Eisenbeil/Wren/Flinn - Keep the Meter Running

Bruce Eisenbeil/Tony Wren/Stephen Flinn
Keep the Meter Running
Nine Winds 246

All over the world, from the largest cities to the unlikeliest of outposts, improvisers twist their instruments into impossible shapes, seeking idiosyncratic voices and techniques as they forge partnerships with players both proximate and remote (and I mean that in terms of both geography and aesthetic sensibility). Guitarist Eisenbeil has guested in heavy ensembles led by the likes of Cecil Taylor, but he’s probably best known for his string of quirky dates for CIMP. On those three recordings, Eisenbeil distinguished himself as a post-Joe Morris player whose open tonality and affinity for melody sound highly distinct in group improvisations. Tony Wrenn is a bassist whose work in the British free improvising scene has been more lasting than his slim discography might indicate. Less muscular than either Paul Rogers or Barry Guy, Wrenn has something of the litheness of their approach while hewing more frequently to preparations of extended techniques. And percussionist Flinn will doubtless be nearly unknown to lots of folks, though he surely shouldn’t be. Flinn has recorded previously for Nine Winds (a fine duo with tenor player Marcello Blanco) and has traveled and toured a bit in Europe, bringing his arch approach to percussion into some pretty out contexts.

Together, they make some nicely fractured music from the points of intersection between their instruments. It’s improvisation that falls through and rises from the cracks. Eisenbeil is exploring some new spaces on these brief tracks – 16 of them in a mere 49 minutes – and uses his prepared acoustic in ways that recall Hans Reichel or Fred Frith. Whether this is a one-time move or a new direction for him, it suits Flinn’s clattery percussion and Wrenn’s wild arco lines that sound like an out saxist. As these brief, nearly elliptical duos and trios race by, rich impressions are left in the mind via the subtle gestures and communication these three produce. Ranging from the spooky bowing and ghost tones of “Soup Line” to the insect rattle and percussive scrapings of tracks like “Wow” or “Dots ‘N’ Dashes,” this music is never less than provocative. Cranks will mutter “it’s been done before”; perhaps so, but that would miss the point and the pleasures of this fine trio recording: the vitality and excitement that comes from a first time meeting between individuals. So don’t be cranky or janky; just check these fellers out.

Jason Bivins