Schick, Håker Flaten, Steidle: The Cliffhanger Session

For listeners who enjoy when an artist or group zig when we expect them to zag, I give you The Cliffhanger Session. The abrupt change of direction for Ignaz Schick, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Oliver Steidle is the switch from electro-acoustic energy noise to an all-acoustic performance. The German-born musicians, Schick and Steidle, created ILOG, an all-out turntable, percussion, and sampling onslaught of improvised mayhem. Their loops and samples are the equivalent of a schizophrenic DJ tuned to an alien frequency. Likewise, Shick and Norwegian bassist Håker-Flaten have toured an electric duo, which has yet to release a recording.

This disc and the accompanying digital-only The Cliffhanger Session Vol. 2 (Zarek, 2024) are a return to each musician's roots. Before Schick was a turntablist and a sound and visual artist, he studied the saxophone. Likewise, Håker Flaten began on acoustic bass, gaining recognition in the super-groups Atomic and The Thing. Steidle's fame comes from his ensemble SoKo Steidle, Der Rote Bereich and the jazz-rock of Oli Steidle & The Killing Popes.

Here, each musician unplugs for an old-school free jazz throwdown. Schick trades his turntables for an alto and a baritone saxophone, Håker Flaten pulls deep resonating notes from his double bass and Steidle sits at a full drum kit. This April 2023 session yields two lengthy 20-minute tracks, each self-confident and blustering, as timidity is likely not an attribute their free jazz listeners would value. Listeners may reference the sounds of Charles Gayle, William Parker and Rashied Ali. The Cliffhanger trio, though, have their own sound. Sometimes it is full-gas energy music, other times they shift into exploratory sound with alternating arco and pizzicato bass, bells and percussion, plus Shick's Socratic, searching alto saxophone and deep, bluesy resonating baritone saxophone.