Three Releases On Elsewhere

As ever, the arrival of the three latest releases on Yuko Zama's Elsewhere label was welcome. This time, each of the albums comprised just one disc apiece in contrast to the label's last five releases which included three double-disc and two triple-disc albums, a total of twelve discs in five albums. In keeping with the label's habit of releasing albums by performers new to the label, one album features three such performers. Another features musicians who have already recorded for the label, while the third mixes old and new. All four of the returnees have links with Wandelweiser—not uncommon for Elsewhere.

Giovanni Di Domenico / Silvia Tarozzi / Emmanuel Holterbach
L'Occhio Del Vedere
Elsewhere
2023

When Italian pianist and composer Giovanni di Domenico was working on an artistic residency at GMEA, Albi, France, from 5th to 7th July 2022, he decided to invite Italian violinist Silvia Tarozzi and the French-based musique concrete composer and sound artist Emmanuel Holterbach to join him. He had followed and liked their work for some time so thought it natural that they make some music together. Tarozzi brought two violins, one in customary tuning and one tuned in 1/16th tones, while Holterbach surprised Di Domenico by arriving with a large frame drum.

Before the threesome got together, Di Domenico sat at the piano and started to play, resulting in two melodic lines and their harmonic information, confident that would be sufficient for the trio to build a piece around. After one day of improvising, the trio decided to try with those melodies; in the remaining two days they did about eight takes which Di Domenico edited into one once he was back home.

"L'Occhio Del Vedere" (The Eye of Seeing), which comprises the album, plays for nearly 62 minutes and sounds like one coherent performance rather than eight takes edited together. The pianist's melodies form the backbone of the piece. Di Domenico says that the trio tried to find a perfect balance of tension and release, of consonance and dissonance. Throughout, the threesome sound comfortable and relaxed with one another, as if they have played as a trio for years. No one dominates or obviously steers the others. The music reflects this, sounding melodic and relaxing from start to finish. We must hope this trio becomes more than a grouping put together for one event and records together again soon.

Germaine Sijstermans, Koen Nutters, Reiner van Houdt
Circles, Reeds, and Memories
Elsewhere
2023

This trio features three players who have previous Elsewhere releases; Germaine Sijstermans' first Elsewhere album, the double Betula, released in July 2022, featured seven of her compositions performed by a sextet of herself plus five members of the Wandelweiser network; Koen Nutters' previous Elsewhere release was In Better Shape Than You Found Me, released in October 2021, a duo with network member Jordan Dykstra. Both Sijstermans and Nutters are somewhat overshadowed by network member Reinier van Houdt for whom this is his fifth Elsewhere appearance in three years.

Nutters, who had previously played with Sijstermans and with Dykstra in separate groupings, thought that the three would go together very well and so initiated the project which brought them together as a trio. In December 2022, the trio played a concert at Savelberg Chapel Heerlen, Limburg in The Netherlands, which was recorded live by Sijstermans and comprises this album. At the concert the trio played three pieces, one composed by each of the musicians, each one clocking in at about 20 minutes; they were "Linden (2020)" by Sijstermans, "A Place with Memories (2017)" by Nutters, and "Harmonic Circles (2022)" by van Houdt. With admirable equality the album title Circles, Reeds, and Memories comprises one word from the titles of each man's piece and, for Sijstermans, one which describes her instruments.

For a trio that had never before played together, right from the start they sound made for each other, displaying equality and balance between their instruments—primarily clarinets, organ and harmonium; "Linden" has a tranquil, pastoral mood throughout as they blend together beautifully.

Next up, "A Piece with Memories" introduces variety, with Nutters' use of field recordings and sine tones being more prevalent, giving it a more experimental feel than "Linden," without losing the coherence the trio provides. Finally, "Harmonic Circles" is a trio version of van Houdt's 2020 solo piece "skies waves trails" which appeared on drift nowhere past (Elsewhere, 2022); according to van Houdt, before this trio he had never written any scores for others to play, Nonetheless, this one is a success, combining the three players and their instruments in a highly listenable and satisfying piece. All concerned can be proud of this album.

Jürg Frey
Continuité, fragilité, résonance
Elsewhere
2023

Released in the year of Jürg Frey's 70th birthday, Continuité, fragitité, resonance marks his fifth appearance on Elsewhere, in a discography of around fifty albums on various labels also including Another Timbre, Edition Wandelweiser and his own B-Boim records. In line with his recent albums, Frey does not play but is the composer of the album's sole composition, the title piece which was written in 2020-21. A glance at the Edition Wandelweiser score catalogue shows this composition to be Frey's one-hundred-and-eightieth since he began in 1984.

Recorded at the Auditorium of Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern, Switzerland, from 9th to 11th August 2022, in the presence of Frey, the continuous, 51-minute piece was played by the Montreal-based string quartet Quatuor Bozzini and the Bern-based saxophone quartet Konus Quartett who together had premiered the piece on September 3rd 2021. Frey says that, more than for many other of his pieces, the one-year gap between the premiere and the recording was welcome as it gave the players time to understand the complexity of the piece and to give more depth, more context and more colours to it.

The combination of two violins, viola, cello and four saxophones—soprano, alto, tenor, baritone—blends well, with the eight players combining to create a constantly evolving soundscape of single, sustained notes overlapping and complementing one another. In particular, all the saxophones sound like those in an orchestra rather than a jazz band. The piece fits Frey's description and title as it displays continuity, fragility and resonance in abundance. It is one of Frey's best. Praise indeed.

Elsewhere's successful streak continues...

Tracks and Personnel

L'Occhio Del Vedere

Tracks: L'Occhio Del Vedere.

Personnel: Giovanni Di Domenico: piano; Silvia Tarozzi: violin, 1/16th of a tone tuned violin; Emmanuel Holterbach: large frame drum.

Circles, Reeds, and Memories

Tracks: Linden (2020); A Piece with Memories (2017); Harmonic Circles (2022).

Personnel: Germaine Sijstermans: clarinet, bass clarinet, voice; Koen Nutters: harmona organ, voice, objects, sine tones, field recordings; Reinier van Houdt: Indian harmonium, voice, pre-recorded organs, tapes.

Continuité, fragilité, résonance

Tracks: Continuité, fragilité, resonance (2020-2021)

Personnel: Quatuor Bozzini:-Clemens Merkel: violin; Alissa Cheung: violin; Stéphanie Bozzini: viola; Isabelle Bozzini: cello; Konus Quartett:-Fabio Oehrli: soprano saxophone; Jonas Tschanz: alto saxophone; Christian Kobi: tenor saxophone; Stefan Rolli: baritone saxophone.

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