A three way live improvisation recorded at the Musica Genera festival in 2006, the 30 minute set (indexed as 4 tracks for convenience) manages to be extraordinary abstract in sound, yet features some of the most structurally sound improvisational elements that I have heard in years. Crossing the often faint boundaries between electro-acoustic, ambience, and free jazz, it is pretty unique in its overall sound.
The opening of clattering percussion from Tony Buck, ambient loops of nfeedback from Cor Fuhler, and muted sax work from Anna Zaradny could, at only a cursory inspection, be lifted from any of many avant garde projects across the world. What sets the work apart is the careful restraint and structure: for all the abstraction fo the instrumentation, the work has a steady pulse and a discernable structure that is far more musical than most.
During this opening, the slow build of layers and volume leads the listener to expect that an outburst is just around the corner: the prepared feedback loops get louder, the sax feels more forcefully muted, and the percussion elements get more and more dissonant. This tension continues and continues until it all drops away, never reaching the explosive climax the listener expects as it moves into the next segment. It is obvious that the track markers in this piece weren't randomly assigned, because each of the first three segments follow this pattern of building up from subtlety into dissonance, but never reaching the full, impending chaos.
The tracks all strike that delicate balance between the harsh dissonance and abstraction of the instrumentation, but layered and applied in a musical, pleasant fashion. The repeating motifs of the second segment are not conventional sounding by any means, but the way they repeat and are layered with each other owe more to classical structure than the more unrestrained elements of free jazz that come about.
This trio doesn't leave the fan of harsh, raw free jazz with a case of blueballs for the entire work. Towards the end of the fourth track, all three artists open up: Zaradny makes her sax skronk and squeal; Buck makes a complete percussive racket; and Fuhler begins to bash the lower keys of his piano with a great deal of force. The chaotic end is a short part of the overall work, but more than enough to satisfy and remove the tension that built up in the minutes leading up to this moment.
That is what makes this stand out from any other combo that might work with a similar sonic pallet, the measured pace and underlying sense of musicality. To put it in perspective, both Michael Bay and Werner Herzog use cameras and film, but the way those are used it what sets them apart drastically in the field of art. Others may be doing something similar to this combo, but they're not doing it as well.
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