Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Trio Sowari: Three Dances

290

Trio Sowari: Three Dances

By

View read count
Trio Sowari: Three Dances
The initial challenge of approaching a recording by a group such as Trio Sowari is downplaying the visual aspects of improvised music. Even though music is an auditory experience, as listeners we constantly require visual confirmation of what our ears are taking in. Perhaps a DVD would fill the prescription, but then again your eyes would miss what your ears and imagination open into with the experience of Three Dances.

The headline "star" (with a small "s ) is London-based Phil Durrant. The classically trained violinist and collaborator with this likes of John Butcher, Chris Burn, Tony Wren, and Mark Sanders sheds his strings for a sampler and synthesizer. Likewise, percussionist Burkhard Beins (Phosphor, Axel Dörner, Keith Rowe, and Tony Buck) eschews typical beats; and saxophonist Bertrand Denzler doesn't produce notes so much as deliver breath.

The three tracks, adding up to 52 minutes of music, maintain a minimalist structure that constantly draws you towards the quiet. Investing you with a keen awareness of the small gestures of switches, breath, rattles and vibration. Denzler, like his contemporary Axel Dörner, is rewriting the book on wind instrument approach. He sticks to mediative breath and the musical aspects of the physical object he holds, generating sound with the body and keys of his saxophone.

While Denzler picks up on what drummers have been exploring beyond the skins of their kits, Beins has progressed into amplified percussion and resonating acoustic objects with the purpose of creating new sounds and new experiences. This recording constantly hums and rattles, gurgling with texture and feeling.

If we can conceptualize Beins and Denzler's approach, what then of Durrant's computer and effects? Surely there is no way to determine where Durrant starts and the logic board stops. We must then return to the original concept of eyes closed—and ears open.

Track Listing

Rondo; Bolero; Tumble.

Personnel

Phil Durrant: software sampler, synthesizer, treatments; Bertrand Denzler: tenor saxophone; Burkhard Beins: percussion, objects.

Album information

Title: Three Dances | Year Released: 2005 | Record Label: Potlatch Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.