scene, often
playing in the ensembles John Zorn organizes – Feldman is a regular
in Zorn's Masada String Trio, and both he and Courvoisier perform as
a duo for the entirety of 2006's 'Malphas: Book of Angels, Vol. 3,'
which featured Zorn's compositions.
Most recently, the pair have returned with an excellent pair of albums:
an album titled 'Oblivia' (their fourth as a duo) and a quartet album
called 'To Fly to Steal,' which is a newer group that also includes
bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Gerry Hemingway. When asked about
the difference between the two recordings, Courvoisier answers with
a dry sense of understatement: "There are two other people,"
she says with a laugh.
Though her free-flowing playing ranges from muscular to angular, Courvoisier
tends to hang back when she speaks. Feldman, on the other hand, is downright
chatty. Picking up the question where Courvoisier left it, he adds,
"In the quartet setting, it's not a negative thing, but we lose
control. In the duo setting, we have 100 percent control over every
aspect of where the music is going to go.
"The duo tends to happen naturally, but in the quartet we tend
to try and take up less space," he adds. "Sometimes in the
quartet, Sylvie and I will run tactics between us and the others don't
even know it and then they are forced to respond. We have ways of playing
and little signals. All the subtleties we developed as a duo over so
many years still exist in the quartet, even if the others aren't aware
of a strategy we are using between the two of us."
Take the Courvoisier composition 'Messiaenesque,' for instance. It appears
on both albums. The quartet version is twice as long as the duo version.
Arriving with a crash, it's messier, with the drums anchoring the tune
to a polyrhythmic foundation. The duo version, on the other hand, floats
in the air as shards of the piano melody slash and the violin soars
over the top in counterpoint. The two compleiment each other's playing
while at the same time finding different nuances as they move through
the tune.
With improvised music, collaborations, by necessity, take on a conversational
tone as players act and react. No doubt Courvoisier and Feldman's music
is an extension of the two musicians' lives and their life together,
but it almost didn't happen that way. Even though the two had began
to play together, Courvoisier had a (some would say sensible) no-dating-musicians
policy when they met, but Feldman wooed her with his sense of humor.
"I said, 'You call me a musician? This s--- I'm doing?' And that
kind of won her over. They aren't used to self-depreciating humor, being
European."
Tad Hendrickson, www.spinner.com, USA, Feb 18th 2010
Arild
R. Andersen, Aftenposten, Norway, 22. februar 2010
Kreativt par
Sylvie Courvoisier og Mark Feldman praktiserer en spesiell form for
husfred – de spiller sammen også.
Den sveitsiske pianisten Sylvie Courvoisier flytta til New York på
slutten av 90-tallet. I New York fant hun raskt et spennende eksperimentelt
miljø med hang til frijazz i diverse former. Ikke nok med det:
Hun fant – eller hvem som fant hvem vet jeg forresten ikke –
raskt sin tilkommende i det miljøet, den fremragende fiolinisten
Mark Feldman.
Det er ikke bare på hjemmebane de samarbeider godt. Både
i bandet Lonelyville og i denne kvartetten med trommeslageren Gerry
Hemingway og bassisten Thomas Morgan, er det tydelig at empatien og
forståelsen er av det meget gode slaget.
Alle fire er hver for seg sentrale musikanter på den internasjonale
scena når det gjelder moderne improvisert musikk. Her har de samla
seg rundt et repertoar skrevet av enten de to lederne eller skapt kollektivt.
Innspillinga, som er gjort på én dag i fjor sommer, byr
på et solid spekter med vakre melodiske utgangspunkt til det helt
frie. Det som særpreger all musikken er de fires evne til å
gi hverandre rom til «å utforske» det de enn måtte
ønske. Både kollektivt og hver for seg tar de oss med på
personlige og sterke ekskursjoner som til stadighet overrasker.
Sylvie Courvoisier – Mark Feldman Quartet viser oss modenhet og
en kreativ virtuositet som bringer kvartetten svært langt opp
på lista over band fra Sambandsstatene som man bør låne
øre til.
Tor Hammerø, www.side2.no,
Norway, 02.03.2010
Partners in both music and
in life, pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and violinist Mark Feldman share
the marquee on their latest collaboration. Drummer Gerry Hemingway and
bassist Thomas Morgan aren’t just along for the ride and receptive
to a deep rapport, the four create music of superlative communication
and cohesion. Their configuration invites immediate chamber associations
and much of the interplay leans closer to classical than jazz in general
cast, but extemporaneous expression remains an integral element with
starched-collar propriety left at the door. The co-leaders contribute
two compositions apiece and the remaining three tracks unfold as collective
improvisations. As is common credo with Intakt, the fidelity of the
recording is dazzlingly clear with everything audible down to the most
minute gesture and inflection.
Courvoisier’s “Messiaenesque” finds Feldman in full-bloom
virtuosic form, his bow play a blur of pitch-perfect swoops and glissandi
complemented by the pianist’s close commentary. The name-checked
composer comes to life in the violinist’s sweeping baroque scribbles
that arc and angle against a tumbling pulse of bass and drums. Courvoisier
and Morgan converse in minimalist increments on conclusion of “Whispering
Glades” as Feldman and Hemingway bear silent witness. On Feldman’s
“The Good Life”, Hemingway and Morgan converge on a wobbly
snippet of jazz swing later annexing much of the piece for extended
improvised dialogues punctuated by fleeting theme statements by violin
and piano.
Feldman’s “Five Senses of Keen” if full of space and
quiet. Courvoisier strums delicately at the interior her instrument,
generating a delicate zither-like cascade at the edge of audibility.
Hemingway again sits silent for much of the duration, adding muted accents
on shakers and light-touch sticks in a canny less-is-more fashion. The
collectively improvised “Fire, Fist and Bestial Wall” unfolds
as an impish dance between the participants that becomes feverish in
its final minutes but falters in an oddly reticent finish, one of the
rare moments where the players don’t sound in accord. Courvoisier’s
closing title piece takes wing on a dark-tinged Old World theme, winding
down in a tinkling denouement of pattering sticks and keys. Fearlessly
willing to explore practically every permutation of its instrumentation,
Feldman and Courvoisier have found a vehicle with Hemingway and Morgan
brimming with further possibility.
Derek Taylor, masterofasmallhouse.blogspot.com,
USA, February 24, 2010
Violinist Mark Feldman and
his wife, pianist Sylvie Courvoisier eloquently morph restraint, depth
and a contemporary classical touch into the progressive-jazz idiom on
this 2010 release. Respectively, the musicians are ceaselessly engaged
within the new music style of jazz and improvisation, having recorded
for several record labels, spanning several years. No doubt, the duo's
venerable artistic propensities unravel in resplendent fashion on
To Fly To Steal.
The quartet manifests a self-identity during these emotively imbued
works, designed with asymmetrical pulses, and brisk unison lines to
contrast improvisation-based call and response frameworks. It's an undulating
program, kindled by Feldman's climactically executed staccato phrasings
and synergistic interplay with Courvoisier. Coupled with emphatic tension-and-release
statements, the band abides by a democratic outlook.
Drummer extraordinaire Gerry Hemingway is an accelerator via his loose
groove, polyrhythmic rolls, snare hits and cymbal swashes while attaining
a prolific partnership with up and coming bassist, Thomas Morgan. During
these buoyant and multidirectional pieces, the quartet seamlessly combines
austere structure and sprawling improv segments. They flourish as a
unit capable of untangling an abundance of mood-evoking notions amid
variable levels of intensity.
Feldman and Courvoisier profess their superior techniques with minimalistic
and sometimes, playful exchanges. And they venture into ethereal vistas
on "Fire, Fist And Bestial Wall," where Courvoisier gently
plucks the piano strings to elicit a rhythmic hue, complementing Feldman's
sonorous passages. Here and elsewhere, the band delves into abstract
impressionism while injecting chamber influences within angular noise-shaping
jaunts. In a sense, they seem to be realigning the cosmos by generating
the requisite amalgamations of power, eloquence and boundless ingenuity.
Glenn Astarita, www.allaboutjazz.com,
USA, March 23, 2010
Si hay un violinista imprescindible
en el jazz y la música improvisada durante las últimas
décadas, ese es Mark Feldman. Por su parte, Sylvie Courvoisier
es una pianista sumamente interesante, cuya carrera es posible que no
llame demasiado la atención del gran público, a pesar
de haber grabado a su nombre en sellos como Tzadik, Intakt o ECM. Ambos
músicos están felizmente casados, y desde hace unos años
es un hecho más que frecuente el escucharlos juntos tanto en
conciertos como en grabaciones.
To Fly to Steal es un gran paso hacia adelante en su carrera y sirve
para presentar su nuevo cuarteto que completan el batería Gerry
Hemingway y el contrabajista Thomas Morgan. Publicado en el sello suizo
Intakt, sus siete piezas ofrecen un abanico de composiciones muy variado,
en las que aparecen influencias que van de la música clásica
contemporánea ("Messianesque"), al be-bop y la improvisación
libre (ambas en "The Good Life"), e incluso hasta recogen
unos ciertos aires folklóricos ("Fire, Fist and Bestial
Wail"). Estos elementos son etiquetas que simplemente intentan
situar de algún modo la música allí contenida,
ya que la grandeza de este trabajo va más allá de todas
ellas. Ésta consiste en que los músicos tienen el arte
para dejar unos amplios espacios en los que tanto la música como
sus compañeros respiran y pueden expresarse con total libertad.
Feldman y Courvoisier son quienes aparecen en primera línea.
Este hecho aparece acentuado por la propia naturaleza del sonido del
contrabajo, y también porque aunque Gerry Hemingway no para en
un sólo instante, trabaja a lo largo de la grabación con
unos parches que presentan un sonido amortiguado. Sin embargo tanto
Hemingway como Thomas Morgan resultan imprescindibles. Son el cemento
que permite que las improvisaciones de los cuatro músicos mantengan
su coherencia dentro de la estructura de los temas. Estos no podrían
presentar una mayor variedad en cuanto a su autoría. Courvoisier
y Feldman firman dos cada uno, mientras que los tres restantes son improvisaciones
del cuarteto. Una agrupación en la que a pesar de que los cuatro
músicos están inmensos, sobresale especialmente el violinista
Mark Feldman. Sin embargo, no voy a dejar de citar las deliciosas cascadas
de notas con las que Courvoisier acostumbra a acompañar a su
compañero en el final de sus improvisaciones. Pero volviendo
al trabajo del violinista, técnicamente su sonido presenta una
nitidez increíble, incluso en los pasajes más rápidos.
Más allá de la pura ejecución, se mueve con una
soltura increíble en situaciones de lo más diverso. De
esa manera, lo mismo es capaz de construir un solo lleno de swing con
una lógica aplastante en "The Good Life" (quizás
el momento cumbre del disco y posiblemente uno de los mejores solos
de Feldman), moverse por terrenos cercanos a la clásica contemporánea,
o componer instantáneamente unas melodías de una belleza
desarmante.
Pachi Tapiz, www.tomajazz.com, Spain, 22 de marzo de 2010
Het hechte topduo van pianiste
Sylvie Courvoisier en violist Mark Feldman staat bekend voor vonken
spattende herformuleringen uit het klassieke en andere idiomen op hoog
niveau en binnen een avontuurlijke eigen lijn. Als zij met een oude
impro-crack als drummer Gerry Hemingway en een opkomende youngster als
Thomas Morgan een verbond aangaan, kunnen we iets van muzikaal belang
verwachten. Door het viertal worden in eerste instantie niet lijnen
dóór de ruimte getrokken. Eerder treffen lijnen uit de
ruimte (op) elkaar. Bewegend langs een denkbeeldige route, af en toe
uitgelicht met terugkerende leitmotieven. Morgan is een bassist die
zijn tonen op ongewone manier plaatst en daardoor allerlei tussenruimten
laat ontstaan. Mooi is zijn rapport met Feldman en de afstemming tussen
hoge en lage snaren (zij kennen elkaar uit de groep van John Abercrombie).
De groep verdicht in drie stukken hun collectieve improvisatie en laat
in vier stukken composities van Feldman en Courvoisier improvisatorisch
opstijgen. Buitengewoon fraai gebeurt dit in Feldman’s Five Senses
of Keen. Op de rand van zwart en stilte ontvouwen zich ruimte, licht
en klanken, doemen geesten uit de diepte op en verschijnen lichtstrepen
aan de horizon. Een iriserend violistisch meesterstuk. Je treedt geen
uitgewoonde, geen knusse en geen gestroomlijnde ruimte binnen maar een
mysterieuze voortdurend verwondering brengende ruimte waar de klok anders
slaat.
Henning Bolte, JAZZmagazine, Nederlande, Spring 2010
En cada relación la persona debe dejar espacio alrededor
de sí mismo y de la otra persona. Debe haber un vacío
entre dos (John Cage)
La improvisación siempre requiere un cabal entendimiento entre
los músicos involucrados en ella que va mÁs allá
de lo superficial, ya que el ejercicio de improvisar constituye una
negociación artística y social que implica tolerancia
y habilidad para adoptar decisiones dentro de un contexto colectivo.
La improvisación es un encadenamiento de acuerdos en los que
el músico se obliga a intimar y colaborar con otros sin perder
identidad para crear ese “espacio vacío entre dos”
del que hablaba John Cage.
Concepto que no siempre está internalizado entre los músicos;
de hecho, consulté sobre el particular a un par de músicos
amigos (más amigos que músicos) y me dijeron que “el
vacío entre dos” les encantaba sobre todo si era al horno
y con papas.
Lo cierto es que el concepto enarbolado por Cage es la medula conceptual
de To Fly to Steal, álbum debut del Sylvie Courvoisier / Mark
Feldman Quartet.
Este ensamble colectivo expresa una nueva encarnación de la consolidada
sociedad musical que integran el violinista Mark Feldman y la pianista
Sylvie Courvoisier, a la que en esta ocasión se añaden
el experimentado baterista e improvisador Gerry Hemingway y el joven
y promisorio contrabajista Thomas Morgan (integrante del Tyshawn Sorey
Trio y el Samuel Blaser Quartet, entre otros).
La música es el arte de la personificación, de la escenificación
de las emociones, de la manifestación del ser. En la vida tenemos
una tendencia a olvidar el espacio que hay entre las cosas, a negar
el vacío latente que conecta nuestras vivencias y a creer que
podemos pasar instantáneamente de un pensamiento al próximo,
casi como si fuese posible la presencia de El Ser sin la coexistencia
de La Nada.
La música no sólo representa de manera alegórica
ese precepto debido a que resulta innegable la existencia de un vacío
o una nada entre los sonidos que hace no solamente que no se obstruyan
entre sí, sino que también actúa como una sutil
metáfora de la convivencia y el ejercicio de la colaboración
entre las personas.
El dilema básico de la colaboración ya sea en la libre
improvisación, en la música en general o en la vida misma,
es lograr intimar con otros sin perder identidad; mientras que la convivencia
es la forma en que nos relacionamos con los demás. Sin embargo,
el hecho de que exista una relación no involucra forzosamente
que esa relación sea de convivencia o que acaezca colaboración,
ya que así como hay personas con las que convivimos también
hay personas con las que coexistimos. En definitiva, no es la coexistencia
lo que define la convivencia sino la calidad implícita en esas
relaciones.
Las dificultades que afronta el desarrollo colectivo o la convivencia
en grupos humanos requiere de una fina indagación de procesos
íntimos, cognitivos y emocionales cuya elaboración requiere
del conocimiento, la identificación y la posterior liberación
de los modelos arquetípicos que regulan la relación entre
la tendencia natural a la colaboración y la ayuda mutua y la
competitividad, odio, conflicto e intolerancia derivados de la codicia
de poder y el control de los comportamientos humanos. Sopesados esos
contrastes emanados de la convivencia, debemos pasar a construir los
propios escenarios que propician el bienestar individual y también
el de aquellos con los que coexistimos para así crear una entidad
que, en su conjunto, supere a la suma de las partes. El ejercicio de
la libertad en la convivencia es un bien supremo ya que nos permite
ser libres, aunque algunos aseguran que somos libres para darle órdenes
a los otros y le otorga a los otros la libertad de cumplir esas órdenes
sin excusas. En cualquier caso, lo único que debemos cuidar es
no quedar del lado de “los otros”.
Es cierto que a veces la sociedad nos provee mensajes contradictorios.
Por ejemplo, tiempo atrás me anoté en un cursillo de verano
sobre Desarrollo de la Libertad en las Relaciones de Convivencia pero
no pude participar porque el director del curso, haciendo uso del derecho
de admisión y permanencia, me prohibió el ingreso. Tras
un fuerte reclamo en defensa de (¡oh, coincidencia!) “la
libertad en las relaciones de convivencia” fui derivado por la
fuerza a un curso sobre técnicas de ayuno. No era lo más
apropiado para adquirir conocimientos sobre convivencia pero al menos
el arancel del curso de ayuno incluía las comidas (que dicho
sea de paso eran bastante abundantes). Esa frustrante experiencia no
impidió que arribara a dos conclusiones irrebatibles: la primera
es que hay que desconfiar de los cursillos de verano y la segunda es
que el aprendizaje de técnicas de ayuno, engorda.
De regreso a To Fly to Steal corresponde decir que el álbum da
inicio con la exquisita composición de Courvoisier titulada Messianesque.
Una estructura de extrema complejidad rítmica fundada en el uso
de simetrías de tiempo y un basamento melódico y armónico
en modos de transposición limitada, permite exponer de manera
incontrastable la técnica espléndida y cristalina del
violín de Feldman, la enorme dinámica del tándem
que integran la batería de Hemingway y el contrabajo de Morgan
y la nítida pulsación y variedad de recursos de Courvoisier
que asombra tanto por la fuerza física en las manos como por
el virtuosismo de su vocabulario pianístico. En definitiva, el
título de la pieza parece hacer honor a los tres criterios con
los que según Olivier Messiaen se debe medir una composición
musical: tener capacidad de llegar al oyente, resultar hermosa a la
escucha y lucir acertada para ser interesante.
La abstracta quietud de Whispering Glades nos propone un análisis
encubierto de las transformaciones contemporáneas de la idea
de música, manifestado tanto en su vertiente experimental que
emana de su condición inarmónica como en el cruce de disciplinas
y discursos en los que se nutre su alegato estético. El cuarteto
aquí, en lugar de seguir a un líder, parece responder
a un llamado colectivo, mantiene un orden horizontal sin protagonismos
excluyentes y consigue ofrecer una homogénea síntesis
sonora dentro de un contexto de influencias y estilos heterogéneos.
En la pieza de Feldman, The Good Life, hallamos un fraseo melódico
de notable transparencia tímbrica que recurre a la escala tónica
completa alternado con cíclicos silencios y vagas sonoridades
signadas por la indeterminación entre disonancia y consonancia.
El equilibrado juego de contrastes propicia una falsa reexposición
del motivo original en donde la línea melódica deja de
ser la esencia para otorgar preeminencia a los acordes, logrando construir
un plano sonoro en el que conviven el jazz, la libre improvisación
y la música clásica contemporánea. Todo esto coronado
por un efervescente solo de violín a cargo de Feldman, las ascéticas
intervenciones del contrabajo de Morgan, la inagotable variedad de recursos
percusivos de Hemingway y una desbordante intervención de Courvoisier
plena de temperamento y colores.
La pausada construcción inicial de Five Senses of Keen antagoniza
el formato sonata con destellos de improvisación orgánica
más próximo a la interacción colectiva que en sentido
aleatorio. Al promediar la pieza el violín de Feldman ornamenta
con gusto sin caer en el puro efectismo y propulsa un atrevido clímax
que, si bien se asocia al dramatismo de la música clásica,
también deja amplios espacios a la improvisación. Luego
toma la posta el piano de Courvoisier con una intervención vibrante
e imaginativa, no exenta de ciertas brusquedades, para finalmente desvanecerse
en una coda volátil y etérea que termina adjudicándole
un sentido circular a la composición.
En Fire, Fist and Bestial Wail, desde de un azaroso pasaje preparatorio
en el que interaccionan el violín, el contrabajo y la batería,
germina un elaborado crescendo rubricado por el ingreso del piano. Luego,
una intensa mutación dinámica impulsa un remate explosivo
signado por una base a contratiempo y un feroz, y por momentos abrumador,
dominio contrapuntístico. Coastlines es una composición
temática colectiva en donde la percusión, el piano y el
contrabajo crean el espacio para que se deslice con comodidad un solo
de Feldman de innegable predicamento jazzístico.
El cierre se produce con la abrasiva profundidad de To Fly to Steal,
tema de Courvoisier que da título al álbum. El dibujo
armónico ingresa en un proceso de sofisticación estética
que evidencia similitudes con las pretensiones de las artes plásticas
ya que la música, al liberarse del dominio tonal, adquiere equivalencias
con la liberación del cromatismo y la perspectiva en la pintura.
La elaborada estructura liderada por el piano se desvanece finalmente
en una delicada cadenza en violín.
La improvisación es siempre una experiencia sonora indeterminada,
por lo tanto rehúye a definiciones exactas. El Sylvie Courvoisier
/ Mark Feldman Quartet revisa esos conceptos con la idea de establecer
criterios que faciliten la convivencia entre las reglas de interacción
improvisadora y el pleno ejercicio de la composición espontánea.
Y lo logran, no sólo por cualidades y virtudes sino también
por trabajo y elaboración.
Las improvisaciones son mejores cuando se las prepara (William Shakespeare)
Calificación: Dame Dos
Sergio Piccirilli, www.elintruso.com, 20/3/2010
Frau Courvoisier, die Dynamische,
hat sich für dieses Projekt wieder mit dem fantastischen Geiger
Mark Feldman zusammengetan (nach der feinen Zusammenarbeit in der Quintett-Veröffentlichung
'Lonelyville‘ – Intakt 120). Unterstützt wird das Duo
von Thomas Morgan (nicht der Zoologe und Genetiker) an der Bassgeige
und Gerry Hemingway (den braucht man nicht extra vorzustellen) an den
Fellen. Eine wunderbare Besetzung, um einen informellen Tonacker zu
bearbeiten. Da können alle vom Blatt spielen, improvisieren, sind
in der Lage, auf die Mitspieler zu hören: Musikerherz, was willst
du mehr? Modern Music oder neuer Jazz oder Improvisationsmusik, ganz
egal, wie man die Sache nennt (was sich eben gerade so ein ganz klein
wenig in den Vordergrund drängt), es ist ein hochkonzentriertes
Elaborat, wie ein geschliffener Bergkristall glitzernd (je nach Lichteinfall).
Das Quartett ist eine kompakte Einheit, einander Raum verschaffend,
einander respektierend und, um es in der Sprache der Fußballer
zu sagen, sich halt nicht zu schade für den Assist zu sein (zu
hören im Eröffnungsstück 'Messiaenesque‘ oder auch
bei 'Five Senses Of Keen‘, wie da Mark Feldman in 'Schussposition‘
gebracht wird, will sagen, wie er zu seinem Violinsolo herangeführt
wird: großartig!). Oder, wie es Rudolf Taschner einmal in einem
anderen Zusammenhang so treffend formuliert hat: Ein konzises Heranführen
an scheinbare Wahrheiten.
Ernst Mitter, freiStil #30, Österreich, April / Mai
2010
Philippe
Carles, Jazz Magazine / Jazzman, France, Avril 2010
Reiner
Kobe, Jazzpodium, Deutschland, April 2010
The husband-and-wife team
of violinist Mark Feldman and pianist Sylvie Courvoisier are in the
process of developing an unusual musical practice, an exploration of
improvisation in which the musical language – materials and method
– develop directly from the high modernism of Bartok, Prokofiev
and Webern as practiced in the early decades of the 20th century. That
might seem like a natural approach for a violinist and a pianist as
technically accomplished as they are, but it’s daunting territory,
an approach as distant from the raw vigor of free jazz as the randomized
sound of much free improvisation, yet somehow further still from the
through-composed works that this music superficially resembles.
Oblivia is a duo recording, with five compositions credited
to Courvoisier, one to Feldman and five to both, presumably collective
improvisations. Listening to it without following the program, one is
repeatedly struck by unison passages that couldn’t be improvised
even by players this gifted – the kind of unison lines that turn
up, for instance, in Courvoisier’s “Messiaenesque.”
But the riddle of improvisation and composition that the two weave has
far more dimensions than this. Courvoisier’s “Bassorah”
has the dramatic stillness of the most profound elegy, the piano punctuating
and echoing and somehow enfolding and unfolding the violin lines in
acts of empathy that suggest spontaneous crafting throughout. It ends
with a sustained high note from the violin with micro-inflections of
bow-grit and pitch, a sound so mournfully sustained that it is literally
created by Feldman whether it refers somehow to a score or not. The
playfully pointillist improvised piece that immediately succeeds it,
“Yis a Yis,” has passages of upwardly scurrying chromatics
from both piano and violin that are almost unison, if not quite, and
there’s the suggestion throughout that processes of composition
and improvisation have somehow blurred together. Now that’s a
process that’s afoot in many areas of improvised music, but Feldman
and Courvoisier practice a special kind of precision of detail. Another
improvisation, “Fontanelle,” mixes piano interior and alternately
bowed, plucked and scraped violin spinning off into high harmonics.
It has the random dialogue more typical of improvised music, but even
here the discipline of the other collaborations comes through—its
ideas are brightly articulated and delivered with a concision that speaks
of an intense economy.
Part of the specific emotional and formal character of this music must
be traced to Feldman’s violin playing. It’s genuinely virtuosic,
and though one will very occasionally hear a trace of bird calls that
suggest a Chinese erhu or some idiomatic American fiddling (channelled
through Aaron Copland), his sound is an acutely refined instrument,
every touch of the bow, every whistling harmonic, every shift in vibrato,
the gesture of a controlled technique. Piano sound is less variable,
but Courvoisier, as well, is a master of the honed detail. The collaboration
introduces an emotional range to improvised music that reaches back
to the acute tensions and harmonic complexities of Bartok’s violin
sonatas (though Feldman’s own “Purveyors” seems to
reference the melody of Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm”).
The music doesn’t usually invoke serialism, but rather a pan-chromaticism
that makes for extraordinarily intense micro-gestures within broader
tension curves. Courvoisier is acutely attuned to the possibilities
of this language. A piece like her “Dunes” creates composed
lines of tension between the piano and sudden violin declarations and
then multiplies the tension with apparently improvised passages in which
they seem to come both closer together in line and further apart. It’s
a level of precision rarely approached in improvised music and it restores
levels of formal relationship that can startle. These emotional states,
unnameable yet profoundly resonant, are literally created in the spaces
between the two instruments.
Turning to the Courvoisier-Feldman quartet, one begins to hear a kind
of social contextualization as that special dialogue is extended into
the group. Similar qualities were apparent in Courvoisier’s earlier
project with Feldman in Lonelyville (Intakt CD 120), but that group
seemed less focused on the Feldman-Courvoisier musical relationship
with cellist Vincent Courtois a linear element close in prominence to
Feldman, while Courvoisier’s role was closely intermingle with
Ikue Mori’s electronics and Gerald Cleaver’s highly propulsive
drumming. The quartet of To Fly to Steal is a more orthodox
grouping, with bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Gerry Hemingway literally
replacing the silence that seemed to spotlight every gesture on Oblivia.
In its place is a much looser group language, a warmer sonic environment
that’s immediately apparent in the opening “Messiaenesque,”
the only piece to appear on both CDs. Feldman contributes two composition
to this disc, including a piece called “The Five Senses of Keen”
that seems to create its own space, a warm tonal ground that resonates
with pastoral countryside, invoking the special mood of American folkloric
composers like Copland and Virgil Thomson. While Feldman’s violin
flashes with much of the same brilliance and precision, it’s also
freer here, alive to the denser fields of stimulus generated by the
improvised language of the group. One of his most startling moments
comes in a blistering solo on one of the collective improvisations,
“Fire, Fist and Bestial Wail.” While Feldman’s tone
will make him the center of attention almost anytime he is playing,
there are some wonderful trio moments here as well. The dialogue between
Courvoisier, Morgan and Hemingway in the improvised “Whispering
Glades” suggests how the group is shaped by the history of jazz,
an element largely unapparent on the duets of Oblivia. A similar
moment occurs in the way Courvoisier comps on Feldman’s “The
Good Life,” dismantling the composed figures to create tremendous
rhythmic energy. As stunning as Oblivia is, the quartet music
To Fly To Steal may be larger in its meanings, its dialogues and
its very frame of reference.
Stuart Broomer, Point of Departure ( Issue 28), 6 April
2010
Eine unumstößliche
Tatsache dialektischer Kontradiktion: Je genauer man etwas kennt, desto
vorhersehbarer ist oft das Ergebnis. Ergo sollte in kreativen Kontexten
das Prozesshafte und das sich selbst und das Publikum Überraschende
eine gewichtige, wenn nicht die dominierende Rolle überhaupt einnehmen.
Die aus Lausanne stammende und in New York lebende Pianistin Courvoisier,
hochinspirierte wie messerscharf bewusste Grenzgängerin auf der
Schneide von neuer Komposition und freier Improvisation, ist mit ihrem
Lebensgefährten, dem Violinisten Mark Feldmann, auch musikalisch
zutiefst verbunden. Dass man sich gleichzeitig Raum lässt und lässig
Grenzen setzt kann und dabei noch zwei wunderbare weitere Freigänger,
nämlich den großartigen Drummer Gerry Hemingway und den genialen
Bassisten Thomas Morgan, für die Weltenwanderungen hinzuholen kann,
zeugt von der unverhohlenen und sich selbst regenerierenden Kraft dieses
dynamischen Gruppenprozesses. Die Linernotes von John Corbett tragen
zum Verständnis dieser Prozesse einiges Erhellendes bei. Wie sich
diesen grandios unsentimentalen, aber zutiefst gefühlvoll-visionären
und einmal mehr kammermusikalisch anmutenden Schweifungen anschmiegen,
wenn nicht ohne Poesie? Ausbrüche wie elektrisch kurzgeschlossene
Klapperschlangen, Retardierungen wie zuckende Zündfunkenregen ...
und alles doch bisweilen in einer oszillierenden Ruhe zitternd, die
synästhetische Erfahrungen transzendent und transparent machen
kann.
by HONKER, made my day, TERZ 04.10, Deutschland, 31.03.2010
Alfred
Krondraf, Concerto, Österreich, April/Mai 2010
Between the membership of
this quartet (Mark Feldman, Sylvie Courvoisier, Thomas Morgan, and Gerry
Hemingway) embodies the twenty-first century improvising musician. All
four members have recorded before and in a variety of situations of
wide diversity. They bring all of the experience this implies to a program
that stakes out its own territory, and from start to end, has set out
a potent collective manifesto.
Drummer Gerry Hemingway has worked with Anthony Braxton's quartet in
the past and it's clear that the experience has rubbed off. On pianist
Courvoisier's "Messiaenesque" he's a master of sound and what
it can imply. This perhaps wouldn't count for much if he wasn't keeping
such empathetic musical company, whilst there's no reason to doubt that
this is a group that thinks with one mind and plays accordingly.
Mark Feldman's "Five Senses of Keen" is another case in point,
with the violinist working more in the contemporary music vein than
that of the improvising musician as such. The division is of course
marginal, some might even say arbitrary, but in the case of music so
much a product of nuance as opposed to more overt gestures the distinction
serves a purpose of its own, as does Feldman's innate romanticism as
the piece progresses. Over the course of twelve minutes the mood—in
a sense entirely at odds with the notion of mood music—runs from
the lyrical to the ruminative and co-leader Courvoisier proves herself
not to stand within Cecil Taylor's looming shadow. She regards the keyboard
as a summation of extremes, her touch on the lowest and highest keys
making for an effective summarizing.
"Fire, Fist and Bestial Wail" doesn't live up to the title,
but in a good way. This is a group that knows all about subtle contrapuntal
interplay and Courvoisier again proceeds by stealth, but shadowed by
Morgan's bass in a stand-off in which bluster has no part but progress
by stealth and feint does. Hemingway answers the call to arms in a flurry
of deconstructed time and in summary the proceedings are an antithesis
of slick, technically flawless but ultimately lifeless piano trio music.
The title track's brooding, apprehensive quality is thus atypical, the
result of rare collective effort. The music's essentially fraught progress
is undermined by all kinds of tangents as added by all four musicians.
In light of this, it would hardly be surprising if the center didn't
hold, but it does, resulting in a tribute to the group's deep listening
abilities.
Nic Jones, www.allaboutjazz.com,
USA, May 3, 2010
Interview
avec Sylvie Courrvoisier, Benjamin Ilschner, La Liberté, Suisse,
24 Avril 2010 (as
PDF-File)
Gene
Santoro, Chamber Music America Magazine, may/june 2010 (PDF-File)
An.Te,
Musica Jazz, Italia, Maggio 2010
Guillaume
Belhomme, Les Inrockuptibles, France, 12 mai 2010
Christoph
Wagner, Jazzthetik, Deutschland, Mai/Juni 2010
John
Ephland, Downbeat, USA, July 2010
En ouvrant grandes nos oreilles
et en évitant le petit jeu des comparaisons (inutiles ?), on
pourrait presque se dire qu’Oblivia (Tzadik / Orkhêstra)
est l’exact opposé de To Fly to Steal. Duo pour l’un,
quartet pour l’autre. Continuum résolu pour l’un,
cassures franches et nettes pour l’autre. Ici, le jazz s’y
retrouve parfois (The Good Life), s’entête et crépite
en des chaos millimétrés (Fire, Fist & Bestial Wail).
Ici, le violon serait presque soliste et le piano presque d’accompagnement.
Presque car tout est bien plus compliqué et alléchant
que cela.
Alléchantes sont ces collisions de timbres, cette liberté
de croiser les fluides et d’assouvir des combinaisons inouïes.
Alléchantes, cette batterie (Gerry Hemingway) et cette contrebasse,
accouchant de lignes aux rebonds vifs et tranchants (on m’excusera,
ici, d’épingler la trop grande discrétion et le
jeu de peu d’ampleur de Thomas Morgan). Oui, un disque alléchant
et sans la moindre froideur. Et à nouveau, je signe et persiste.
Luc Bouquet, Le son du grisli, France, May 2010
The composer Olivier Messiaen
might seem an odd vista from which to triangulate upon the spousal and
musical partnership of violinist Mark Feldman and pianist Sylvie Courvoisier,
but at least from the vantage of their recent releases it's a point
suggested by the artists themselves. Courvoisier's piece "Messiaenesque,"
assumedly titled for the 20th Century French composer, is the one piece
repeated on both the duo disc Oblivia and their quartet record
To Fly to Steal, where they're joined by Thomas Morgan (bass)
and Gerry Hemingway (drums).
Messiaen is no doubt best known for having composed "Quatuor pour
la fin du temps" while being held in a concentration camp during
World War II, but he was also a preeminent composer of sacred music
during his time and gained much inspiration from listening to bird songs.
It's perhaps the birds that are most heard in Courvoisier's dedication
and in much of the music that she and Feldman make together. There is,
throughout Oblivia a sort of persistent lightness, the firm
insistence of a small creature—not weak by any stretch, but still
delicate. The pizzicato and piano keys make small flurries; bowed violin
against the occasionally strummed and muted piano strings make for unusually
graceful passages. Both players are extraordinarily sensitive in going
toward and away from their instruments' orthodox voices. With her background
in European avant-garde composition and improvisation, Courvoisier tends
to bring more abstraction to the picture, whereas Feldman—with
his long history as an interpreter and session player—is more
the melodicist. But what's important is how well they intuit meeting
grounds across the 11 pieces here. With only one track breaking ten
minutes and half of them at three or under, there is at once the feeling
of pastiche and, at the same time, a coherent and beautiful whole.
That lovely balance becomes all the more precarious when arranged in
four points instead of two. To Fly to Steal, recorded in July
2009—just two months prior to Oblivia—finds the pair with
a rhythm section no less subtle and sensitive. The session includes
two compositions each from Courvoisier and Feldman, as well as three
group improvisations and at times has an unexpectedly jazzy feel, especially
in the bright, tuneful outbursts couched in Feldman's pieces. The group
improvisations unsurprisingly exhibit pullings from different directions,
but even then with a wizened ease, abetted by the fact that there aren't
horns to focus the listener's attention.
What's perhaps nicest about both discs, seen in light of Courvoisier
and Feldman's individual catalogues, is the fact that they both seem
fresh. Maybe not in a way that can easily be pinned down but one that
is still rewarding—and which speaks strongly for two players who
seem exhilarated by new discovery.
Kurt Gottschalk, www.allaboutjazz.com,
USA, June 12, 2010
Hans-Jürgen
von Osterhausen, Jazzzeitung, Deutschland, Juni/Juli/August 2010
Michael
Rosenstein, Signal to Noise, USA/Canada, Summer 2010
Henning
Bolte, JAZZmagazine, Nederlands, Summer 2010
Christoph
Wagner, Schwarzwälder Bote, Deutschland, 29. April 2010
"Mark
Feldman: Taking an Eclectic Path", Interview by Sean Patrick Fitzells,
AllAboutJazz.com, June 17, 2010
Jonathan
Schreiner, Jüdische Illustrierte, Deutschland, Sommer 2010
PREIS
DER DEUTSCHEN SCHALLPLATTENKRITIK. GERMAN CRITICS AWARD
Pianist and composer Sylvie
Courvoisier is one of those rare musicians who can bridge any perceivable
gaps between open improvisation and contemporary classical music. Though
the audiences for both seem to overlap, the academy hasn’t taken
much notice (still), and to a point that’s perfectly fine. Courvoisier’s
music (and that of regular musical partner, violinist-improviser Mark
Feldman, also her husband) dovetails with post-serial composition while
retaining a sense of structural organization that hits upon both freedom
and arch rigor. To Fly to Steal adds the rhythm section of drummer Gerry
Hemingway and bassist Thomas Morgan to the Courvoisier-Feldman duo,
and among its seven pieces are three group improvisations as well as
two each by the co-leaders. There’s a telling sign in Courvoisier’s
opening “Messiaenesque,” its orchestral crash buoyed by
a frantically eliding piano-violin line, group improvisation hinging
on pizzicato snaps and collective clang. Feldman’s “The
Good Life” merges an Eastern European rondo form with a swinging
tempo section and a pointillist pulse, combining Bartok with Braxton.
As precise as Feldman’s choices of “classicism” might
be, leading to a staggering level of technicality, there’s an
underlying slink and warmth to certain lines that recalls Leroy Jenkins.
Courvoisier follows with a merging of insistent upward trills, clunky
post-bop interpretations and a few classic Cecil-like rhythm-clusters.
Rather than being an aesthetic entwining, Courvoisier and Feldman complement
one another along a path of poised, dynamic execution and the genuine
motion of immediacy. Romance and glacial events intersect in “Five
Senses of Keen,” delicate strum and micro-prettiness supported
by cymbal tap and woody pluck in a pensive disappearing act, peppered
with odd-interval spikes. Ultimately, this is an excellent set of music
and, for those who appreciate clear lines of organization in their abstraction,
a most accessible entry into the worlds of these Downtown improvising
composers.
Clifford Allen, Ni Kantu Blog,
USA, August 25, 2010
Pour
qui vient de l'univers des musiques progressives, les noms de Sylvie
Courvoisier (piano) et Mark Feldman (violon) sont irrémédiablement
associés à l'univers de John Zorn et à la scène d'avant-garde
new-yorkaise gravitant autour du stakhanoviste à lunettes. Pourtant,
cette nouvelle formation qui réunit à leurs côtés le batteur Gerry
Hemingway et le contrebassiste Thomas Morgan permet aux deux complices
de longue date de prouver – en ont-ils encore besoin ? – leur capacité
à proposer un univers musical fascinant et personnel.
Ce nouveau
quartet frappe avant tout par la qualité de jeu des deux musiciens et
l'entente incroyable qui les lie, au service d'un spectre musical
considérablement élargi dans le style comme dans les timbres par
rapport à leurs travaux précédents, comme l'excellent Malphas,
troisième volume de la série des Book of Angels de Zorn. La technique
de Mark Feldman est impressionnante, mais son propos, reconnaissable
entre mille, la dépasse largement, et le violoniste n'hésite jamais à
se mettre en danger lorsque cela peut servir la musique.
En contrepoint, Sylvie Courvoisier alterne un jeu très mélodique sur
lequel planent les ombres bienveillantes de Claude Debussy ou d'Olivier
Messiaen (auquel elle rend d'ailleurs hommage dans une composition
opportunément baptisée « Messiaenesque »), et une approche plus
viscérale, n'hésitant pas à remuer les entrailles de son instrument, en
spécialiste du piano préparé qu'elle est également, notamment sur le
projet Mephista qu'elle partage avec Ikue Mori et Susie Ibarra.
Tous deux viennent se poser sur le tapis ondoyant et subtil que tissent
leurs deux comparses. Gerry Hemingway, tout en impressionnisme, balais,
mailloches, mains et archet, semble soigneusement éviter de marquer un
temps, et plus encore une carrure, et assure un véritable rôle
mélodique, jouant notamment sur l'élasticité des peaux, tandis que
Thomas Morgan surprend. Derrière son apparence juvénile et souvent
gauche, son toucher faussement hésitant et fragile tombe juste et vient
porter doucement une musique à peine amplifiée, respectant l'équilibre
naturel des instruments et laissant – enfin – toute leur place aux
nuances, dans un ensemble d'une grande finesse.
Car c'est bien ce qui frappe en premier lieu dans cette musique : tout
y est doux, subtil et intimiste. Bien souvent les quatre musiciens ne
font plus qu'un tant leurs sons se mêlent, tant le piano de Sylvie
Courvoisier semble tous les envelopper de sa présence chaleureuse et
rassurante. Le violon et le piano, dans un échange permanent, ne
cessent de se chercher, de virevolter l'un autour de l'autre, sans
hésiter à se pousser mutuellement jusque dans leurs retranchements,
avant de concéder un recul en forme de nouvelle ouverture. Ainsi, la
musique avance, mouvante, et l'auditeur voyage, ému.
Fanny Layani, www.progressia.net, France, 20.12.2010
Si
può essere troppo bravi? Sotto le spoglie di una domanda all'apparenza
sciocca si nasconde un'annosa questione. Il virtuosismo come zavorra:
da risorsa a limite, da mezzo a fine. Chitarristi che sfrecciano alla
velocità della luce senza avere uno straccio di idea. Tastieristi da
competizione per musica da circo. Non c'è peggior razza degli inutili
virtuosi.
Che c'entra Mark Feldman con la stirpe dei logorroici?
Purtroppo c'entra, eccome. È già da qualche anno che i conti non
tornano con il violinista di Chicago. Le funamboliche doti del nostro,
tecnicamente parlando uno dei musicisti più incredibili in
circolazione, stanno prendendo il sopravvento, stanno fagocitando
l'arte e l'artista. Intendiamoci: il processo è in fieri; Feldman non è
ancora passato al lato oscuro. Ma sulla strada che porta all'onanismo
del virtuoso siamo già a buon punto.
To Fly to Steal, uscito su Intakt, ne è l'ennesima conferma. Alla testa
di un quartetto completato dall'ineffabile compagna, la pianista Sylvie
Courvoisier, dal batterista Gerry Hemingway [mai meno che strepitoso] e
dal contrabbassista Thomas Morgan, Feldman ribadisce i troppi limiti
della propria visione. Non che manchino i momenti degni di nota in un
disco tutt'altro che disprezzabile; e però è innegabile che la musica
funzioni soprattutto quando riesce a circoscrivere il cannibalismo
autoritario del violino e del violinista.
Come nell'iniziale "Messiaenesque," nella quale a prevalere sono le
strutture, che imbrigliano la tendenza all'eccesso in un gioco
riuscitissimo di incastri. Oppure in "The Good Life," composta dal
violinista con mano ispirata e basata sull'alternanza giocosa fra un
tema sbarazzino, squarci di pura astrazione e improvvise impennate
ritmiche. Funziona anche "Fire, Fist and Bestial Wail," soprattutto
quando il violino tace e il trio Courvoisier-Morgan-Hemingway regala
lampi di assoluta classe, caracollando con leggerezza e fantasia.
Altrove, purtroppo, gli steccati non reggono. Estremamente stucchevoli,
ad esempio, i dodici e passa minuti di "Five Senses of Keen": gli acuti
cristallini, l'intonazione insopportabilmente impeccabile, i passaggi
sovraccarichi di pathos, le estenuanti acrobazie. È come se a ogni
nuovo concerto, a ogni nuovo disco, Feldman si sentisse in dovere di
ricordarci tutto ciò di cui è capace [molto, moltissimo, forse troppo].
Manca l'aria anche in "To Fly, to Steal," rarefatta e seriosa,
riscattata solo in parte da alcuni momenti preziosi cesellati dal
pianoforte.
«Don't play everything (or every time); let some things go by». Il
celebre consiglio di Monk al giovane Lacy è sempre valido. Valutazione:
2.5 stelle
Luca Canini, italia.allaboutjazz.com, Italy, 20-05-2011
Marek Romanski, Jazzforum, Poland, 12/2010
Guido Festinese, Il giornale della musica, Italia, Ott 2010
Chris Searle, Morning Star, March 28, 2017 |
