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ICP Orchestra: Aan & Uit
By Aan & Uit , while chockablock with the “instant composing” that Mengelberg so strongly believes in, also has its share of structured form. A cornucopia of styles that encompasses everything from new music to free music to flat-out swing, the ICP Orchestra maintains a strong reverence for tradition, but within a context of complete irreverence. If this seems paradoxical, it is. The Dutch have always placed a strong emphasis on the absurd, with a skewed sense of humour that, at most, lies just beneath the surface.
Yet it is clear that the ensemble understands music history; there are moments of rich beauty, where the horns and strings are creating a lush backdrop, only to be jaggedly disturbed by Mengelberg’s hammer-fisted free playing or, on occasion, his nonsensical babbling, growling and whistling. But if Mengelberg sometimes appears to be at odds with the rest of the ensemble, his roots in Thelonious Monk and Herbie Nichols are also never far from the surface, and they demonstrate how encyclopaedic his knowledge and approach are.
John Abercrombie recently talked about how free playing needs a point of reference, and while such points are somewhat obscure within the ICP Orchestra’s universe, they are present; even at their freest there is a developmental logic that demonstrates improvisers of the highest order. Still, unlike Abercrombie’s lyrical concept of freedom, the ICP Orchestra is considerably more difficult. While not for everyone, fans of art house music with a penchant for the droll will find much to like about Aan & Uit. Mengelberg and company have created a work that manages to combine a clear sense of history with a forward-looking eye, an album whose underlying feeling seems to be one of bemusement and amusement.
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Track Listing
Aan&Uit; De Sprong, O Ramanttiek der Hazen;
Picnic: A Beautiful Day; Let's Go to the River; And Have a Picnic; Play Some Badminton; Let's Go Home Before; The Sparrows Start Waving Their Pajamas;
Tijd voor de Quadrille; Barbaric; Back to Lippiza; Va-et-vient; Ever Never; Waar bleef je?; Tuinhek; Opa; Let's Climb a Hill; Aan & Uit
Personnel
ICP Orchestra
band / ensemble / orchestraMisha Mengelberg (piano, vocals), Mary Oliver (violin, viola), Tristan Honsinger (cello), Ernst Glerum (bass), Ab Baars (tenor sax, clarinet), Tobias Delius (tenor sax, clarinet), Michael Moore (alto sax, clarinet), Thomas Heberer (trumpet), Wolter Wierbos (trombone), Han Bennink (drums)
Album information
Title: Aan & Uit | Year Released: 2004 | Record Label: ICP
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About ICP Orchestra
Instrument: Band / ensemble / orchestra
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