TRIO SOWARI: THIRD ISSUE - REVIEWS

Dass Burkhard Beins, Bertrand Denzler & Phil Durrant bei "Three Dances", 14 Jahre ist das her, zum Tanz aufspielten, war das Ironie? Mystifikation? Oder die Anstiftung zu einer Umwertung der Werte? Ilia Belorukov & Kurt Liedwart spielten bei "Vtoroi" nochmal denselben Joker aus. Mikrotöne mit dem Gesicht und dem 'Besame Mucho' von Consuelo Velazquez zu verbinden, das kam Angelica Castello & Burkhard Stangl für "Consuelo" (2018) in den Sinn und lädt dazu ein, über Hauntology oder ein feminines Imaginäres in der Lower-Case-Improv-Ästhetik zu spekulieren. Das Cover von "Third Issue" führt einen dagegen mit einer grau-grusigen Schimmelwand und Holzscheiten vor einer alten Backsteinmauer auf jenes 'Essentielle' zu, von dem Thomas Shrubsole bei seinem "Gently down the Volga"-Essay zu "Contour" (mikroton cd 32) in einfühlsamer Skepsis gesprochen hat. Dazu versucht Beins, entschieden ins Leere wischend, Schrödingers Katze zu waschen, ohne sie nass zu machen. Die will davon nichts wissen und huscht und faucht in Denzlers Tenorsax umeinander und lässt mit ihren elektrifizierten, von mir herbeigezogenen Haaren Durrants Synthies prickeln. So bleibt viel Raum für sparsame, weil zweckdienliche und im Alltag oft genug geübte Gesten. Weil man eine Phantomkatze auch nicht anders wäscht als das eigene Gesicht. Mit einem Reiben, einem Rubbeln und Wobbeln, einem metallischen Schaben, kreisenden Schürfen und Schlürfen und spuckigem Trillern, mit dem windigen Pfeifen oder Surren und dem Schleifen, ja Schleifen von Messern und Gabeln an rostigen Stellen, dem Züllen und Blasen von Krusten und dunklen Stellen, dunklen und hohlen, von So ßen gefurchten, von Kummer gekrümmten. Mit mechanischem Klappern, dünnen Pfiffen, dumpfem Tupfen, mit lang dröhnendem Dröhnen, tönendem Denzlern und geduldig tickenden Sekunden unter paukendumpfen Wolken. Wolken, die dongen und nadeln, die sirren und scheppern im blechernen Ansto ß in gurrender Luft. Luft, die sich zu metalloidem Schimmern und schummrigem Brummen melancholisch wellt, während Beins die letzten Flusen von den Backen, den Becken, den Häuten schabt.
- Rigobert Dittmann, Bad Alchemy -

The title doesn't lie--this is the third release from this fine trio, the first since 2008. I'm not sure if the gap is intentional or not, but they sound as fine as ever. Phil Durrant (modular and software synthesizers), Bertrand Denzler (tenor saxophone) and Burkhard Beins (percussion and objects) carve out a very unique sound area in the world of free improvisation, one that's quite full and colorful while avoiding over-satiation. The opener, "Gravitation" lurches right into things--heavy synth, deep, clucking tenor and a range of brushes and bangs hurtle the listener into an active sound-world, filled with movement but also with significant space between objects. Denzler has never shied away from the saxophone-ness of his tenor, managing the difficult feat of incorporating it into a free-improv context without toting much unnecessary and distracting jazz baggage. He tends to keep his tomes low (by no means always) and balances reedy passages with extended techniques. More importantly, in music like this where "quiet" isn't as much an issue as elsewhere, he chooses his moments expertly. As do the others. Beins has long been a master at this and his brilliance is clearly in evidence. Durrant might be more the wild card; his subtlety is such that the non-concentrating listener might bypass him entirely, though his sounds are often the true glue binding matters. "Suspension" is about the drone, beginning with a wonderful low tone (Durrant, I think), soon joined by Denzler approximating the tone, generating flutters of interference. Eventually, Beins adds some slow, regular cymbal taps that are as perfectly appropriate as they are unexpected. This is followed by a brief palate cleanser of sorts, "Exploration", a set of almost discontinuous attacks that nonetheless manages to cohere quite well. "Levitation", the closer, tries to bring these disparate approaches into a single 9-minute pieces, utilizing drones (here, bowed metal), fluctuating tenor, and higher pitched synthesized hums. There's great elasticity here, a stretching and warping of fabric, the cloth smooth here, gnarly there. Billowing waves emanate outwards, blanketing one's ears--an excellent end to another fine, fine release from this under-recorded trio.
- Brian Olewnick, Just Outside -

Impossible to believe that ten years have slipped away from Trio Sowari's previous release, the impressive Shortcut on Jacques Oger's Potlatch imprint. Phil Durrant, Burkhard Beins and Bertrand Denzler embody the type of unyielding unit that could be entitled to produce a new album every six months, and I'd be perfectly content. However, authentic wisdom is nourished by a profound respect of silence; what is told after that silence becomes consequential in a process of real development. Accordingly, Third Issue may break a lengthy intermission in terms of discography, but its characteristics and meanings enfold all the experiences occurred in the meantime to the players, their intuitions now enriched by additional sagacity.
The coalescence of synthesizers, percussion and saxophone also delineates the individual textural settings. The dissimilarity of the sonic waves is of course evident, yet the multiplex integrity of the emerging music is (forgive the commonplace) a thing of beauty. The group ideally promotes the "let the sounds dictate the pace" theory; better still if the participants share a vision, which in the case of TS coincides with the term "improvement". Nary a moment in these four tracks contains formularized sonorities; the organic qualities are directly proportional to a penetrating intricacy which, in turn, enhances the sympathetic listener's responsiveness. This happens notwithstanding the artists' proficiency in melting voices and merging sources. For example, try and separate synthetic and acoustic emissions at the beginning of "Suspension"; as a severe drone inexorably advances we picture a sequence of wordless events, a concatenation of "frequency frames" somehow flowing into a bigger undercurrent. This piece, though, is an exception of sorts given that the foremost "Sowari sound" derives from a hands-on investigation of the spaces between innumerable dynamic turns. Ultimately, tangible matters and vivid timbres become deprived of an owner: maintaining the ongoing flux is the rule of thumb. The musicians always manage to do this, with results often verging on the amazing.
Intense concentration and earnest sharing during a performance give birth to a loss of the self, especially when the only relevant science - that of vibrational propagation - is taught with such austere modesty. Strike another five-star record for these gentlemen, in the hope that I won't be already departed when the next chapter is published.
- Massimo Ricci, Touching Extremes -

As its title hints, Third Issue follows on from Trio Sowari's two previous albums, 2005's Three Dances and 2008's ShortCut, both released on Potlatch. Despite a label change to Mikrotron, the personnel remains unchanged - Denzler on tenor saxophone, Burkhard Beins on percussion and Phil Durrant on synths - for this album which was studio-recorded in Berlin in July 2016. Although there is a considerable gap since their previous album together, straight from the start the three are right back together. Their music in this trio has always been characterised by their ability to listen to one another, allied to the restraint of their playing, which allows ample space for each of them to play and be heard clearly; they fit together like pieces of a jigsaw. It is also part of the trio's ongoing evolution, as in 2016 Durrant was still using a laptop in addition to modular synthesiser whereas now he no longer does.
Across four tracks, ranging in length from under four minutes to almost fifteen, the energy level and mood vary considerably, giving each piece its own very different character, as reflected in their titles. So, the twelve-minute "Suspension" features a rather sinister modulated drone throughout that would not be out of place on the soundtrack of a low budget slasher movie - maybe a future path for the trio to consider? In contrast, the shortest track, "Exploration," features sounds that could have come from field recordings made in some distant land but were actually played in the studio. Very impressive.
- John Eyles, All About Jazz -

Over the past 20 years, Durrant has become one of the more deft exponents of software-generated sound; while this entailed his dispensing with the violin, an instrument on which he had honed a singular voice in the trio with Butcher and Russell and other ensembles, he has created a similar approach emphasizing small fluctuations of pitch and timbre and keen attention to dynamics. Percussionist Burkhard Beins and tenor saxophonist Bertrand Denzler have complementary sensibilities; subsequently, Trio Sowari has developed a fully integrated ensemble sound that has survived long periods of inactivity over the past 15 years. The LP-length Third Issue is their first album in a dozen years, yet it picks up where their predecessors on Potlatch left off, giving stark, even grating sounds a magnetic property that pulls the listener deeper into the music.
- Bill Shoemaker, Points Of Departure -

Third Person Singular
Now for some heavy-duty improvisation from a trio of big names. Trio Sowari are Bertrand Denzler, Burkhard Beins and Phil Durrant, each man an accomplished player and most of them appear regularly in these pages; French giant Denzler most recently as one-third of Neuköllner Modelle (on which he bent his sax slightly more in the direction of the free jazz beacon), and Beins leading three other stern minimo-types on that impressive Fracture Mechanics record (for this same label). One thing of interest is that Trio Sowari have only made two records before this, hence the name 'Third Issue', yet have been calling themselves a threesome since 2005. It's possible that they rarely get to meet up, and once this benighted country has severed its ties with Europe we'll probably hear even less music from them, unless someone deigns to set up a musical smuggling ring across the English Channel.
Music created here by the expected means of acoustic instruments meeting electronic devices of some sort, specifically a droning tenor sax that could drown a 300-pound pig at the circus, percussive objects (sometimes) rending the air and breaking the mirrors, and Phil D's modular and software synths either sighing or spitting sewage. (I am one of those who constantly regret that he gave up the violin; he was a very distinctive player on that instrument, had his own voice, whereas now he just sounds like any other electronica key-presser.) Combined effects show strong team playing; 'Gravitation' is agitated boxing match action, 'Suspension' is a lengthy drone-bore in slow motion, 'Exploration' is harsh and bitty and far too short to amount to much, while 'Levitation' is the epic of the set, stirring heroic emotions in weak men simply through constant rubbing and weaving of abstract textures and puffy wisps. Assured, interactive gestures from everyone in the room.
Dig the contrasting tones and lush sounds for sure, but as always with this type of post-EAI noodling it's hard to say how much it creates an actual concrete "event", or pinpoint when it does so; the aim seems to be to keep playing without stopping, and rub up against the warm bodies in the room, then see what impressions have been made on the rubber mattress. However, as press blurb forewarns us, the record represents "undaunted and spirited ways of facing a complex and bewildering present". While the first half of that claim is debatable, I'm not about to take issue with the second half.
- Ed Pinsent, The Sound Projector -

It has been a while since I last heard music by Trio Sowari, but I gather these are very busy people, performing around the globe all the time, so it might take some time before they meet each other again. Two days in July 2016 in Berlin was enough to get the show on the road again and recorded four excellent pieces that defy such notions as improvisation, composition, electro- acoustic music or musique concrete. It is all, perhaps quite rightfully so, quite blurred and as clear-cut as it could be. But that's how things should be of course. Both Denzler and Beins play their instruments like they are supposed, i.e. one can recognize them as such, but also use extended different techniques and approaches to them and make it sound unlike drums or saxophone. Durrant's input here is of course anyway different than, simply because one doesn't always know what a modular and software synthesizer is supposed to sound like. It peeps and it cracks, and that's not just Durrant, but something they are all responsible for and there is some wonderful interaction between all the sounds everyone's producing. It can be loud, it can be quiet, often within the space of a few seconds, or for extended times, such as the moody and mysterious piece 'Levitation'; it can be short and abrupt or spaced out, yet always with a fine dialogue among the players. Every listens, everyone responds or keeps quiet and when needed there are a quick interference and the conversation changes. This is a fine release and these men should meet more often.
- Frans De Waard, Vital Weekly -

Burkhard Beins, Bertrand Denzler, et Phil Durrant, trois noms que beaucoup ont déjà apercu sur des disques et des affiches, trois musiciens qui parcourent les scènes de la musique improvisée depuis de nombreuses années maintenant. Ces trois figures essentielles de l'eai et du réductionnisme (qu'on peut trouver dans Mimeo, Hubbub et Polwechsel) ont également leur formation que vous avez déjà du croiser : le Trio Sowari, dont le premier disque (sur Potlatch) remonte au milieu des années 2000.
Je fais cette introduction très convenue car le CV de ces musiciens explique en partie pourquoi ce dernier disque est si bien. Je n'écoute plus beaucoup de musiques improvisées, qu'elle soit européenne, jazz, électroacoustique, réductionniste ou autre, parce que je me suis lassé des canons de ces dernières. Et Third Issue, le dernier disque du Trio Sowari, respecte ces canons, il ne cherche pas franchement à les dépasser. Et pourtant, c'est un pur plaisir d'écouter ce disque que j'aime rejouer constamment. Il y a en grande partie deux raisons extérieures à la musique elle-meme qui font de ce disque une réussite. Deux raisons qui n'en sont qu'une en fait, une seule et meme cause déclinée d'un point de vue personnel et collectif. L'ancienneté et la pratique tout simplement. Car ces trois musiciens font partie des précurseurs de l'eai et du réductionnisme, il joue cette musique depuis maintenant une vingtaine d'années (ou pas loin) et ils ont su, depuis le temps, fabriquer un langage qui leur est propre, unique et personnel. De plus, la formation Sowari existe aussi depuis une prés de 15 ans, il ne s'agit pas d'une de ces rencontres fortuites et à peine préparées entre tetes d'affiche, non. Il s'agit là d'une collaboration entre trois musiciens proches qui ont su développer une relation précise, une relation ou chacun a sa place, ou chacun sait comment il doit réagir à chaque événement pour ne pas mettre en péril la cohésion du groupe, tout cela de manière très nette.
Quant à la musique, il n'y a pas tellement de surprise quant au contenu, ni à la forme. Le Trio Sowari propose quatre longues pièces composées de sons continus, d'interventions délicates, de techniques étendues, et d'un subtil mélange entre instrument à vent (saxophone), percussions, et instruments électroniques (ordinateur et synthétiseur). La grande force de ce trio est de parvenir à créer un univers sonore très homogène à partir de sources si hétéroclites. Le groupe peut aussi bien choisir de travailler sur l'aspect percussif du son, de jouer sur la continuité et une certaine forme de mélodie, comme sur la modulation de fréquences, il semble toujours aussi à l'aise quelque soit la forme que prend leur musique. Car le trio prete une grande attention au son et il le traite avec rigueur et précision, c'est très fin et très subtil, et c'est certainement le plus remarquable dans cette musique. Une musique en apparence toute simple et subtile, composée d'éléments microscopiques, qui avec du recul s'avère d'une richesse et d'une profusion étonnantes.
- Julien Héraud, improv sphere -

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