Peter Br\u00f6tzmann & ICI Ensemble<\/p>\n
Programm: <\/p>\n
Beautiful Lies
\n[01] I. Beauty doesn\u2019t lie 31:41
\n[02] II. Auge des Betrachters 40:13
\ntotal playing time: 71:56<\/p>\n
Peter Br\u00f6tzmann: tenor saxophone, clarinet, t\u00e1rogat\u00f3
\nRoger Jannotta: flutes, clarinet, oboe, alto saxophone
\nDavid J\u00e4ger: soprano & tenor saxophones, bass clarinet
\nMarkus Heinze: baritone & alto saxophones, cornet
\nChristofer Varner: trombone
\nLeo Gmelch: tuba, bass trombone
\nMartin Wolfrum: piano
\nGunnar Geisse: laptop
\nGeorg Janker: bass, electronics
\nSunk P\u00f6schl: drums<\/p>\n
Infotext:<\/p>\n
Peter Br\u00f6tzmann, Gro\u00df- und Altmeister des europ\u00e4ischen Free Jazz, hat eine Musik geschaffen, die zum Einflussreichsten und Bahnbrechendsten des 20. und beginnenden 21. Jahrhunderts gez\u00e4hlt wird \u2013 siehe Machine Gun (1968) oder zuletzt Full Blast mit Michael Wertm\u00fcller und Marino Pliakas.
\nDie hier vorgelegte und zusammen mit dem M\u00fcnchner ICI Ensemble eingespielte Aufnahme Br\u00f6tzmanns changiert bewusst zwischen zeitgen\u00f6ssisch-kammermusikalischer Intimit\u00e4t und virtuoser Brillanz \u2013 eingebunden in eine wie verabredet gestaltete Gro\u00dfform, jedoch rein aus dem Moment heraus erschaffen.<\/p>\n
Pressestimmen: <\/p>\n
dalstonsound.co.uk
\n09.03.2016
\nThe International Composers and Improvisers (ICI) Ensemble come to Beautiful Lies (NEOS) after past encounters with George Lewis, Olga Neuwirth and William Parker, among others. It\u2019s probably safe to assume that Peter Br\u00f6tzmann, who composed the music and stars as featured performer, needs no introduction.
\nBr\u00f6tzmann big band recordings are relatively few, so Beautiful Lies is quite a coup for NEOS, whose new music catalogue is shaping up nicely (see also my review of the companion release by Br\u00f6tzmann associate Michael Wertm\u00fcller, Terrain! Terrain! Pull Up! Pull Up! \u2013 a very different big band session).
\nAlthough the ICI Ensemble accommodates him beautifully, Br\u00f6tzmann is very much a focal presence throughout Beautiful Lies, which was recorded in concert in Munich in February 2014. Every player makes their mark, but he naturally dominates a four-strong reeds section. There\u2019s been the odd complaint on social media that the set isn\u2019t graced by one of Br\u00f6tzmann\u2019s woodcuts or lithographs, but the object photographed for the cover is one of his, a 2013 sculpture in wood, leather and paint, titled Joystick \u2013 a signal, perhaps, that the saxophonist had this date very much under his control.
\nOn other dates, the ensemble has sometimes incorporated more in the way of electronics and processing\u2014co-founder Christofer Varner, for instance, sometimes enhances his trombone with sampling software\u2014but not here. Gunnar Geisse plays laptop and (uncredited, or otherwise sampled) electric guitar, and Georg Janker uses electronics to process his bass; but otherwise it\u2019s the mixed reeds that dominate. There\u2019s no brass section as such, just trombone and bass trombone besides the laptop, the rhythm section and Martin Wolfrum\u2019s piano.
\nOn albums by Br\u00f6tzmann\u2019s Chicago Tentet, the leader\u2019s charts were invariably the most challenging for the listener, being doggedly non-idiomatic, without recourse or reference to any context broader than free music. No matter how often I play his \u201cFoolish Infinity\u201d or \u201cBurning Spirit\u201d from 1 \/ 2 \/ 3, for example, the follow-on pieces by Mats Gustafsson and Ken Vandermark always seem like landfall.
\nBoth of those compositions ran to half an hour, and so does the first piece here, \u201cBeauty Doesn\u2019t Lie\u201d. The other, \u201cAuge des Betrachters\u201d, is ten minutes longer. Take a deep breath \u2026
\n\u201cBeauty Doesn\u2019t Lie\u201d begins with the four reeds in conference, the rest of the ensemble easing themselves in, and we\u2019re soon in recognisable Br\u00f6tzmannian terrain. The piano introduces chinks of flinty light, and the reed-mesh is airier than the brass domination that\u2019s common with big bands. Processed electric guitar pecks at the interstices, opening up a space for a dialogue with Roger Jannotta\u2019s flute. But there\u2019s only one locus here, and that\u2019s Br\u00f6tzmann, who dominates the reeds and leads their re-imposition of dominance over the ever more abstract electronic textures.
\nThere\u2019s then a tinderbox stretch of free play, and a lovely, atmospheric interlude for piano with preparations, flute and clarinet, which assumes the tranquility of a chamber piece (mood-wise, something akin to Messiaen\u2019s \u201cQuatuor pour la fin du temps\u201d), and there\u2019s also a quiet space for muted, snorting and snuffling trombone. It\u2019s the drummer who marshals a second free-for all, over which Br\u00f6tzmann casts a sour drizzle, and then the introduction of piano that signals another shift into a space for pianist Daniel Brylewski to break, setting the space for a slow-paced, slightly sleazy finale, the leader now tenderly warm of tone. On first playback it\u2019s Br\u00f6tzmann\u2019s more trenchant and pugnacious moments that stand out, but he actually covers a wide expressive range.
\nt\u2019s hard to tell which reed is Br\u00f6tzmann\u2019s when \u201cAuge des Betrachters\u201d begins. It\u2019s certainly his tenor that holds the line against disruptive, beat-boxy processed percussion; one of the other reeds then set against Georg Janker\u2019s assertive bass. The performance then settles into an edgy trade in partnerships, with the brass dominant, and live-processed sound and flute shards aglint in the mix. Inevitably, perhaps, it\u2019s Br\u00f6tzmann who goads things back to intensity, and then shepherds the ensemble through a white water passage buoyed by forceful contrabass bowing and rolling percussion. And that\u2019s just the first twenty minutes.
\nThere\u2019s then a long passage for the ensemble\u2019s reeds against resourceful pianism, spilling into a flintier exchange between the now dominant piano, bass, skittish percussion and muted brass. Brylewski then goes under the piano\u2019s lid when the reeds start pecking away, the expected upswing resolved instead by a calmando passage, contemplative rumination sustained even when two reeds flurry in disputation, but then darkened by chordal piano. Pent-up aggression finally spills out in a welter of the concentrated vehemence, a vast contrabass drone providing stability for a calmer run in to a slow-mo climax, through which Br\u00f6tzmann weaves variations on a gorgeous melody that reminds me of \u201cNature Boy\u201d.
\nThis a more approachable set than those heavyweight Tentet recordings. Br\u00f6tzmann manages to braid his trademark blare and machismo with the ensemble\u2019s nuanced textures in ways that remind us how emotionally tender and reflective he sometimes is in solo performances.
\nTim Owen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Peter Br\u00f6tzmann & ICI Ensemble Programm: Beautiful Lies [01] I. Beauty doesn\u2019t lie 31:41 [02] II. Auge des Betrachters 40:13 total playing time: 71:56 Peter Br\u00f6tzmann: tenor saxophone, clarinet, t\u00e1rogat\u00f3 Roger Jannotta: flutes, clarinet, oboe, alto saxophone David J\u00e4ger: soprano & tenor saxophones, bass clarinet Markus Heinze: baritone & alto saxophones, cornet Christofer Varner: trombone […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2188,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[27,883],"product_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2187","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-jazz","7":"product_cat-orchester","8":"pa_artikelnummer-neos-41601","9":"pa_brand-neos-music","10":"pa_ean-34","11":"desktop-align-left","12":"tablet-align-left","13":"mobile-align-left","15":"first","16":"instock","17":"taxable","18":"shipping-taxable","19":"purchasable","20":"product-type-simple"},"yoast_head":"\n