Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Matthias Müller / Eve Risser / Christian Marien: Formati...
Matthias Müller / Eve Risser / Christian Marien: Formation < Deviation
ByThose strands cohere in this studio session from 2017, where they share an ethos which emphasizes texture and sound, largely avoiding the conventions of their instruments. Risser, as she does in the co-operative trio En Corps, transforms her piano into a sonic engine via a particularly personal take on the sort of piano preparations pioneered by John Cage. She manipulates dampened keys to achieve effects as varied as a frog like croak or a gamelan trill. Müller utilizes the full vocabulary of the contemporary trombone, switching from the brassy norm to didgeridoo-like drones, gusty exhalations and gurgling warbles. In that he's well matched by Marien's litany of scrapes, ratchets, taps and rattles.
The result can be like listening to a discussion in an alien language. While one can't be sure what they are saying, one can tell communication is taking place. Different voices assume prominence at different times, but always within an overall fabric minimalist in register in which the occasional repeated patterns or sudden interventions assume greater import when they arise. Each piece transcribes an arc. So "The Inevitability Of Truth And Mistake" moves from an exchange of rustles, metallic shimmers and wavering sustains to overlapping layers and heartbeat pulsations before swelling to a final crescendo.
Any number of ear-catching details inhabit the broad trajectories. An especially engaging passage in "Illusion Of Innocence" occurs when chuntering trombone plosives, Morse code piano strikes and tappy patter combine to generate a lurching momentum. It's just one example of the surprising soundworlds they create, testament to an extraordinary focus.
Track Listing
The Inevitability Of Truth And Mistake; Illusion Of Innocence.
Personnel
Album information
Title: Formation < Deviation | Year Released: 2021 | Record Label: Relative Pitch Records
< Previous
The Alchemist
Comments
About Matthias Mueller
Instrument: Trombone
Related Articles | Concerts | Albums | Photos | Similar ToTags
Matthias Müller / Eve Risser / Christian Marien
Album Review
John Sharpe
Formation < Deviation
Relative Pitch Records
Matthias Müller
Christian Marien
Eve Risser
John Butcher
nate wooley
Sofia Jernberg