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Linus + Økland/Van Heertum/Zach: Light As Never
by Mark Sullivan
Belgian duo Linus—Ruben Machtelinckx, guitar and banjo; Thomas Jillings, saxophone and clarinet—have been recording with additional musicians for several years. This grouping is the largest they have gathered together and revisits the one from the album Mono No Aware (Aspen Edities, 2017). It is rich instrumentation, expanded by Machtelinckx's additional baritone guitar, Jillings' synthesizer and Niels Van Heertum's trumpet (along with his usual euphonium). Nils Økland sticks with Hardanger fiddle and Ingar Zach again provides percussion. The program's ...
read moreRuben Machtelinckx: A Short Story
by Mark Sullivan
In retrospect the meeting of Belgian guitarist & composer Ruben Machtelinckx and Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen seems inevitable. They are both masters of delicacy and texture, as well as having distinctive and unusual sounds on their respective instruments. Machtelinckx composed most of the tunes, but these duets cast both players as equal contributors. It is a sound like chamber music, with no heroic solos. “Lessness" opens the album with an introspective air, acoustic guitar and Henriksen's distinctive ...
read moreRuben Machtelinckx / Joachim Badenhorst / Bert Cools / Toma Gouband: Porous Structures
by Mark Corroto
Is there such a thing as emo jazz? If not, then Ruben Machtelinckx's quartet has produced a new genre of creative and improvised music. We're not talking screaming post-punk guitars. Porous Structures is an acoustic affair that relies on delicate and sparse sounds. And maybe, just maybe, it's what the world needs now. Machtelinckx is a Belgian composer and guitarist. Here he performs on steel-string guitar, but can be heard elsewhere on banjo, electric guitar, baritone guitar, and ...
read moreRuben Machtelinckx: Sualme
by Mark Sullivan
As a local resident, Belgian musician Ruben Machtelinckx was asked to contribute to Kunst en Zwalm (Art and Zwalm) 2019, a contemporary art festival that happens every two years in Zwalm, a small village on the Belgian countryside. Machtelinckx settled on a sound diary format, taking a digital recorder and instruments he could bring with him by bicycle. The recordings he made include field recordings, improvisations and compositions: they are presented without any overdubs or edits. “Mijnmwerker I" ...
read moreShahzad Ismaily: sea legs / hum back
by Mark Sullivan
A split album with the first ever solo release by American multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily (who has played with artists like guitarist Marc Ribot, singer/songwriter Tom Waits and experimentalist Laurie Anderson), plus a solo euphonium program by Belgian Niels Van Heertum: one side each in the LP version. Ismaily begins the set with a single long track. “Sea Legs" is a stream of consciousness trip, cycling through various instruments. It begins with an acoustic guitar, a slow meditative pattern ...
read morePoor Isa: let's drink the sea and dance
by Mark Sullivan
At first glance, Poor Isa is primarily a banjo duet. But the actual sound of the album belies any assumptions about how such a project should sound. As on their joint album When The Shade Is Stretched (Aspen Edities, 2017), Belgian banjo players Frederik Leroux and Ruben Machtelinckx tend to subvert the traditional style of the instrument. That album presented two solo recordings, but here the players truly collaborate. “Oceanfuls" opens the set with unearthly low drone sounds ...
read moreRuben Machtelinckx/Frederik Leroux: when the shade is stretched
by Mark Sullivan
Ruben Machtelinckx and Frederik Leroux are both Belgian guitarists who have made increasing use of the banjo. They have previously performed together on Linus + Skarbo / Leroux (El Negocito Records, 2015)--Machtelinckx's project with reed player Thomas Jillings--but here they present separate solo programs. It's similar to each taking a side of an LP album. While the focus is on the banjo, it is definitely not merely a collection of unaccompanied banjo solos (although there are some tracks that are ...
read moreVeder: Evergreen
by Mark Sullivan
Belgian euphonium player Niels Van Heertum leads the acoustic quartet Veder. After the minimalism of his solo album JK's Kamer +50.92509° +03.84800° (Smeraldina-Rima, 2017)--on which he also played tuba, trumpet & electronics--Van Heertum turns to the sort of chamber jazz played on his previous collaborations with guitarist Ruben Machtelinckx. Felt like old folk (Smeraldina Rima, 2015) and especially mono no aware (Aspen Edities, 2017) presented him as part of an acoustic, often improvisational ensemble. Here there is more focus on ...
read moreLinus+Økland/Van Heertum/Zach: mono no aware
by Mark Sullivan
The Belgian duo Linus (Ruben Machtelinckx, guitar and banjo; Thomas Jillings, saxophone and clarinet) began recording with additional musicians on Linus + Skarbo / Leroux (El Negocito Records, 2015), following that with the Linus + Økland/Van Heertum combination on Felt like old folk (Smeraldina Rima, 2015). That grouping worked so well that it returns here, with the addition of percussionist Ingar Zach—making this the largest Linus guest collaboration yet. The addition of a percussionist might look like the ...
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