Dutch webzine VITAL WEEKLY just published a combo review of our two releases. Both are of course available through our bandcamp store.

“CARLOS “ZINGARO” & GUILHERME RODRIGUES & JOSE OLIVEIRA – ZWOSCH, ZWOSCH & ZWOSCH (CD by New Wave Of Jazz)
TOM JACKSON & NEIL METCALFE &
BENEDICT TAYLOR & DANIEL THOMPSON – HUNT AT THE BROOK AGAIN/HUNT AT THE BROOK WITH NEIL METCALFE (2CD by New Wave Of Jazz)

In Vital Weekly 1397, I reviewed a CD by Dirk Serries, Benedict Taylor and Friso van Wijck they released on the Portuguese label Creative Sources Recordings. Now, the Portuguese entered Serries’ label New Wave Of Jazz. The improvised music scene is small but very busy. A trio consisting of Carlos “Zingaro” on violin, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, and José Oliveira on percussion. They played on July 30, 2021, in Lisbon, and for the title, they took inspiration from Kurt Schwitters. I think there isn’t a data element in the music. The piece on this CD spans thirty-two minutes, and I don’t know if this recording covers all that was played that night or if there was some editing. I can’t tell from hearing the music. Their approach is pretty traditional in that the three instruments are instantly recognizable as such. They reach for the small sounds, but the louder
ones are more in favor. The recording is a direct one, without any coloring, a straightforward one, as if we are very close to the players and hear every detail; almost every detail is perhaps better said. There is fresh chaos, but that’s not the goal of the music. I believe it is all about the interaction between the players, and there is a lot of that. There is a short break in the middle, and after that, the music seems a bit more organized and orchestral—quite a blast.
The other is a two-night registration at Stamford Brook in London in April and May 2019. The first night had Tom Jackson (clarinet), Benedict Taylor (viola), and Daniel Thompson (acoustic guitar), and a month later, the same three welcomed Neil Metcalfe, who plays the flute. This, too, is from the world of hardcore improvising and certainly doesn’t qualify as easy-listening music. Nervous most of the time and chaotic, but there is also something intimate about this music, perhaps more on the quartet disc than the trio one, and I realize that may sound odd. You could assume more people equals more sound, but not on this one. While the instruments are easily recognized, and no other techniques are used (it seems), there is, at the same time, some very free playing going on. Superficially of the kind in such a way that people approach modern painting, ‘my kid can do this too’, and, usually, they are wrong. Here, too, I think there is some pretty intense interaction going on between the three/four. Much like the DDK release, reviewed elsewhere, this music requires a lot of attention and concentration, and that, too, means playing both discs in a row is quite a stretch. For the more limited interest in improvised music, and I regard myself as such, this is beautiful stuff, but at the same, I admit that these two and the DDK one are enough for me from the musical area for this week.”