Peter Brötzmann is a master of the pithy liner note. He wastes no time with glib pleasantries. His recollections never ramble as he recounts past details with wry humor and a Joe Friday-like attention to the facts. The same can’t always be said for his reeds playing which sometimes errs into the prolix at the expense of narrative cohesion. Taped in concert for FMP in the fall of 1982, Pica Pica is a prime example of Brötzmann on point with partners matching par to his powers of improvisation.
Albert Mangelsdorff’s presence pares down the usual Brötzmann volcanism while simultaneously enlarging the musical parameters with well-oiled polyphonics and canny counterpoint. Gunter Sommer is an optimal drummer for the stripped down configuration, his orchestral colors and theatrical swells coupling with a consistently muscular momentum. Attributed jointy to Mangelsdorff and Brötzmann, “Instant Tears” occupies the whole of Side A and initially pivots on dramatic interplay between the horns. Unlike certain other side-long excursions in the Brötzmann ouevre, this one locks on target for the entire length.
Mangelsdorff solos first and Sommer adjusts his tumbling tension-rich rhythms to the trombonist’s supple legato streams. Brötzmann’s rebound on wailing tarogato veers the the music in a North-African direction, his spiraling, sharp-pitched lines juxtaposed against a steady cadence from Sommer and Mangelsdorff. The subsequent interplay between the latter pair presents one of the best segments of the album as Mangelsdorff’s slippery phrases dance atop the pattering clatter from Sommer’s kit. Brötzmann’s hulking baritone fills the balance of the piece with spirited blowing as a rousing counterpart to Mangelsdorff’s own subterranean musings. Sommer sculpts a trembling wall of rhythm between them as if separating two warring voiciferous factions.
The album’s flipside opens with more magnificent Sommer, a staccato cymbal rhythm layered against kick drum bombs and expanding into a telegraphic tour de force. Mangelsdorff’s ebullient entry stablizes the drums into a repeating pattern. Brötzmann’s whinnying alto punches holes in the trampoline beat, leaving a trail of burnt note cinders in its wake. It’s a startling display of upper register accuracy and a striking tonal contrast to Mangelsdorff’s palipitating multiphonics. The switch to somber, almost subdued, playing in the second half is a surprise too. Brötzmann turns to lush porous lines and Sommer voices fanfare trumpet while sustaining a steady percussive pulse, the three resolving with an abrupt finish. At a mere four minutes, closing title piece stamps the set with a playful, action-packed parting shot.
The Unheard Music series has been instrumental in returning much of Brötzmann’s back catalog to print. Even with that exemplary track record as comparison point, the beauty, strength and sheer enjoyableness of this album surprised me. With each consecutive spin it’s inching its way to becoming one of my favorites of the venerable German’s career.
~ Derek Taylor
Posted by derek on July 23, 2006 2:57 PMThanks for the writeup. What's a targago[!]?
Posted by: ND at July 23, 2006 4:08 PMBeautiful record. Are there any extra tracks? Sounds Like this at least has liners.
Posted by: damon smith at July 23, 2006 6:15 PMND - "targago" should probably be the tarogato which I've seen him play.
Posted by: rfk at July 23, 2006 8:32 PMWhat’s a targago[!]
It’s either a discomfiting typo OR a double-reed bamboo saxophone variant commonly played by the Malagasy Indians, coincidentally similar in design to the Hungarian tarogato, but pitched an octave above ;)
Damon, no extra tracks (damn!). Brötz wrote the liners in October of ’05. Does the original vinyl include any sort of documentation?
Working my way through Alarm right now & so far it’s a harder nut to crack. Heavy, heavy group on that one & great to hear Frank Wright on the same stage as Brötz & Breuker.
Posted by: derek at July 23, 2006 10:02 PMNo liners on the LP. Thanks for the Ghetto Calypso reveiw.
Posted by: damon smith at July 23, 2006 10:08 PMMy pleasure. If you feel comfortable sharing, what's your perspective on Spirit? Knowing a bit of his backstory, I wanted to like his drumming more than I actually do.
Posted by: derek at July 23, 2006 10:17 PMWith your positives, you were pretty close. He is influenced by the African american free jazz tradition and Europens like Sommer, Lovens, Oxely and Stevens.
Bass players love him because he brings the energy of free jazz without burying us or making us use amps.
That quartet did a an unamplified gig as well, Kowald and I were loud and clear.
He played in funk bands when he was young and also spend a lot of time practicing African music so his pulse is unbelievable, he also has Lovens-like timing with accents and punchlines like durring Kowald's solo on the title track.
He plays a lot with Oluyemi and Ijeoma Thomas.
Two bass projects really need a transparent drummer if you have one at all.
Martin Blume is also great at it and so is Weasel Walter.
One more - I play in a two bass group with Joe Williamson (and Ian Smith on trumpet), and Tony Marsh plays absolutely beautifully and transparently in it.
Posted by: Dominic Lash at July 24, 2006 2:17 AMThanks for the comments on Spirit, Damon. I heard some Stevens in there, but Oxley and Lovens make sense too. I'll have to check out some of his work with Oluyemi.
Spending time with Pica Pica prompted me to pull out a pile of discs w/ Sommer: Brötz’s Reserve, Cecil’s Riobec, Schweizer’s Storming of the Winter Palace, and Touch the Earth - Break the Shells w/ Kowald & Wadada Smith, in particular. He really is something else behind the kit and criminally under-recorded given how long he’s been in the game.
Posted by: derek at July 24, 2006 4:56 PMYou heard Three Wheels One Direction on Victo? Another nice Sommer album w/ Conny Bauer & Kowald.
Posted by: ND at July 24, 2006 7:27 PM"You heard Three Wheels One Direction on Victo? Another nice Sommer album w/ Conny Bauer & Kowald."
- That shit is so heavy. So strong and confident but relaxed at the same time.
The Smith/Kowald/Sommer is my favorite music EVER.
I was very fortunate to play in a trio with Wadada and Dr. Anthony Brown several years ago, WAY before I was ready
but great experience none the less.
I don't have much Sommer, though I do like The Old Song (w/ Gumpert and Manfred Hering) a lot. Those Smith/Kowald/Sommer LPs have always looked intriguing, though I'm often hit-or-miss on Leo Smith.
Posted by: clifford at July 26, 2006 8:57 AMND:
You meant "Three Wheels - Four Directions" I assume? Fine record, alongside the superb "Between Heaven & Earth" (Intakt).
Posted by: Graham L. Rogers at July 26, 2006 9:17 AMI have been listening a lot to the new Zentralquartett - that stuff is great. I have most of the east German stuff on FMP, Nato and Amiga on Vinyl. That was an interesting period with some amazing players.
Posted by: damon smith at July 26, 2006 1:04 PMHeard Gunther with Gumpert and this Tenor Sax player in 1979, great. Everyone forget Sommer with Fred Van Hove 's ML DD which was one of the greatest group of the eighties !
Got the Pica Pica in due time : very good vinyl ! It is also the best Brötzmann recording in between the Fred Van Hove / Bennink period and the William Parker period (the Rastascan cd !!)
ML DD is an amazing LP. I'm going to pull that out now. Van Hove, Sommer, Wachsmann and Mark Charig....
Posted by: Damon Smith at August 20, 2006 9:43 PM**You heard Three Wheels One Direction on Victo? Another nice Sommer album w/ Conny Bauer & Kowald."
- That shit is so heavy. So strong and confident but relaxed at the same time.
The Smith/Kowald/Sommer is my favorite music EVER.**
Thanks for the tips here. I've been looking for some new improvjazz to check out. I really like Pica Pica & Alarm (& Brotz. in general), so it seems like it would be hard to miss on these.
Posted by: john bullabaugh at October 9, 2006 1:36 PM.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................