Christian Marien Quartett: Beyond the Fingertips

For the follow-up to its 2024 release, How Long is Now (MarMade Records), the Christian Marien Quartett has chosen an adventurous approach in keeping with the leader's anything-goes aesthetic: a direct-to-disc recording process, done in one take directly to lacquer. With the spirit of risk and experimentation the maverick drummer has always brought to his ensembles, whether with saxophonist Silke Eberhard and trumpeter Nikolas Neuser in I Am Three or with trombonist Matthias Müller in Superimpose, Beyond the Fingertips possesses all the daring energy and collaborative instincts one would expect on a Marien album.

Joined once again by tenor saxophonist/clarinetist Tobias Delius, guitarist Jasper Stadhouders and bassist Antonio Borghini, Marien has the ideal vehicle for his compositions, which demand nimble flexibility and stylistic fluidity, as there are four pieces woven together seamlessly on each side of the album. Running the gamut from in-the-pocket swing to anarchic freedom, Marien's band can do it all, at times reminiscent of the pan-idiomatic tendencies of Michael Moore, Ernst Reijseger and Han Bennink in the Clusone Trio.

An infectious groove gets things moving right from the start with "Love All—Play!" as Stadhouders' guitar moves from an Afrobeat- inspired figure into a dynamic, quick-paced dialogue with Delius' tenor, before the group winds down into the more reflective "Martha," with Delius tracing the delicate melody on clarinet. The energy then resumes dramatically on "Blues in Aspik," a composition first recorded by I Am Three on In Other Words (Leo Records, 2024). The transitions between these cuts have enticing moments of indeterminacy in which seemingly anything could happen, allowing each member to push the album forward; Borghini does this on "Aspik" with a driving bass line that spurs a spiky solo from Stadhouders and some tenacious tenor flights from Delius. The band moves collectively into a more abstract vein to close the side with "Cordinale," another piece from In Other Words which takes on a decidedly somber aspect through Delius' languid musings.

The last four cuts on the second side again alternate between surging bursts and tranquil abstraction, perhaps with a bit more emphasis on the latter mode overall. Marien's skilled use of brushes and Borghini's darting arco provide the propulsion for "Nantucket Nostalgia," which eventually gives way to "For Toby," animated by a time-shifting groove that offers the saxophonist a chance to stretch out with some fire-breathing upper-register squeals. The closing cuts, "Look Left, Look Right" and "No Place for Illusions," are considerably more nebulous, emphasizing close listening and subtle interjections instead of the more overtly melodic themes elsewhere on the album.

Although at a 33-minute runtime the album is somewhat brief as a result of its straight-to-disc recording method, the quality of the music on offer makes for an engaging listening experience, with plenty of surprises which reward repeated encounters.