Burkhard Beins/Dirk Marwedel/Michael Vorfeld - Misiiki

Burkhard Beins/Dirk Marwedel/Michael Vorfeld
Misiiki
Rossbin RS013

Though more or less known as percussionists, both Burkhard Beins and Michael Vorfeld generally append “string instruments” to their credits and tend to use string-like technique on instruments normally tapped and hit. So when they include a saxophonist as part of the mix, it’s not surprising to hear all three involved in tones of long duration, ranging from drones to screeches though when “traditionally” percussive sounds emerge, I’m guessing that it’s more often Vorfeld who’s responsible. Dirk Marwedel is listed as playing “extended saxophone”, although whether that has any bearing on the actual physical make-up of his instrument or simply describes his own approach is tough for me to say. Perhaps it’s his presence, especially when engaging in spittle-driven or game call-sounding techniques, but much of this music sounds oddly retrograde, as though from an especially perceptive Zorn-choreographed session in the early 80s. Certainly, there’s a good bit less sublimation of the individual than one normally hears in this type of project, much more of a live free (if fairly quiet) jam.

There are eight pieces presented, often somewhat short by normal improv standards and, while the approaches vary a scintilla here and there, nothing really stands out as sharply conceived or carefully considered. Beins, who has been a participant in several beautiful recordings over the last several years, indeed generates some sounds that are remarkable and fascinating in and of themselves and, on occasion, especially when Marwedel trawls the lower ranges of his ax, things suddenly gel, briefly achieving a stirringly realized focus before moving on. But that thrown-together quality lingers, a 21st century version of a late night jam where, just as everyone could be counted on knowing “Perdido”, each musician knows “what to do” in a free improv setting. As with many of those sessions, I’m not sure this is the recipe for inspired playing. Given this, the trio manage to generate a certain kind of energy, one found more often in a free jazz context than an purely free improv one, on pieces like “Schist”, where the rumbling percussion seizes the guttural sax playing and hurls it skyward. Maybe if one listens to the disc from that mindset, imagining it as a lost Parker/Lovens/Lytton experiment, the rewards would be more forthcoming. But expecting something roughly along similar, wonderful lines as explored by Beins on “Grain” (with Keith Rowe) or “Lidingo” (with Andrea Neumann), one remains a wee bit unsatisfied.