MC3: Sounds of the City

MC3, a British trio led by guitarist Matt Clark, explores variations on the tradition of British free improvisation which have a more user-friendly form than normally heard in this music. That is largely due to Clark himself, who mostly plays twangy chords and melodic riffs instead of the disruptive stabs and skronks favored by pioneering British free musicians such as guitarist Derek Bailey. Clark's calm strumming balances out the unpredictability of trumpeter Charlotte Keeffe who produces sputters, growls, leaky whispers and sharp cries on her horns. The third member of the trio, drummer James Edmunds, is left to drop unassuming, well-spaced beats into the spaces his partners leave open.

The contrast between the guitar and trumpet really shows on "Back To North" with Clark's springy figures vibrating quietly as Keeffe cries and squawks. The lingering guitar chords played on "Alterations" lead the trumpeter into a mellower frame of mind. She plays longer lines with a smeared and raspy sound which actually carry a downbeat shade of melody. Edmunds rattles his drums with brushes and helps make the entire track into something of a low-key blues.

On "Autobiography of a Poet" Clark begins with twisty single note phrases which sound like Robert Fripp doing warm-up exercises, while the trumpet exhales, snorts and breathes. The guitar lines and percussive accents start to gain speed and volume, and—by the time Edmunds actually starts hitting his drums—the piece sounds like a minimalist King Crimson jam. By contrast, on "Traffic" the guitar and drums sketch out a conventional, slow-rocking rhythm, irritated by Keeffe's ghostly noises, which eventually twists into a chatty trio improvisation. Then Clark takes the lead voice as his angular, chopping riffs duel with Keeffe's wispy spurts of song and the music comes out as a sort of brusque, clipped funk.

This trio produces a version of free playing which uses familiar traces of music to give a frame to its more radical elements . This brings an appealing warmth and humor to the work, and is a far cry from the usual forbidding stereotypes given to free music.