HARD EDGES |
John Sharpe #camotrios @Escape VR Rooms, Norwich Delightful three way freeform brass communion from Hard Edges... @CamouflageJazz last night' John Sharpe @JazzSnipe 02/12/22 Spontaneous Music Tribune - 'The Texture of Peception' Hard Edges The Texture of Perception (Raw Tonk Records, CD 2022) Hard Edges and their Texture of Perception, a definitively intimate meeting of three brass instruments placed in the hands and mouths of musicians who are most likely making their debuts on our pages. An event having far-reaching interest, in the vein of somewhat structured, post-academic ... free improvisation. The first of the album's six stories is built up of short phrases – slightly flirtatious, undeniably searching intrigue yet intimate and seemingly equipped with a delicate free jazz drive. Here the tuba is employed at the centre of the stage and the lighter brass instruments sit on opposite flanks – the trumpet being predominantly heard from the left while the trombone generally from the right. The instruments sing, purr, and at the end they are played with beeper breaths. The second movement seems to be even more intimate, but decisively more rhythmic, thanks mainly to the tuba. The trumpet maintains a moderately major tone, while the trombone wails and laments. Many interesting things start happening during the next instalment. Minor extended techniques, squeaks, noises, and sighs. The note-less symphony of brass sorrow first surprises us with its sound and then, once it has acquired a bit of utterance, with its almost virtuosic filigree. The fourth narrative returns to a dance-like, meta-rhythmic style. Each of the brass phrases has its own method, but the whole sticks together in a tight, sensual improvisation. In the fifth movement, the musicians focus on longer brushstrokes. Here, the tuba is able to work on a single breath for many seconds, and the trumpet and trombone sing delightfully in distantly sounding minor moods. The one who seems to have the most to say here is the trombone, but its local chattiness in no way compromises the foundation of collective improvisation. In the last chapter, the musicians return to our favourite, in part prepared sounds. Noises, breaths, sighs - an intimate journey, consumed by brass chants full of trepidation and fear. Interestingly, as part of the finale, the artists seem to gently add more dynamism to their playing. http://spontaneousmusictribune.blogspot.com/search/label/Ben%20Higham |
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