John Book on This is Book’s Music
My first assumption upon reading this was by the Hanam Quintet was that it might be some jazz, be it straight-forward or free. The music on Hanam At Piggotts (Aut) may feature also sax, soprano sax, and piano but straightforward this isn’t, nor would I call this jazz. The music is more along the lines of improvisational, a bit avant-garde and experimental where things aren’t structured and you’re wondering where the quintet are headed at any given time. However, there is a sense of structure in how the songs are put together but it will take some deep listens to comprehend things, but there’s a good side to it. There are three 3-part suites or movements, each one over ten minutes in length, each one not sounding like the other and the titles are mere hole pricks as hints of what they could be like: “Widening Perspective/Eine Breitere Perspektive”, “Fields”, and “Air Suite”. If one is to compare these songs to journeys, it’s similar to riding in the dark and hoping wisdom will get you to the finish line. Being improvisational, it’s about putting faith in the musicianship of Manuel Piethe (soprano sax), Alison Blunt (violin), Niko Meinhold (piano and toy piano), Anna Kaluza (alto saxO0), and Horst Nonnenmacher (double bass) and seeing what you hear, or envision. Hanam At Piggotts is a set of music where the unknown is a place or non-place, but getting there is part of the fun and unpredictability of hearing it.
Alessandro Bertinetto on Kathodik
Registrato al Piggots (ma dove si trova?) il 7 settembre 2013, l’album mantiene la freschezza di una performance live di musica improvvisata. Questo gruppo anglotedesco (contrabbasso, sax contralto, sax soprano, violino, pianoforte e piano giocattolo), legato anche alla London Improvisers Orchestra, e alla Berlin Improvisers Orchestra, porta avanti la pratica della free improvisation, qui spesso in chiave minimalista. I suoi numi tutelari sono, tra gli altri, Alex Schlippenbach, Sam Rivers ePaul Bley, ma viene incrociata consapevolmente anche la “nuova musica” atonale e rumoristica, ripercorrendo le tracce per esempio di Nono, Scelsi e Lachenmann. A scandire strutturalmente l’album sono tre composizioni in tre parti (Air Suite, Fields e Widening Perspective/EIne Breitere Perspektive) e due brani singoli: Sustenance/Nahrung e Oxygenation/Oxygenierung. Tutte le tracce sono caratterizzate da un intenso e sensibile interplay, carico di tensione e dinamismo, e dal virtuosismo improvvisativo dei performer. La free improvisation oggi.
Taran Singh on Taran’s Free Jazz Hour
A radio podcast featuring a track from “Hanam at Piggotts”.
Taran Singh on Taran’s Free Jazz Hour
Another radio podcast featuring a track from “Hanam at Piggotts”.
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