Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Paal / Michiyo / Broe: Volda

432

Paal / Michiyo / Broe: Volda

By

Sign in to view read count
Paal / Michiyo / Broe: Volda
The sophomore release of the trio featuring German reed legend Peter Brötzmann, Japanese koto iconoclast Michiyo Yagi and Norwegian master drummer Paal Nilssen-Love—following Head On (Idiolect, 2008)—is a remarkable demonstration of how energy and power transform into spiritual catharsis. It's easy to understand why this trio was named the Spirit & Power Trio during its Japanese tour, few months after this release was recorded.

It's not about muscular, full onslaught, raw power, as is often mistakenly associated with Brötzmann's many projects, but uncompromising energy that seizes the musicians, their audience and the music, turning it all into one—one spiritual entity that releases the ego's excessive burdens, abolishes artificial musical conventions and genres boundaries, and allows the art's full captivating power to be grasped. Experiencing as great a performance as this, it's difficult not to beg for more.

Recorded live at the end of a ten-city Norwegian tour, in the Western fjord town of Volda, and captured beautifully by master sound engineer Audun Strype, all three musicians are in top form. Brötzmann is nuanced and heartfelt and Yagi is all over the koto—producing ripples of plucked and twisted strings—while Nilssen-Love pushes forward with a fluid rhythmic framework.

"Volda i," the first in this three-part suite, begins to boil slowly, as attentive interplay that the trio forged in previous tours is featured. There's even a meditative passage in the middle of this 23-minutes piece, with Yagi improvising on a dense pattern and Nilssen-Love slowly building a matching polyrhythmic base, before Brötzmann returns to lead the trio into a focused, energetic climax. Yagi moves to the 17-strings koto and uses it as modified bass instrument, with resonating deep tones that contrast with Brötzmann's soaring sax calls, before reaching a slow and spare coda.

"Volda ii" begins with short solo improvisations by each member of the trio, each focused on the sound qualities of their respective instruments—touch, length, elastics, breath and overtones—and methodically forming a common ground for patient, open-ended interplay. It all melts into "Volda iii," a magnificent spiritual conclusion. The energy is in its weight, and all three musicians produce layer-upon-layer of imaginative, tight, and carefully rich, nuanced playing. The tension continues to rise, drawing into a powerful whirlpool of sounds that demand repeat listens.

Track Listing

Volda i; Volda ii; Volda iii.

Personnel

Peter Brotzmann: alto and tenor saxophones, clarinet, taragato; Michiyo Yagi: 21-string koto, 17-string bass koto; Paal Nilssen-Love: drums

Album information

Title: Volda | Year Released: 2010 | Record Label: Idiolect

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Sensual
Rachel Z
Over and Over
Tony Monaco Trio
Love Is Passing Thru
Roberto Magris

Popular

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.