For those of us who still love those great cerebral, mesmerizing albums by McCoy Tyner or Pharoah Sanders from the early seventies, this disc will help relieve you of the bad vibes of our collective contemporary nightmare.
Undivided: Bobby Few, Mark Tokar, Klaus Kugel, Waclaw Zimpel
(feat. Perry Robinson)
Moves Between Clouds - Live in Warsaw
Label: Multikulti, 2011
Catalogue No: MPT 002
Format: CD
Tracks:
1. Hoping The Morning Say 10:32
2. Moves Between Clouds 14:38
3. What A Big Quiet Noise 19:46
Line-up:
Bobby Few: piano
Mark Tokar: bass
Perry Robinson: clarinet
Klaus Kugel: drums, percussion
Waclaw Zimpel: bass clarinet, clarinet, tarogato
Review:
This all-star international quintet features a number of veteran musicians like Perry Robinson (worked with Gunter Hampel, Henry Grimes, Marshall Allen & Lou Grassi), Bobby Few (Steve Lacy, Booker Ervin, Albert Ayler & Kali Fasteau) and Klaus Kugel (Ganelin Trio Priority, Steve Swell & Carnival Skin). I am not familiar with Mr. Zimpel but Mr. Tokar has worked with Ken Vandermark and in a band called Five Spot with Petras Vysniauskas & Yuri Yaremchuk.
The music on this discs was composed by Waclaw Zimpel, the one member of the quintet with whom I am least familiar. Starting with "Hoping the Morning Say", the quintet is playing a swirling, modal piece with McCoyish free flowing piano, the vibe is quite stunning. "Moves Between Clouds" is a sublime, spacious piece for two poignant simmering clarinets over warm, melodic, hypnotic waves with elegant piano and the superb mallet-work of Klaus Kugel. The final piece, "What a Big Quiet Noise" is a nearly 20-minute epic of transcendent shimmering currents with more cosmic clarinets sailing quietly on top. Both Mr. Zimpel's and Mr. Robinson's clarinets sound wonderful together as does the quick spinning lines of Bobby Few's piano. For those of us who still love those great cerebral, mesmerizing albums by McCoy Tyner or Pharoah Sanders from the early seventies, this disc will help relieve you of the bad vibes of our collective contemporary nightmare. (Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery)
***
After the appraised debut "Passion" Waclaw Zimpel's Undivided band comes back with a new material and I feel honored and gratefull I had a chance to see the band perform it on stage during this year Tzadik festival - an event which was also this cd's release date. I feel what I wrote then about concert still applies to the music on the cd so let me just be brief while I invite you to get back to that old post. Through the three solemn compositions whose titles are inspired by Laura Winter's poems ("Hoping the morning say", "Moves between clouds", "What a big noise") Zimpel explores the whole scale of emotions. There's sorrowness and bitterness, turmoil, fragility yet instead of feeling of anger or despair it all comes down to reflection that brings solace. And in appeasement you'll find wisdom and sense of harmony which stand for those rare moments of beauty that is unspoken for, that brings you tears of joy (like those delicate piano chordings in the title track and spiritual, peacefull unisono melodies played on clarinets). This is cerebral, spiritual, emotional, meditative and yet powerfull and passionate, music that stuns the mind and moves heart and soul. While this probably won't catch you off-guard the way their debut did, it continues its level of excellency and shouldn't be missed. [(Free) Jazz Alchemist]
From the editor:
Undivided is a name of an international quartet formed by a Polish clarinetist Waclaw Zimpel and supported by a remarkable section: Klaus Klugel-one of the most important musicians of the European avant-garde, and Mark Tokar-an outstanding Ukrainian double bass player who co-operates, among others, with Ken Vandermark, Yuri Yaremchuk and Steve Swell. The fourth member of the quartet is Bobby Few-a legendary musician of the improvised scene, the successor of Thelonius Monk and Bud Powell. Their first album ('Passion', Multikulti Project 2010) was enthusiastically received by music critics all over the world. It was, for instance, awarded with Honorable Mention by the acknowledged internet portal All About Jazz. This time Undivided comes back as Quintet with Perry Robinson, one of the best contemporary clarinetists, who has already played or recorded with Henry Grimes, Bill Dixon, Nana Vasconcelos, Andrea Centazzo, Carla Bley, Archie Shepp, Charlie Haden and Anthony Braxton. Undivided is an attempt to present various states of human mind and consciousness by means of organization of sounds in compositions. To this end, Waclaw Zimpel combines tradition of free jazz with folk music and new music composition techniques. Perry Robinson refers in his play to no longer existing world of Jewish musicians-sometimes nostalgic and sometimes ecstatic in his artistic expression.
Sign In
