Switzerland doesn’t come up often in discussions of European free improvisation, though the country has produced some of Europe’s most renowned improvisers – figures like pianist Iréne Schweizer, drummer Pierre Favre and bassist León Francioli. Somewhat more obscure than his contemporaries, Zürich-based pianist Urs Voerkel has maintained a solid place in the European free music community. Though Swiss, Voerkel’s main recorded association is with drummer Paul Lovens, with whom he recorded an unruly trio side for FMP (with Frey on bass) in 1976, and in a duo that was later released on Po Torch. Voerkel has also recorded as a piano soloist. Tiegel, an unissued session from the turn of the 1980s, finds Voerkel and Frey joined by soprano saxophonist Christoph Gallio for thirteen mostly brief improvisations. Like Buschi Niebergall, the massive Frey doubles on trombone; though his FMP sides were strictly pianistic affairs, here Voerkel stretches his vocabulary to include drums. It’s fair to assume that this was a workshop session – between-cut banter and occasional coughs and sneezes are caught on tape, lending the music a loose ambiance.
Previously unknown to this writer, Gallio (recently of the trio Day & Taxi) presents a delicate sensibility, terse phrases and a breathiness that sometimes recalls the lineage of contemporary flutists – pops, quirks and snorts that aren’t exacted from Lacy or Parker (though perhaps Lol Coxhill and Austrian sopranoist/percussionist Muhammad Malli are comparable). The contrasts between Gallio’s airiness and the earthy, rooted motor of Frey’s bass provide a perfect gap for Voerkel to bridge, either through tonally ambiguous pianistic weight or jittery, percussive swing. Certainly, the low-country school holds some precedence, especially on tracks featuring Voerkel’s piano – he’s comparable in some ways to Mengelberg, Hazevoet and Van Hove (and they’ve all spent hours with de Leeuw’s Satie). The ninth improvisation brings together barrelhouse classicism, Gallio’s birdsong and a guttural Frey, whooping it up on both voice and mouthpiece. Two tracks later, Voerkel has internalized some of Gallio’s soprano chirps into his piano playing, creating a sinewy dance of twitters as Frey prods and thrums around the duo. Though by no means a session essential to mapping the history of European free improvisation, Atavistic has once again combed the corners of the music’s lesser-known scenes to provide a broader picture, and Tiegel is a valuable snapshot.
~ Clifford Allen
Posted by clifford on November 8, 2006 1:19 PM.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................