Blue Zoo             KCD 5074



Borah Bergman - piano
Thomas Borgmann - sopranino and tenor saxophones
Peter Brötzmann - bass clarinet, alto and tenor saxophones

  • Clear visions [part I] (02.23)
  • Clear visions [part II] (09.22)
  • Clear visions [part III] (02.29)
  • Blue zoo [part I] (06.37)
  • Blue zoo [part II] (05.26)
  • Right now is as good a time as any (10.04)
  • Stride ahead (12.25)
  • One block west (05.32)
  • Recorded at Rote Fabrik Zürich on 5 June 1996, with the exception of track 2, recorded at Mixtery Studios, Trumbull, CT, USA on 9 June 1996.
  • Konnex Records   KCD 5074, 1997

 

 ...listen the cd

 

 

CD BLUE ZOO

Oh yeah, here we go. Three of free improv's wildest wonders in a set of spontaneous compositions set to curl the hair on the back of your neck and send you screaming into the night. Nah, it's not all that bad -- or good, depending on your point of view -- but this is a fine example of how the spontaneous composition principle works when it's displayed by three monster musicians such as these.
With two sax players (and Brötzmann also plays bass clarinet) and a pianist all waiting for the moment to cut loose -- and wait, and wait, and wait -- the results are bound to be a bit daunting.
And while it's true they are, they're also a hell of a lot of fun.
Here tensions are created endlessly, it seems, just to see who is going to break and tear into the open field of improvisation first.
Certainly "Clear Visions" is like this, as are the title track and "Stride Ahead".

Elsewhere the trio seems to engage one another in creating loose intervals of improvisation, evoking senses of time and even rhythm in places, which is an illusion.
The intervals created are for polytonal engagement, especially between the two saxophonists.
As these duels ensue as they do on "Right Now" and "One Block West," Borah Bergman tears into the high register and establishes a percussive ostinato that falters in between intervals and moves off to create another it cannot sustain; there's too much going on tonally to stay put for very long at all.
Hence this is a rabid-dog dialogue that is more restrained than it would at first appear, but is nonetheless wilder than 99 percent of the free improv work out there.
It may not be for the faint-hearted, but it is truly rewarding music.
~ All Music Guide

 

 

Bergman/Borgmann/Brötzmann - Blue Zoo

(ab) Je älter Peter Brötzmann wird, umso öfter werden Auftritte dokumentiert, auf denen er nicht die Saxophon-spielende ’Machine Gun’ ist, sondern ein zart aufspielender Mitmusiker.
Seine Bewunderung für so traditionelle MusikerInnen wie Sidney Bechet, Coleman Hawkins und Billie Holiday wird immer offensichtlicher. So auch auf "Blue Zoo", dem Mitschnitt des Konzertes in der Roten Fabrik in Zürich vom Juni letzten Jahres.
Gemeinsam mit Saxophonist Thomas Borgmann, mit dem er auch in "Ruf der Heimat" zusammenspielt, und Pianist Borah Bergman spielten sie allerfeinsten Free Jazz.

Die Musik scheint, wie ein brodelnder Vulkan, immer kurz vor dem Ausbruch zu stehen. Die Spannung zwischen den Dreien ist oft schier unerträglich. Doch die befreiende, erwartete Eruption kommt nicht in einer alles zerstörenden Explosion.
Stattdessen hören sie einfach auf wenn keine Spannungsteigerung mehr möglich ist. Dabei entwickeln sie ihre Gedanken in oft langen Duo-Passagen mit einer klaren Trennung von musikalischem Vorder- und Hindergrund.
~ @ lesson

 


 

 

© thomas borgmann | impressum