Omri Ziegele Billiger Bauer - Edges & Friends

Intakt 112

An unwritten goal underlying every musical scene is one of growth. Swiss saxophonist Omri Ziegele speaks to it in his segment of the liners to this recent Intakt disc along with several of his contemporaries. The cross-section of correspondents and their comments prove just as engaging as the music. Billiger Bauer has been in business for over a decade as a loose confederation of improvisers that’s sought to stake their claim in a community increasingly prone to stasis. Their instrumentation, a colorful amalgam of reeds, strings and percussion includes both electric and acoustic bass, and at times, two drummers. Ziegle uses the work of two seminal 20th century poets, Dylan Thomas and Robert Creeley, as librettos for several of the pieces and there’s a palpable element of dramatic theater in his busy arrangements for the band. The recitations are a bit ponderous in places, particularly when coupled with the near-bombastic accompaniment of the band in full flower. But the intrinsic virility and effervescence of the music keeps the players from dropping into collective autopilot while Ziegle has his say at the podium.

Suite-like in structure, the disc’s eight tracks include several interstitial segments that serve as dynamic segues for the longer numbers. The album’s LP-sized brevity works in its favor. Grooves surface and subsume helped along by the dual drums and the syncopated thrum of Jan Schlegel’s amplified bass strings as on the tail end of “Two Ways No Answers” that exudes an ebullient street band flavor. Ziegle threads in slivers of African, Arabic and Latin influence such that the sprawling modal title track takes on the dimensions of an early 70s McCoy Tyner epic. Gabriela Friedeli’s brightly telegraphing chords are a chief culprit in this regard too and the piece rises through several cathartic crescendos, including one detour where Ziegele shows off his raw-toned alto talents. “Be There” spools out from a verdant chamber music source into another muscle-flexing groove and out again while the closer “Africa Now” covers the sort of territory common to The Brotherhood of Breath. As is customary with Intakt, sound quality is near impeccable with each player cleanly situated in the mix. Ziegele’s impassioned activities remind of those of trumpeter Manuel Mengis. Both men are strengthing the creative flame within Swiss borders by bringing together as many stylistic parts as possible.

~ Derek Taylor