John Butcher, Thomas Lehn, Gino Robair: Shaped & Chased

To mark John Butcher's 65th birthday in 2019, a series of concerts was held (mostly in Berlin) which produced five well-appointed limited edition LPs of 300 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, a trio with Magda Mayas and Tony Buck.

Shaped & Chased is a reunion of sorts between Butcher and, pianist turned electronic artist, Thomas Lehn plus Gino Robair, a percussionist with an electronics proclivity. The three musicians have more than a decade of history performing together in the John Butcher Group and various other combinations. Here, at Ausland in Berlin, they deliver four tracks, more like four components of a much larger circuit board which plugs into the ether. One might begin the listening experience by dividing the acoustic from the electric, Butcher's saxophones separate from Lehn's synths and Robair's use of Blipoo Box. The latter is an audio sound generator which exhibits chaotic properties. But certainly the line between the acoustic and the electronic instruments blurs. Soon one is indistinguishable from the other. Saxophones appear as electric blips and chirps, while the electronics parallel acoustic sounds. The ghost in the machines achieves sentience which is imitated by Butcher's horn and Robair's objects.