Taking their name from a Tolkien monster, the bass-and-reeds duo Ballrogg are far less fearsome than their rancorous moniker would suggest. A Norwegian pairing of altoist/clarinetist Klaus Ellerhusen Holm and bassist Roger Arntzen, Ballrogg’s debut features ten brief vignettes, most of which are from the books of Eric Dolphy, Ornette Coleman and Jimmy Giuffre. In addition, there is one duo improvisation and two pieces penned by Holm.
The set begins with a pensive and wistful reading of Ornette’s “Sex Spy” (not an obvious choice from his book), Holm’s alto cleanly eliding and harping notes in concentrated forms, building soft yet tensile structures far from the folksy melodies that the tune’s progenitor would’ve put together. And of course, there’s no reason to think of Holm or of Ballrogg as “required” to stick to the formulae.
“Out To Lunch” begins with a coda of harmonics from clarinet and arco bass before the melody creeps in, briefly, and is toyed with in engaging woody slaps and flights. Giuffre might seem like a model, minus the piano of his early sixties trio (indeed, they bouncily cover “Emphasis”), but the chamber dissection here moves from an apparently more direct, freer model – immediate and perhaps looking toward the jugular. In a context such as this, one might look for obvious connections between Holm’s alto playing and that of Ornette, Dolphy, or for that matter Konitz and Lacy’s soprano (which has influenced a huge amount of players). Clearly, he’s out of this tradition of wide interval leaps and curious, chirpy repetition, likewise smoothness and ebullient swing, but Holm is quite an individual voice. That’s crucial when approaching such a solidified repertoire such as this.
On clarinet, Holm is microscopic and winnowing as one might think, but again he somehow turns the theme of “Lorraine” into something klezmer-esque against the Garrison-like walls of Arntzen’s bass. It’s as though Ornette’s bluesy twang became transplanted into a filmic Jewish neighborhood in New York or eastern Europe, even as Holm’s solo plods, spirals and plots other sonic areas before returning to the dusky hovel of its theme. This is an excellent debut from a pair who have clearly not only set the bar high for themselves, but for the music as a whole.
~ Clifford Allen
Posted by clifford on June 2, 2008 8:59 PM.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................