Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Theo Jorgensmann & Oles Brothers: Alchemia

387

Theo Jorgensmann & Oles Brothers: Alchemia

By

Sign in to view read count
Theo Jorgensmann & Oles Brothers: Alchemia
Clarinetist Theo Jorgensmann's Alchemia is the third Hat Hut release in a row in which a free improvising, progressive musician has woven overt and telling references to past glories of the jazz tradition into his own, singular style.



Cellist Daniel Levin's Blurry (Hat Hut, 2007) evoked the chamber jazz of the 1950s and 1960s on an otherwise mostly sui generis disc, while pianist Steve Lantner's What You Can Throw (Hat Hut, 2008) summoned up the shades of keyboard auteurs James P. Johnston, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell and Sonny Clark on another essentially future-looking set. The music of both leaders was enriched and made more widely accessible in the process, and Jorgensmann's disc benefits in similar fashion.



Jorgensmann's historical focus on Alchemia is perhaps the broadest of the three, embracing, as it does, practically the entire jazz tradition: it's the clarinetist's affirmation of what he calls "the fourth dimension of time in music (they call it swing)." Jorgensmann grasps his instrument with firm hands, a full throated embouchure and a big pair of lungs, stays on mic for most of the disc's fifty-eight minute playing time, and occasional pastoral interludes aside, delivers a torrent of hard-driving music which swings like the proverbial clappers.



Past clarinet masters like Artie Shaw, Woody Herman and Benny Goodman pass to and fro in front of the listener's ears, apparent not so much in Jorgensmann's notes as in his exultant, driving sense of swing. It's exhilarating, seat-of-the-pants stuff.



Recorded live, with great sound, at Klub Alchemia in Cracow, Poland in 2006, Alchemia follows Jorgensmann's debut with the bass and drums team of Marcin and Bartlomiej Brat Oles, Miniatures (Not Two, 2003). The Oles brothers excel on the muscular, tumbling music which dominates the set. During the second half of the nineteen-minute "Menace" they achieve a degree of primal, beat-centric intensity which approaches that of heavy metal rock; over this, Jorgensmann's clarinet wails and charges, putting one in mind of Roland Kirk's bigger and more abrasive horns, with Kirk's attack on drummer Roy Haynes' magnificent Out Of The Afternoon (Impulse!, 1962) particularly resonant.



Aside from the gentler "Perrata" and "Giuffree," this is the atmosphere which characterizes Alchemia, and it's a chariot ride which will have you revelling at the wind in your hair and the fast-forward fly-by of the scenery.

Track Listing

Direction; Perrata; Menace; Giuffree; 4 x 4.

Personnel

Theo Jorgensmann: basset clarinet; Marcin Oles: double-bass; Bartlomiej Brat Oles: drums.

Album information

Title: Alchemia | Year Released: 2008 | Record Label: Hat Hut Records

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.