VITAL WEEKLY just reviewed our two newest releases, in our new line of limited cassettes. Both tapes are still available of course as they are officially released next Saturday August 20th.

“Following many CDs, the Belgium imprint A New Wave Of Jazz released a few LPs, and now they are expanding to the world of cassettes. I am unsure if there is a particular reason to switch to cassettes, and I won’t speculate. The first cassette is a sort of split release. Dirk Serries, with his archtop guitar, appears on both sides. On side A, he duets with Anton Mobin and his well-known prepared chamber and on the other side with Quentin Stokart on guitar and amplifier. Nine pieces with Mobin and seven with Stokart. In case you wondered, Wiki can help you with the meaning of the word ‘Stochastic’: “Stochastic refers to the property of being well described by a random probability distribution. Although stochasticity and randomness are distinct in that the former refers to a modelling approach and the latter refers to phenomena themselves, these two terms are often used synonymously. Furthermore, in probability theory, the formal concept of a stochastic process is also referred to as a random process.” The prepared chamber is a box of amplified objects and, as such,
something that works very well with Serries’ playing of the guitar; not too chaotic but very much improvised and there is lots of room for little accidents. Please sit down and play and record the proceedings. The outcome is not decided in advance, but let’s see what happens. That is the approach of Serries and Mobin in a fine duelling duet of acoustic sounds and a guitar. Most of the time, it sounds very much like electro-acoustic music, but then without the electrics. The amplifier used by Stokart indeed might play a role in his duet with Serries, but I fail to hear it. These seven pieces are obviously two guitars and are less electro-acoustic. Here too, there are certain chaotic elements to be noted, but it is also a bit more traditional improvised music, music of the variety that this label has a lot of. These seven pieces are short and to the point, leaping forward, restraint and joyous. A bundle of emotions, I’d say. Lovely stuff!
The other cassette contains a duet between Colin Webster (alto saxophone), a New Wave Of Jazz regular, and Matthew Grigg (guitar, amplifier), whom we heard once before (Vital Weekly 1040). They recorded their music in a single day, following which Serries did the mixing and mastering. I am sure this mixing didn’t interfere with the order of the music; I believe it instead has to do with putting the right balance between these instruments. The eight pieces on this cassette offer some more radical free improvisation music. The alto saxophone is easily recognized, and Webster plays it most chaotic. The guitar is something else. I have no idea how Grigg plays his instrument, but it is barely recognizable as a guitar. I think he mutes his strings and creates mainly a scratching sound. This way of playing instruments results in quite a nerve-wracking spiel between the two players. This cassette lasts fifty minutes, and it is quite a ride; it is a wild but most exhausting one. Indeed, the music has the most overwhelming
quality when played at a maximum volume. But I don’t see any other way to enjoy this music except at total volume. Perhaps, at times a bit too much free improvisation for me, but I enjoyed the sheer brutality here. “

What a feature on A NEW WAVE OF JAZZ and the related releases on the most recent episode of GENE BULMER’s Ambient Landscape. Just enjoy this beautifully constructed episode wailing through most of the recent albums on our label and other albums by affiliated artists like Asmus Tietchens, Guilherme Rodrigues and Dirk Serries. Epic.

Proud to share that BBC 3’s excellent FREENESS radioshow featured two of our label releases in their latest episode. RENNIE/ROBERTS/SERRIES’ Translucence and the recent COLIN WEBSTER & MATTHEW GRIGG’ Good To Be Back In Reality. Both albums are still available from our bandcamp store. Listen to this excellent episode, exquisitely hosted by Corey Mwamba.

Georges Tonla-Briquet wrote a very beautiful review for the JAZZENZO magazine on DIRK SERRIES’ 2nd installment in his solo acoustic guitar explorations. The double vinyl is available through our bandcamp store.

“Anderhalf jaar na zijn debuut als solo gitarist op zijn eigen label komt Dirk Serries met een vervolg. Het werd meteen een dubbel vinylalbum. Het gaat om het resultaat van twee verschillende opnamedagen verspreid over de twee lp’s. Het achterliggende idee is uiteindelijk een reeks van zeven platen uit te brengen gewijd aan de Höfner archtop guitar. “Noem het een onderzoek naar de veelzijdigheid van deze, naar mijn gevoel, waanzinnige reeks van gitaren uit de jaren vijftig en zestig,” zegt Serries. “Eveneens is het ook een persoonlijke zoektocht als solo muzikant binnen het kader van de vrije improvisatie. De ene gitaar speelt al wat vlotter dan de andere en misschien ligt daar juist de selectie om telkens ook de luisteraar een variatie te bieden tussen de strakkere en eerder open gitaren, tussen de warmere en hardere archtops.”
De gebruikte modellen deze keer: een Höfner 457/S/E1 archtop model uit 1956 voor ‘II’ terwijl hij tijdens ‘III’ een Höfner 459 archtop uit 1952 in handen had.
Een eerste aanslag op de snaren wijst bedrieglijk naar wat de intro van een zuiver rock-‘n-roll nummer zou kunnen worden. Maar dit is Dirk Serries natuurlijk, de man die zweert bij improvisatie en vrijheid. Geen geijkte patronen dus maar ogenschijnlijk versplinterde expressies die volgens een bepaalde Dirk Serries-systematiek geassembleerd werden.
De korte tweede track ‘Conflict’ maakt alles wat duidelijker. Een iets assertievere aanpak en meteen ook net iets drukker. Bij elk nummer vergroot het potentieel. De hoekige uitwerking blijft een centraal ankerpunt. Stiltes worden even vakkundig ingelast evenals het geschuifel over de snaren. ‘Scourge’ is daar een uitstekend voorbeeld van. Serries schrikt er evenmin voor terug om af en toe een eigen ‘picking’ stijl te introduceren in ‘Transient’, ‘Modal’. Hij maakt ook telkens gebruik van andere plectrums zoals houten, pvc en bamboo alsook andere houten en ijzeren tools om de picking die specifieke intonatie en speelstijl te geven. Luister naar ‘Imminent’ en probeer te achterhalen welke kleine hulpmiddelen hij hanteert. Pedalen of andere technische apparatuur komen er echter niet aan te pas. Wel een strijkstok zoals te horen is in ‘Lineage’. En dan die meesterlijke laatste noot om de eerste plaat af te sluiten! Dit alles is slechts een summiere samenvatting van wat zich zoal afspeelt op ‘II’. 
Sessie ‘III’ begint met een meer percussieve aanpak getekend door een urgente ondertoon om van hier verder te evolueren naar varianten van wat hij reeds voordien deed. Een terugkerend fenomeen daarbij is het juxtaposeren van implosies tegenover extrapolaties. De krijtlijnen tussen de verschillende etappes worden nu eens totaal weggevaagd om even later opnieuw benadrukt te worden. Zo ontstaat er een continue transmutatie van de basisprincipes.
Elk segment of instant gecomponeerd stuk kreeg een titel mee en verwijst naar de stijl, de structuur of het karakter. Soms is dat mathematisch dan weer filosofisch of analytisch. Toch is dit alles zeker geen art for art’s sake. We kijken alvast uit naar de volgende delen.”

“Proving once again that any instrumental grouping works with the right ideas this trio has created a leading-edge series of memorable improvisations.”

Here’s an excellent review by Ken Waxman for JAZZ WORD (Canada). RENNIE/ROBERTS/SERRIES’ TRANSLUCENCE album is still available through our bandcamp store.

“Working out a harsher and most liberated take on an infrequently constituted musical meld are baritone saxophonist Cath Roberts and trombonist Tullis Rennie, both from the UK and Belgian acoustic guitarist Dirk Serries. Although John Zorn/George Lewis/Bill Frisell and Jimmy Giuffre/Bob Brookmeyer/Jim Hall both profitably excelled in this configuration, their work was more song oriented. In contrast this European trio probes deeper into free improvisation, consciously pushing the instruments’ limits, but with enough maturity to encompass linear motion where appropriate. Rennie’s experience ranges from membership in a Belfast-based free-improvising ensemble to creating multi-media-presentations, while Roberts improvises with the likes of Ollie Brice. Serries has played with free-thinking musicians across Europe. Alternating between slashing rhythmic twangs and occasional tingling clips, Serries bridges the saxophonist’s frequent guttural snarls and tongue slaps and the trombonist’s portamento grace notes and plunger growls. The mix sometimes results in harmony, but with lyricism an accidental byproduct. Mining timbres from within their horns’ body tubes as well as from keys, valves and bells, Rennie and Roberts sporadically create hornpipe-like melodies or exercises in metal percussion. More frequently, as on “Moving Sideways”, half-valve burbles and disassociated split tones join for slightly above human hearing textures, with string strums extending and affirming horizontal movement. These oases of near-silence are spelled by raucous brass wah-wahs and reed flattement and scoops as intense as in any Free Jazz session. But as they evolve in double counterpoint Serries’ pointed flanges cut through the sonic murk. Culminating on the final and title track,  Roberts’ strident scoops and Rennie’s clenched snorts work up to a climax along with powerful guitar twangs only to dissolve into near silence at the half way point. Punctuating the quiet with unexpected snarls and slides, new comprehensive timbres end the improvisation while promising more creative music to come. Proving once again that any instrumental grouping works with the right ideas this trio has created a leading-edge series of memorable improvisations.” Jazz Word – Canada