Vellum: Glints

To mark John Butcher's 65th birthday in 2019, a series of concerts were held (mostly in Berlin) which produced five well-appointed limited editions of 300 LPs from the folks at Ni Vu Ni Connu. The varied albums include Induction a trio with Burkhard Beins and Werner Dafeldecker, La Pierre Tachée a duo with Sophie Agnel, Shaped & Chased a trio with Thomas Lehn and Gino Robair, Lamenti Dall'infinito a quartet with Liz Allbee, Ignaz Schick, and Marta Zapparoli, and Glints by the trio Vellum with Magda Mayas and Tony Buck.

If the goal of the three master improvisers on this November 30, 2019 evening at Ausland in Berlin was entropy, they were unsuccessful. The triumph of saxophonist John Butcher, pianist Magda Mayas and percussionist Tony Buck might be their failure to command disorder (not an oxymoronic term) in this one lengthy free improvisation, the reasons being experience, familiarity, and technique. Mayas and Buck are partners in the well-established duo Spill, and the three have also performed since 2013 as Vellum.

Besides each player's accomplishments, the trio's inclination to expand the possibilities of their instruments informs this session. Butcher's extended techniques are on full display with his assembly of sounds which include overblowing tones, chirping articulations, and a séance of metal sound. Likewise Mayas and Buck employ their instruments in a nontraditional manner. Mayas' prepared piano generates sound both inside and outside of its body, often highlighting her piano as a percussion instrument. Ditto for Buck, except his percussion tools often do not percuss as much as elicit his own extended technique. Try as the three might to invoke disarray, we are constantly presented with interesting combinations of sounds and textures.

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