This album can be seen as a tribute to the great pianist
Borah Bergman who passed away in 2012, he was an important presence on the
avant jazz scene for many years. The performance was recorded at the Molde
International Jazzfestival, July 17, 1996 with Peter Brötzmann on tenor
saxophone, clarinet and tarogato and Frode Gjerstad on alto saxophone. Brotzmann
comes out with his saxophone sounding raw as an open wound in the beginning of
“Left Hand” and is met by Bergman’s free piano playing, as his fingers dance
across the length of the piano. The strident saxophones and the insistent piano
make for a formidable combination. The saxophonists alternate whinnying and
squeals with long tones of sound the and there is deep dark piano response. Everything
is wide open and the Bergman pounds the piano mercilessly as the saxophones
reach a climatic outcry. There is then a quieter space for piano soloing before
then the sounds pick up once again. Bergman’s deep and powerful piano playing
and the potential energy of the wind players can make your forget how truly
subtle their music can be. Alarming rending sounds from the saxophones are met
with a squall of piano notes, as the musicians play with and against one
another. They use dynamic range brilliantly, with Bergman worrying at the high
end of the keyboard, and Brotzmann and Gjerstad flittering about like moths that
have been drown to a flame. “Left Us” has a saxophone rising in the air, caught
in an updraft of rising piano notes, the music moves faster in speed as Brotzmann’s
torogato cries in the distance like a clarion call. Bergman has a solo section
that is fascinating as it sounds like he is working out two completely
different ideas at the same time. Blustery saxophone barrels in, howling with
an bruised bellow imparting a sense of pained sadness that makes you stop in
your tracks, while Bergman is there repeating one oppressive chord, until the
crying stops and the moment has passed. The final track, “Left Out,” begins as
a lengthy session for only the two reed players, who begin quietly, working
music that has a vaguely Middle Eastern air, using silence as part of the
equation. Peals of noise punctuate the silence, before the musicians come
together weaving around each other like a strand of musical DNA, playing together
brilliantly. Bergman comes back in about halfway through this very long free
improvisation he is able to move right into the conversation as if he had been
there the whole time. He develops a brief unaccompanied section of crashing
bass chords and empty space. The horns move in tentatively, then charge through
with raw and unmitigated power and the music becomes a very exciting collective
improvisation, pausing only for a section for sparkling solo piano gradually
framed and then engulfed by the saxophones playing at full throttle. The music
on this album was very dynamic; it’s not just a free jazz blowout. There are sections
of quieter playing that showed how patient the musicians were, and then area
where everything was pushed into the red. It all melded together very well,
with three excellent musicians making improvised music in real time and doing a
great job of it. Left - amazon.com
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