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Martin Kuchen, Agusti Fernandez, Zlatko Kaucic: The Steps That Resonate
by John Sharpe
Once improvisers reach a certain level of experience, it is rare that a meeting between them does not deliver the goods. By this stage they are well versed in the mechanics of collective music making off the map. They have developed a fine sense of when to play and when not, how much they can respond without it becoming predictable, and a host of other similarly arcane split-second decisions which happen faster than thought. But when masters of the art ...
Continue ReadingAngles: A Muted Reality
by Mark Corroto
For Swedish saxophonist Martin Küchen, all music is folk music. Proof of that statement is the Angles' release A Muted Reality. Whether he is referencing Balkan, African, Swedish, American jazz or Spanish dialects, he is drawing on kindred spirits in his music. With the various editions of his Angles projects, from trios to 10-piece small big bands, he releases music of the people, i.e. people music. This version of Küchen's Angles is an octet and the eleventh in a continuous ...
Continue ReadingKüchen, Fernandez, Kaučič: The Steps That Resonate
by Neri Pollastri
Registrato il 9 settembre 2021 a Šmartno, durante l'undicesima edizione del Brda Contemporary Music Festival, questo disco documenta l'improvvisazione realizzata dal sassofonista svedese Martin Küchen, dal pianista spagnolo Augusti Fernandez e dal batterista Zlatko Kaučič, che del festival è organizzatore e anima. Il lavoro è suddiviso in due parti (sebbene la copertina non lo riporti): la prima è una lunga improvvisazione di oltre mezzora, senza soluzione di continuità; la seconda una replica più breve, circa cinque minuti, a mo' di ...
Continue ReadingMartin Küchen, Agustí Fernandez, Zlatko Kaučič: The Steps That Resonate
by Mark Corroto
Let's test the laws of thermodynamics with free improvisation music. The first law of thermodynamics states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; energy can only be transferred or changed from one form to another. This law is sublimely displayed during the live performance by Martin Küchen, Agustí Fernandez, and Zlatko Kaučič at the BCMF Festival in Slovenia, in 2021. While the Spanish pianist Fernandez and drummer & percussionist Kaučič have toured and recorded together--check out their ...
Continue ReadingAngles 3: Parede
by Glenn Astarita
This European improvising super-group reverts back to the original trio format, captured live at a Portuguese venue. Here, reedman Martin Küchen teams with fellow Scandinavians (now residing in the US), bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and drummer Kjell Nordeson. In effect, it's an invigorating performance and designed with great focus, as the musicians don't blow matters out of proportion or engage in long-winded soloing sprees. Flaten cooks up a bouncy gait via his peek-a-boo ostinato to launch “Equality ...
Continue ReadingMartin Kuchen: Baza
by John Sharpe
On Baza Swedish reedman Martin Küchen joins forces with Polish acoustic bass guitarist Rafal Mazur for a seat-of-the-pants duet, recorded live at the titular Krakow club. Issued as a limited edition LP, but also available as a download, the program contains two cuts also named after the venue. While Küchen may be best known for his variable-sized Angles ensembles and his part in the co-operative quintet All Included, both of which perform his charts, he is also a formidable improviser ...
Continue ReadingFrom Glen Hall and Gil Evans to Charles Lloyd to Martin Kuchen
by Maurice Hogue
Saxophonistically speaking... this episode has an abundance of fine saxophonists lurking throughout, from Glen Hall (with Gil Evans in Gil's last project) to Frenchman Denis Guivarc'h with Hubert Dupont to Jake Wark with Chicago pianist Matt Piet. You want more? David Liebman in No Fast Food, the late Dewey Redman, Matt Nelson with Brandon Lopez, Brad Walker, and two current giants of the horn who are unafraid to speak through their music about injustice, politics and the social condition: Charles ...
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