Gerry Hemingway with Izumi Kimura, Frank Gratkowski and Christian Weber: Live at Bau 4

Drummer and composer Gerry Hemingway has spent five decades proving that percussion can be as harmonically literate as any horn or keyboard. That reputation was forged during his decade with the Anthony Braxton Quartet and expanded through an expansive discography on labels including Auricle, Tzadik, Clean Feed, and Intakt. Now based in Switzerland, Hemingway continues to cultivate collaborations that balance compositional rigor with the spontaneity of collective improvisation.

Live at Bau 4 documents one such encounter. Per Maxi Broecking's liner notes, this February 2025 performance marked a farewell tribute to Hildegard and Walter Schär, who spent two decades operating the Bau 4 venue from their family timber company before passing the baton to a new generation. Hemingway assembled longtime collaborators Izumi Kimura on piano, German reed virtuoso Frank Gratkowski, and Swiss bassist Christian Weber for an evening shaped by both the occasion and its surroundings.

Drawing directly from the venue, Hemingway incorporated wood scraps salvaged from the company's cutting machinery as auxiliary percussion. Rubbed, struck, and scraped into the music's fabric, these found objects become an organic extension of the quartet's language rather than a decorative effect.

The opening "Slivers" unfolds with unhurried deliberation. Kimura explores the piano's interior with delicate precision while Weber's bowed bass sustains long, shadowy tones. Hemingway's wood accents drift through the texture with understated purpose, as Gratkowski's bass clarinet favors breath, color, and restraint over conventional virtuosity. Rather than chasing dramatic climaxes, the quartet allows the music to evolve through subtle shifts in texture, timbre, and collective intuition.

The album's central work, "Third Story Variation," pares the ensemble to a duo between Hemingway and Kimura. Its intimate dialogue provides a thoughtful contrast to the larger ensemble pieces, emphasizing spacious phrasing, quiet melodies, careful listening, and an almost conversational exchange of ideas. The performance reinforces the album's recurring themes of economy, balance, and shared musical trust.

The closing "Bau 4 Assembly" brings the quartet back together in the recording's most expansive statement. Conceived around the image of scattered wood fragments gradually finding connection, the music accumulates patiently through brief unisons, dispersed solos, multi-colored hues, and shifting textures rather than conventional development.

More than a document of a farewell celebration, the album captures four improvisers listening as intently as they play. Hemingway transforms a singular occasion into a quietly compelling statement where texture, restraint, and collective imagination speak louder than virtuoso display.