Matt Turner: Patina (2005)

Budd Kopman

CD/DVD Reviewer since 2004

Jazz musicians are magicians and Jazz is the spell they cast

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Published: May 3, 2005

Patina is the first of a pair (to date) of recordings by cellist Matt Turner that stretch the boundaries of jazz, or perhaps better, blur the lines between music, sound, and noise, making use of technology in this case.

Whereas Dada Ear Ink made it clear that all sounds heard came from the piano, perhaps prepared with different materials on the strings, Patina declares the following: "All software treatments manipulated and recorded in real time using only the cello. 'Mx c2L,' 'Drez,' 'Space Cathedral' and 'Drawn and Quartered' all contain multiple tracks. All selections improvised with no editing.

As with Dada Ear Ink, I had to just go with the flow and let the music take me wherever it wanted. In "Zkronque, the sounds were mostly recognizable pluckings and bowings. "Buoyant, "Space Cathedral, "Drez, and to a lesser extent "Sus had processed harmonics and overtones that immediately brought images of space and its vastness and our loneliness within it. In "Q , Turner manages to create gong and bell-like sounds, which is impressive. "Drawn and Quartered and "Palimpsest seem to revolve around long bowed notes and close harmonic interference. The others were more abstract, had more electronic sounds, and tended to be much softer than the others.

I must admit that I enjoyed this effort less than Dada Ear Ink and both these very much less than Open View, which also involved processing of played notes.

Once again, aside from the issue of placing these efforts within the artistic framework of jazz, and perceiving what level of skill is needed to produce them, I must report that neither triggered much of an emotional response from me. Patina came off as fairly static (less so in the "obvious tracks) while Dada Ear Ink was only slightly less so.

Visit Matt Turner on the web.

Track Listing: Scraps; VjT; Mx c2L; Grain; Zkronque; Buoyant; Sus; Palimpsest; LF2 / p; Shro; Drez; Space Cathedral; Q; Drawn and Quartered

Personnel: Matt Turner (Yamaha Silent Cello)

Record Label: Fever Pitch Records
Style: Beyond Jazz