I was quite enthusiastic about ElectroAcoustic Silence’s previous album,Cono Di OMbra E Luce, centered around the majestic duo Mirio Cosottini on trumpet and fluegelhorn and Alessio Pisani on bassoon and contra-bassoon. I was stunned by their great combination of gravitas and lightness.
On this album they are accompanied by Taketo Gohara on sound design, Filippo Pedol on double bass and electric bass, and Andrea Melani on drums.
The interplay between trumpet and bassoon remains exceptional, and the best moments are for sure where both instruments play the lead role, sometimes in unison, often in counterpoint, weaving great musical textures. The addition of the rhythm section adds a kind of nu jazz element to it, bringing the music closer to for instance Nils Pettr Molvaer or Markus Stockhausen, with obvious reminiscences to Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew, especially when the electric bass and the drums adds some funk to the proceedings. Gohara’s “sound design” is sometimes excellent, especially if he goes into the lower tones, but at moments it sounds like a five-year old kid playing with a radio dial. Luckily, these moments are sparse.
The best piece is “Ming’s Attempt”, possibly because the bass is acoustic, the world has turned a little weirder, and the band manages to show the true potential of its own voice.
In all, less original and strong as their superb previous release, but a nice album nonetheless.
http://freejazz-stef.blogspot.com/2010/09/ea-silence-flatime-grim-2010.html
Charcoil on paper, 29,7 x 42, 2010
Eclectic electric jazz comes of age di Mark Corroto
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=37348
Back in the 1980s, the marriage of jazz and electronics produced the unfortunate, creativity destroying “jazz fusion” genre. That was because drum machines, synthesizer produced horn lines and computer generated hand claps were often too perfect. A sort of “sanitized for your protection” version of motel drinking glasses. Think about the then innovative trumpeter Miles Davis‘ album Tutu (Warner, 1986) with all its studio generated electronic gloss. The production (maybe overproduction) by Marcus Miller left little room for the human voice in the recording. Luckily it was Miles Davis. But still, listening to Tutu 25 years later, you can only cringe at its ersatz character.
Fast forward to a new century and the term “sound design” enters the jazz mainstream. Bands such as Tortoise, Exploding Star Orchestra and Supersilent, and artists such as keyboardist Bugge Wesseltoft and trumpeter Dave Douglas, are incorporating electronics into their creative processes. The key is that today’s artists control the medium, instead of being controlled by their machines.
That control leads to the expression of jazz creativity and innovation, and the triumph of new sounds. Here are a few new and noteworthy efforts to mingle electronics and jazz.
2010
Sound designer Taketo Gohara takes his place in the quintet ElectroAcoustisSilence as an equal member alongside trumpeter Mirio Cosottini, bassoonist Alessio Pisani, bassist Filippo Pedoland and drummer Andrea Melani. This jazz band makes no fuss about its odd lineup, nor seems to recognize the new territory in which it is headed.
Flatime was recorded in real time; the quintet acts and responds to electronic sounds without the benefit of post production manipulations. The disc begins with “Blue” and a few random notes, almost as a tuneup. Then the “zwip-zwip” of computer sounds enters, followed by waves of sound, not unlike water at the shore. Pedol takes up the challenge and follows with a firm walking line as the others follow tentatively, plotting notes on this new topography. The sense here is that each player is in full reaction mode to each other. And often it is someone other than sound designer Gohara who is the instigator. This quintet is just as likely to go for a bebop chamber sound as it is to drop hip-hop references. The mashup and realization of this music is both skilled improvising and the quintet’s daring incorporation of electronic sound sculpture.
Mark Corroto
oil on canvas, 50×70, 2010
oil on canvas, 50×70, 2010
Recensione del cd Flatime (Amirani Records – GRIMedia Records)
http://www.musicboom.it/mostra_recensioni.php?Unico=20100821060445
Tempo piatto
di
Cosimo Parisi
Come sempre Gianni Mimmo, coordinatore della Amirani Records, ci mette sotto il naso qualcosa di speciale, alla ricerca di nuove vie per l´avanguardia, ospite di riguardo del catalogo della piccola casa discografica italiana.
Le visioni dei partecipanti all´ElectroAcousticSilence sono molto speciali, con strumenti acustici ed un elettronica che con sagacia e intuizione apporta il suo contributo alla musica del gruppo.
Le fonti di ispirazioni sono tante, pure il cool di “Blue” che apre il disco, certamente il Braxton meno aspro e radicale. Funziona tutto, e l´idea della formula che riserva un suono misto nei contenuti e così speciale nell´attuazione del progetto è di quelli che raramente ascoltiamo nell´avanguardia italiana.
I nomi dei protagonisti: Mirio Cosottini tromba e flicorno, Alessio Pisani fagotto e controfagotto, Taketo Gohara sound design, Filippo Pedol contrabbasso e basso elettrico, Andrea Melani batteria . I suoni sghembi di Gohara ben si prestano all´integrazione, così tutta la band lavora per dare una nuova idea di gruppo e di musica, riuscendo nell´intento. Sono tutti molto preparati: la ritmica in grado di dare un´idea precisa ed i due fiati. L´insolito fagotto di Pisani dà un bel chiaroscuro completato da un notevole Cosottini alla tromba (ubell´esempio “Respiro”), uno che ha capito sul serio l´avanguardia di un Dave Douglas.
Quacosa succede sempre nelle esecuzioni, e questo è il bello di un disco che attrae e che appare una proposta in grado di affacciarsi oltre i confini nazionali.
Visitate il sito web:
http://www.musicboom.it/mostra_recensioni.php?Unico=20100821060445
Firenzuola Folk e Jazz Festival 2010
Lunedì 16 agosto 2010 ore 21,30 presso il Giardino Bob Kennedy di Firenzuola, concerto dell’ensemble EASilence electro acoustic silence, formazione interna all’associazione GRIM gruppo di ricerca e improvvisazione musicale.
EASILENCE: Alessio Pisani fagotto, controfagotto – Mirio Cosottini tromba, flicorno – Taketo Gohara sound designer – Filippo Pedol contrabbasso – Andrea Melani batteria
www.grim-italia.it
www.myspace.com/easilence
ufficiostampa.grim@gmail.com
