JAZZWORD‘s Ken Waxman wrote a lovely review on ONNO GOVAERT + VERHOEVEN/SERRIES’ Twofold album. This double cd is still available from our store at bandcamp.

“Frequently called upon to power larger groups like Cactus Truck and Kaja Draksler’s Octet, Dutch drummer Onno Govaert brings his mature approach to duets with two adventurous Belgian improvisers: pianist Martina Verhoeven and guitarist Dirk Serries. Going one-on-one with each on one CD of the is two CD set, the result is an extension of for instance Han Bennink’s duos with Derek Bailey or Baby Sommer’s with Cecil Taylor. A much less percussive pianist than Taylor. Over the course of these three parts of her program with Govaert, Verhoeven’s dynamic range moves from delicate clips and almost literal key tickles from the piano’s highest range to pedal point emphasis which is immersed in the bass clef. Energetic and swaying her linear motions include speedy glissandi and metronomic pacing as she pours notes into the narrative. To link up with the multiple textures or single note patterns from the pianist, Govaert too takes on diverse identities. Drum smacks and cymbal clashes meet her pressurized runs while bell-ringing plinks and wood block pings contrast with dark soundboard rumbles. The tightened interaction usually includes repeated expressions from each side. Most tracks start quietly and intensely with Verhoeven projecting a straight-ahead theme. As variants flow from each, the piece gradually becomes louder and chunkier with drum variations encompassing descriptive ruffs and extended press rolls. The concluding section moves down to stop-start chording and spaced drum taps that meld matured expression with references to the improvisation’s head.
Serries’ amplified acoustic guitar adds a metallic tinge to his single-track meeting with Govaert. Spaced with silent interludes and sequences of pressure and ease, the piece evolves with as many strong strokes from the guitarist as the drummer. Throughout with swishing cymbals, drags and reverberations, Govaert meets National steel-sounding twangs and slurred fingering buzzes with restraint. Serries sometimes pivot to string strums as well as brief passages that involve the highest timbres of the guitar up near the tuning pegs. Moving from anvil-hard crunches to pinpointed rim cranks the drummer eventually joins the guitarist in a reflective story-telling mode. As the track action is resolved with drum top rubs and smoothly paced frails, a final drum thump signals the finale.
Without overstepping the boundaries of taste and focus, each disc projects a mature mixture of idiophone and chordal instrument timbre. Each can be listened to for appreciation of the close-knit evolution of cohesive ideas.” Jazzword – Canada

MUSIQUE MACHINE delivers another duo of reviews : ONNO GOVAERT + SERRIES/VERHOEVEN – TWOFOLD (2xCD) and TOM JACKSON & COLIN WEBSTER – THE OTHER LIES (cd). Both cds are still available from our bandcamp. A special shout out today as this is bandcamp Friday so we’re offering you a 50% discount on any digital/physical release. Time to catch up and complete the collection. Discount code is : bandcampfridayoct22 – valid till Oct 8th.

“Twofold is a double CD set which finds Dutch jazz drummer/ percussionist Onno Govaert pairing up with two players, for two fairly varied improv sets. For the first CD, he is joined by Belgian Pianist Martina Verhoeven for three around fifteen-minute tracks. And for the second he’s joined by Dirk Serries, whose also from Belgian and plays amplified acoustic guitar- on a single forty-two-minute track. Govaert has been active since the early 2000’s both releasing solo/ collabs, as well as being part of projects such as free jazz/ improv trio Cactus Truck,  free improv five piece In Layers, and around five or six other projects. So on the first CD, he is joined Martina Verhoeven, for three around fifteen-minute untitled tracks. The first track opens with just Govaert- with a complex & darting blend of cymbal snap ‘n’ dart, skittering drum smashes, and tom smashes. Fairly soon Verhoeven piano work appears, and it’s just as complex ‘n’ darting, mixing rapid bounds, rolling cascades and fraught mid to high key flits ‘n’ flirts. As the track moves on, we get sudden breaks in the type of percussion, moving from rim hits, chime smashes, wood snares, etc. As Verhoeven mirrors these shifts with low-end clunk ‘n’ bound, and sudden racing key runs. The second untitled track opens with set spotting high note keys, and fairly rapidly this is joined by different types of percussion darts- as the piano playing opens up into more varied clusters of notation runs. Later on, we move into busier and very cymbal-heavy runs, which are matched by rolling reels of key bound ‘n’ race. The third track begins with just playful jerking key clusters, within the first minute these are joined by equally playful, and at points quirky mixed percussion snaps ‘n’ darts. As the track continues both the key and percussion become wonderful manically jaunting in their attack. Before reducing down to just stark key hints and light percussion rustles.  Moving onto the second disc and Govaert is joined by Mr Serries for a single forty-one-minute track. It opens with a blend of tight cymbal smarts ‘n’ runs, which are joined by jagged guitar strums ‘n’ chugs. As the track moves into its sixth minute more woozy neck jigs are added into the mix, as the percussion becomes slightly loose ‘n’ spread- yet these are no less tight. By around the mid-way point, the guitar has become bluntly bounding in its strums, with stray string scarps- as Govaert builds a shifting flow of different percussion hits ‘n’ darts. As we move towards the end of the track the percussion has become way more rapid crashing in its rolling folds, and Serries wild scrubs ‘n’ strums his guitar. Twofold highlights both Govaert’s detailed and at times complex percussion craft, as well as his ability to interact with these two great players in an invigorating and vivid manner. All told two most worthy improv sets, and another great release from the New Wave Of Jazz.” Musique Machine – UK

“The Other Lies is an angularly searing-to-gratingly droning ‘n’ warbling example of horn-based improv. It’s an album that rewardingly puts your teeth on edge and your sonic nerves through the grinder. It’s not in any way easy or safe, but if you’re after the sonic equivalent of root canal surgery, then this more that hit’s the spot!. The album brings together two London-based players- Tom Jackson on Clarinet, and Colin Webster alto and baritone saxophones. The six tracks, each with run times between nine and thirteen minutes, were recorded in February of last year at Peckham Road Studios- and I’m sure some studio tiles were melted in the processes.  The sound throughout the album is very urgent and constricting, with never a minute of mellow release. We open with “I” this finds slowly pained waving drifts of horn sustains, which are both piercing highs and crackling grainy. As the track progresses the pair’s rapid and searing interplay takes off, as they weave sourly baying and cheeky-yet-seared warbles around each other.  “III” opens with a seemingly snake-biting-from-every-angle mixture of painfully compressed honk flits, constricting air pulls, and manically darting bays. Before later moving onto mixers of horn tap ‘n’ fiddle, and fraught snake charmer reels. By “V” we find sudden bass fiddles ‘n’ pipes, meeting forking and trumpeting. With the track later moving on to extremely pained drone inter-feeds, and mystic-yet-wonky honk trails. The album is finished off with “VI” which at first focuses on a hover ‘n’ deflating bays and watery warbles. With the track latter taking off into rapid and darting interplays, which often dip into the sour ‘n’ sharpe. For those who enjoy sonically mining at the more intense and head-in-a-vice end of the improv genre, then The Other Lies will be most a painfully pleasing treat….really pushing things way into the fiery & red.” Musique Machine – UK

Ken Waxman of JAZZWORD just wrote a review on ARVING GANGA & RICCARDO MAROGNA’s BALLADS FROM THE WRECKED SHIP, A New Wave Of Jazz released last year. Available through our bandcamp shop.

“Both Den Haag-based, though Arvind Ganga who plays guitar and objects is Dutch, and Riccardo Marogna, who uses electronics with his tenor saxophone and bass clarinet is from Verona, the Netherlands duo have played internationally over the years and worked with dancers and in multi-media. Sounding almost detuned, Ganga’s guitar strokes which begin his duo disc, combine with object rattling and electronic crackles to produce a defining exposition alongside Marogna’s split tones or darker scoops. When some tracks undulate to unexpected fragmentation due to reed honks, altissimo smears or seemingly never-ending strums, a basic linearly preserves the tracks’ flow. Some improvisations such as “Zeelas” and the concluding “Kzans”, intensify the harshness with, for instance, electronics bringing crinkling vibrations into the mix, adding to chiming guitar resounds plus circular breathed puffs. “Kzans” ups the ante with stiff clanks and clips from Ganga’s objects and strings while Marogna’s undulating flutters complete the piece. These whistling peeps are also heard on warmer track such as “The Limp Leaves Waited For Rain, While The Black Clouds Gathered far distant, over Himavant”. Meanwhile moderated reed vibrations and linear slurs quicken into fragmented and dissonant split tones in response to metallic string strokes that get louder and more intense as the piece evolves. Limiting interaction to two instruments doesn’t lead to a lessening in power, production or perception. Plus part of the fascination of these session is following how improvisations are created, shaped and resolved.” Jazzword – Canada

Next week’s label-affiliated musicians STEFAN KEUNE (sax), BENEDICT TAYLOR (viola) and DIRK SERRIES (archtop guitar) are playing our 5th label event at jazzclub PlusEtage (Baarle-Nassau, The Netherlands). While Benedict and Dirk know each other pretty well, from the numerous concerts and albums, this is the first time they join musical forces with German saxophonist STEFAN KEUNE. Not to be missed.

The day before, on Thursday September 29th, BENEDICT TAYLOR and DIRK SERRIES are teaming up with Dutch drummer FRISO VAN WIJCK for another unique live session at the lovely KOFFIE & AMBACHT bar in Rotterdam (The Netherlands).

COLIN WEBSTER & MATTHEW GRIGG’s GOOD TO BE BACK REALITY cassette release just got a short but stunning 5 stars review on BirdBoyBlizzard. You can still order this cassette through our bandcamp shop.

“5 stars ! Webster and Grigg have released a free jazz record that pushes into the realm experimental noise. Resting somewhere on the horizon bringing to mind earlier pioneers like Borbetomagus and Keith Rowe. The tracks bubble with abstract unfolding sounds. The two musicians create a powerful symbiotic relationship. It has an organic organization that reminds me of the sound and the sonic geometry of crumbling paper. However, Webster’s alto and Grigg’s guitar work are distinctly intact but together the music functions as a strong healthy and fully intact organism. That is to say that this jazz duo are keenly aware of the other and the process. Very highly recommended.”