TONUS’ latest album ‘Analog Deviation’ gets a beautiful review from Ken Waxman over at Jazz Word (Canada). The album is of course available from our store.

“Under the rubric of creative improvised music a variety of sonic notions can be expressed even if the instrumentation and inspirations arise from similar circumstances. Abstract and pointed, Tonus’ two improvisations encompass tonal ambiguity and rhythmic transformation as the trio members languidly stretch out their distinct response to free form challenges. The band is Belgians, guitarist Dirk Serries and pianist Martina Verhoeven, who singly or together have worked internationally with among many others Charlotte Keeffe and José Lencastre; while the UK’s Benedict Taylor, playing viola and broken fiddle, has worked with Paul Dunmall and Alexander Hawkins. Before Verhoeven’s inner string strums and soundboard echoes from the piano are finally obvious about 10 minutes into the improvisation. That’s because Taylor’s arco viola pinches intersect with Serries flat string clanks and frails at the top. The two string players’ flanged strains, rubs and stretches are further emphasized as the pianist’s rolling patterns provide a complementary bass line. The subtle timbral transformations are further emphasized as an adagio slide finds isolated guitar picking prominent among elevated and basement shakes from piano pitches. The trio’s slightly longer “Outbound” confirms Tonus’ identification as a string trio combining discordant fiddle rubs, bottleneck-like guitar frails and massed inner piano string shakes. Additional percussion arises from Verhoeven smacking the piano’s wood and Serries doing the same on his guitar’s body as Taylor brings out his broken fiddle to screech dog whistle-like strains as the exposition speeds up. Reaching a sequence of group tension so intense that imminent string breakage is suggested, intermittent passing tones finally connect individual split tones. First suggested by Serries’ mandolin-like frails and Verhoeven’s keyboard thumps, eventually Taylor’s elevated rubs propel a final sequence that that is as imbued with intermittency as improvisation.” Jazz Word – Canada

Working band KODIAN TRIO exists 10 years. Rose from the ashes of a scorching concert at London’s Café Oto in 2015. Already 10 years later and armed with three major studio albums and multiple live appearances later, the trio have become major contenders on the fertile and outward-looking European scene. KODIAN TRIO is a unique one with 3 strong musicians constantly challenging themselves to move further and beyond. KODIAN TRIO is Colin Webster on alto sax, Andrew Lisle on drums and Dirk Serries on electric guitar.

They are playing two exclusive concerts : on Friday March 21st they are doing a trio concert at Wuppertal’s GRÖLLE GALERIE and on Saturday March 22nd they are playing jazzvenue PlusEtage with special guests Charlotte Keeffe (trumpet), Martina Verhoeven (piano) and Raoul Van Der Weide (double bass). Not to be missed.

This fresh trio uniting JOSÉ LENCASTRE (sax), MARTINA VERHOEVEN (piano) and DIRK SERRIES (guitar) released their 2nd album ‘Canonical Discourse’ last year. Ken Waxman just wrote a lovely review about the album for Canada’s JAZZ WORD. The album is available here.

“Boasting a slightly sharper edge are the Lemadi Trio’s four instances of canonical discourse. Firmly embedded in the European improvisational scene, Belgians guitarist Dirk Serries and pianist Martina Verhoeven have worked with numerous players on the continental and UK creative music scene, while Portuguese alto saxophonist José Lencastre has recorded with numerous players like Rodrigo Pinheiro and Onno Govaert. A comparable saxophone-guitar line up is part of both trios, but while the third member is either a drummer or a pianist, comparable sonority is expressed, since Hemingway’s drum subtlety is comparable to Verhoeven sometime keyboard aggression. Canonial Discourse starts off with jagged snorts and peeps from Lencastre, irregular strums from Serries and slashes across the piano’s internal string set by Verhoeven and goes on from there. Very quickly it escalates to whiny reed multiphonics as crackles and cascades from both piano and guitar undulate in unison and set up a contrapuntal challenge to the saxophone. While there are quieter moments in the final “Little Emphasis”, overall the restrained interludes here and elsewhere which favor key plinks, disassociated string strums and horizontal reed lines are surpassed by tougher sequences. Reed screeches, thin guitar jabs and piano soundboard rattles predominate. This interaction reaches a climax on “Disjuncture”. Clashes among reed stops and doits plus keyboard and metallic frails continuously accelerate until ending with note-bending affiliations.”

The latest, and second, live album of MARTINA VERHOEVEN QUINTET, ‘Indicator Light’, continues to receive really good reviews. Here’s one in Germany. The album is available through our webstore.

“Wo treibt sich das Antwerpener Wunderkind Dirk Serries denn noch überall herum? Im Free-Jazz-Projekt Martina Verhoeven Quintet zum Beispiel, wie kommt er dazu? Ah – er ist mit der Bandleaderin verheiratet, so kommt der Ambient-, Drone- und Proggitarrist also in den Jazz. „Indicator Light“ ist eine dreiviertelstündige Live-Improvisation, die den herkömmlichen Musikstrukturen so gut wie alles wegnimmt und eine dennoch hörbare Kakophonie errichtet, mit Schlagzeug, Piano, Saxophon, Kontrabass und eben Gitarre. Ornette Coleman grinst sich eins. Ganz behutsam und beinahe unhörbar schleicht sich dieses Stück an, gestaltet sich aus dem Nichts heraus zu etwas unscharf Figürlichem und vermeidet es fortan weitgehend, greifbare Konturen zu entwickeln. Allmählich setzen alle Instrumente ein, ohne jeweilige oder gar zusammengehörige Strukturen, jedes für sich, mit einem dominanten Alt-Saxophon und dem dazu aufwirbelnd klimpernden Flügel, den willkürlich shuffelnden Drums, dem tieftönenden Kontrabass und den flächigen Gitarren. Wellenartig hat jeder der fünf Instrumentalisten seine Schwerpunkte, tobt sich aus, gebärdet sich wild, kommt zur Ruhe, der Track kreischt beinahe, es entsteht ein Lärm ganz ohne Druck, das Quintett spielt sich in einen Rausch. Und ganz plötzlich, zur Hälfte des Tracks, entwickelt sich doch tatsächlich aus all diesem eine wiedererkennbare Struktur. Das Schlagzeug gibt einen Takt vor, an dem sich die anderen vier ausrichten und einen vertrauten, obschon freien Jazz zulassen, den man sich irgendwann in den Sechzigern vorstellen kann. Doch bleibt das Quintett dort nicht verhaftet, sondern senkt nach kurzer Zeit alle Intensität ab und formt komplett abstrakte, hingetupfte Figuren, jedes Instrument für sich nebeneinander. Jedoch ist dies nur ein Luftholen, denn alsbald verfällt die Band wieder ins energetische Freie, das sie gegen Ende abermals in nachvollziehbare Strukturen leitet, in eine Art Speed Jazz gewissermaßen, der zuhörends an Gewindeschraubungen zulegt und sich überschlägt – um zurück ins Nichts auszulaufen. Der Applaus am Ende ist verdient.” Vanbauseneick.de – Germany