Chant/Dymny/Trilla - Ban-Opticon (2019)

Chant/Dymny/Trilla

Tom Chant - saxophones
Michał Dymny - electric guitar
Vasco Trilla - drums

Ban-Opticon

DISCORDIAN 109

By Andrzej Nowak

Druga płyta z cyklu realizacji koncertowych Nocturna Discordia, jakie Discordian Records organizuje w każdą środę, począwszy od 2014 roku, w klubie Soda Acústic, w sercu dzielnicy Gracia w Barcelonie. 7 marca 2018 roku, na drobnym podwyższeniu klubowym melduje się trójka improwizatorów: Tom Chant - saksofon tenorowy i sopranowy, Michał Dymny - gitara elektryczna i Vasco Trilla - perkusja. Zarejestrowany materiał dźwiękowy podzielono na płycie na trzy części, opatrzono tytułami i pozwolono, by trwał 45 minut i 38 sekund. Muzyka dostępna w formie elektronicznej, na stronie bandcampowej Discordian Records.

Początek. W koncert wchodzimy dynamicznie, jakbyśmy wskakiwali w krzyżowy ogień pytań, na które nie ma prostych odpowiedzi. Szereg zmieniających się sytuacji scenicznych - sonoryzujący saksofon tenorowy, impulsywny drumming, basowe przebiegi gitary elektrycznej, potem drobne imitacje tenoru i gitary, niczym komentarz dla rezonującego zestawu perkusyjnego, wreszcie stopa, która bije czeluść bębna basowego niczym serce w trakcie konwulsyjnego ataku. Na wybrzmieniu muzycy tulą się do siebie, ślą pozdrowienia i wyrazy sympatii, a na finał, już bez saksofonu, Dymny i Trilla kroją piękną ekspozycję. Tom powraca dosłownie na ostatni dźwięk.

Rozwinięcie. Pulsujący gryf gitary, suche oddechy saksofonu - cudny, filigranowy duet w oczekiwaniu na perkusję, która podąża z oddali. Trilla ledwie dotyka werbla, podczas gdy na obu flankach prawdziwe tańce i swawole. Koncepcja ma swój rytm, muzycy - jakby w poszukiwaniu pretekstu dramaturgicznego do rozpoczęcia galopu - nakręcają się wzajemnie. W 7 minucie następuje wyhamowanie - szczypta oniryzmu i plastry psychodelii rodzą się pod palcami Dymnego. Dynamika nagrania zdaje się być głęboko ukryta, albowiem narracja toczy się niemal wyłącznie w górnym paśmie, bez basowego backgroundu. Niemniej Dymny, nawet gdy wpada w mroczną sonorystykę, nie gubi po drodze podskórnego rytmu, który zaszyty ma chyba w osobistym DNA. Kolejnym krokiem winna być drobna eskalacja napięcia, która ma ostatecznie miejsce, ale znów nie jest typowa, albowiem Trilla konsekwentnie unika drummingu. W 13 minucie znów wzajemnie wytłumienie - tutaj czynione w obliczu świetnej komunikacji. Wreszcie Trilla włącza werbel, tomy, talarze i stopę - oto i 16 minuta, a narracja grupy osiąga pełny wymiar free jazzowego power tria.

Zakończenie. Saksofon Chanta kwili jak sroczka, Trilla i Dymny ślą drony. Klimat zdaje się być lekko post-psychodeliczny, a na gryfie gitary nawet post-industrialny. Szczególne cuda dzieją się na gryfie, w międzyczasie Trilla włącza swoje małe robaczki, a Chant preparuje tubę podejrzanymi przedmiotami. 9 minuta to moment, w którym muzycy być może wykonują pierwszy krok w kierunku finalizacji koncertu. Dymny eksponuje zwinność swoich palców, Trilla kipi dźwiękami niczym paw na wybiegu, Chant dmie z dużą desperacją. Dynamizacja narracji wydaje się jednak dość pozorna - muzykom raczej bliżej do ciszy. Dialog na flankach, ledwie szeleszczący werbel. Krok ku eskalacji zostaje jednak postawiony, ale z dużą rozwagą, bez brawury. Trilla zdaje się zagęszczać ścieg drummingu, a wszyscy muzycy dopingować do ognistego finału. Piękna kipiel na ostatniej prostej, choć inna niż w drugiej części, bardziej rockowa, z błyskawicami.

Tekst pierwotnie opublikowany na blogu Trybuna Muzyki Spontanicznej.

Dymny/Trilla – Cave Canem (2015)

Dymny/Trilla

Michał Dymny - electric guitar
Vasco Trilla - drums
Paulina Owczarek - baritone saxophone (6,8)

Cave Canem

FMR 399



By Adam Baruch

This is an album by a duo comprising of Polish guitarist Michał Dymny and Portuguese/Catalan drummer Vasco Trilla. Polish saxophonist Paulina Owczarek guests on a couple of tracks. The album presents nine pieces, assumed to be spontaneous improvisations, which are not specifically credited on the album's artwork.

The content of this album is a typical radical avant-garde offering, which can only be considered as "music" under the most flexible definition of the term. There is plenty of sound creation and even interplay, but devoid completely of any melodic or harmonic substance this Art Form is accessible to a very narrow audience, and even then mostly live on stage rather than in recorded form. The two tracks with Owczarek participating are strikingly more accessible by the way.

But searching and exploring is an essential part of the artistic process and has its place among the many Improvised Music/ambient recordings, even if it is able to reach a limited audience. The fact that the musicians/performers are able to cooperate and communicate within this sonic environment is already a proof that such experimentation has its justification.

The question of course is if this music is able to make listeners place this album in the player more than once? I am not qualified to judge it beyond my personal universe, but I rather doubt it. Nevertheless the fact that this music was recorded and released is a statement, which left a mark on the overall artistic fabric of our common universe, and is already fully valid as such. In order to be alive, music has to have its avant-garde, as much as it needs its mainstream. Therefore these efforts, which might seem extreme and narcissistic at one point of time, might prove to be prophetic some time in the future. Who can tell?

Dymny/Mazur/Trilla - Tidal Heating (2016)

Dymny/Mazur/Trilla

Michał Dymny – electric guitar
Rafał Mazur – acoustic bass guitar
Vasco Trilla - drums, percussion

Tidal Heating

MW 947-2

By Piotr Wojdat

W ramach późnowiosennych remanentów przypominamy zeszłoroczną płytę tria Dymny/Mazur/Trilla. Album został wydany przez wytwórnię Not Two Records, a jego zawartość stanowi koncert zarejestrowany w krakowskim klubie Alchemia. W skład grupy wchodzi dwóch polskich muzyków improwizujących - Michał Dymny i Rafał Mazur - oraz hiszpański perkusista Vasco Trilla. 

Warto zacząć od muzyka, który zdaje się odgrywać główną rolę na "Tidal Heating". A jest nim gitarzysta Michał Dymny, znany z działalności artystycznej pod szyldami Nucleon czy Cracow Improvisers Orchestra, oraz mający spore doświadczenie w komponowaniu muzyki teatralnej i filmowej. Ważnym ogniwem tria jest także Rafał Mazur - wirtuoz akustycznej gitary basowej, dla którego istotą sztuki jako takiej jest swobodna improwizacja. 

Zarówno Dymny, jak i Mazur są barwnymi postaciami muzycznej sceny ze stolicy Małopolski. Dodatkowo ten drugi cieszy się także uznaniem poza granicami naszego kraju, o czym świadczy jego współpraca z tuzami współczesnego jazzu i muzyki improwizowanej, m.in. z saksofonistą Keirem Neuringerem, pianistą Agustim Fernandezem czy perkusistą Raymondem Stridem. Obaj mają swój styl oraz potrafią płynnie przechodzić z jednej techniki gry na instrumencie w drugą, a tworzenie muzyki traktują poniekąd jako wyzwanie.

Na "Tidal Heating" składają się dwa utwory - prawie 50-minutowy "First Phaze" oraz ponad 30-minutowy "Second Phaze". Oba sprawiają takie wrażenie, jakby były efektem improwizacji od początku do końca. Dzięki temu narracja utworów jest wypadkową stanu umysłu muzyków z tamtych chwil oraz ich umiejętności. A te są niemałe. Zatem dla przykładu gitara Michała Dymnego może wybrzmieć bardziej jazzowo, czego przykładem są pierwsze minuty "Second Phaze". Innym razem słuchacz może poczuć się jak w środku potężnej trąby powietrznej, by potem podążać mało utartymi szlakami sonorystycznych poszukiwań. Jeśli do tego dodać, że preparacje instrumentów są tutaj na porządku dziennym, a współpraca między muzykami układa się niemal idealnie, to summa summarum wychodzi na to, że "Tidal Heating" to bardzo udane wydawnictwo z nurtu szeroko pojętej improwizacji bez ściśle określonych ram gatunkowych.

Nucleon – Galofalot (2013) ****

Alexander Papierz - saxophone
Michal Dymny - guitar
Tomek Gluc - electronics
Jakub Rutkowski - drums
with
Bronislaw Duzy - trombone
Marcin Gagola - electronics

PRIVATE EDITION



By Adam Baruch

This is the third album by Polish avant-garde Jazz group Nucleon, which consists of saxophonist Aleksander Papierz, guitarist Michal Dymny, electronics man Tomasz Gluc and drummer Jakub Rutkowski. Two guest musicians: trombonist Bronislaw Duzy and Marcin Gagola who uses FX (whatever special effects that means) also make an appearance. Their music is an amalgam of Jazz, Improvised Music, Rock, Ambient and Electronics, which somehow manages to sound sane and even make perfect sense.

The album includes ten original compositions, which are mostly credited to the entire ensemble. Although the music is obviously rather free and spontaneous, there is enough melodic content and rhythmic sanity, which make it fairly effortless to listen to, albeit perhaps not by less experienced music connoisseurs. This kind of musical creation is all about group improvisation and close cooperation between the musicians, which are splendidly achieved herein. As a result there are a few solos per se and most of the music is worked out between the collective performances. And yet there is melody, stated mostly by the saxophone, harmony and clear rhythmic patterns, which are easy to follow. Paradoxically this truly "strange" music is simply "nice" and pleasant.

Nucleon is just one of many superb Improvised Music / Avant-Garde ensembles active currently in Poland, and they certainly represent the renaissance of musical inventiveness, similar to what happened (on a different musical plane) to the early Polish Jazz after WWII. This phenomenon is heartwarming, especially at a time when Culture and Art are on the defense and retreat most of the time.

This album requires several listening sessions in order to really get into it, but it only gets better each time it's played, so the process is really a pleasant experience. I had tremendous fun getting to know this album and enjoyed every minute of it. This is "weird" music in the best meaning of the term and wholeheartedly recommended to every serious music lover. Brace yourself for a ride!

Elder Space Bankers - Money Back Guarantee (2013)

Elder Space Bankers (band)

Paulina Owczarek: Alto and Baritone Sax
El Pricto: Alto Sax and Conductor
Wiktor Krzak: Bassoon and electronics
Michal Dymny: Electric Guitar
Vasco Trilla: Drums and percussion

Money Back Guarantee (2013)

By Maciej Nowotny

This Polish- Spanish collaboration is a next project of small yet active cooperative of young musicians from Kraków who are obviously enamored in freeimprov version of modern jazz music. What I have written with respect to their previous album "Live in Cracow" released in 2012 may very well be repeated here. The quality of this music can be measured by depths of collective spontaneity. It seems to me most sophisticated form of jazz of all and most difficult to accomplish successfully. Surprisingly it is often taken by young or poorly educated musicians. The result is often discouraging to audience which is confronted with meaningless cacophony.

However when musicians start to read each other well this music can be very rewarding offering pleasures hard to met on so well trodden mainstream paths. This specific album shows many moments of such unrestrained beauty, in fact many more than on above mentioned their previous disc. It is clear that members of this band begin to resonate better one with each other, to harmonize, to have the common goal. The music is therefore more coherent, truly captivating, even if somewhat challenging to listener. But with freeimprov such a challenge is all this kind of music is about and I definitely do not regret to be confronted with it. On contrary I feel intrigued and will be waiting impatiently to listen what their next step will be. As this CD clearly shows that they are on right track as far as this project is concerned.

Pseudo-Devival I - Live In Krakow (2012)

Pseudo-Devival I

Paulina Owczarek - alto and baritone saxophone
El Pricto - alto saxophone and conduction
Wiktor Krzak - bassoon
Michal Dymny - electric guitar
Vasco Trilla - drums and percussion
Tomek Choloniewski - drums and percussion

Live In Krakow (2012)

By Maciej Nowotny

From linear notes: "Devival is a term used by both the Church of the SubGenius and later Discordianism for a gathering or festival of followers. The name is a pun on Christian revivals. 

The central belief in the church of the SubGenius is the pursuit of Slack, which generally stands for the sense of freedom, independence, and original thinking that comes when you stop worrying about personal goals. In essence, Slack is about finding satisfaction with what you have and who you are, as opposed for searching for satisfaction in accomplishment".

So this is it as far as (let's take it with a wink...) philosophical background of this music. Musically speaking this is typical free improv. This is quite big ensamble consisting of six persons of whom best known are drummer Tomek Chołoniewski (check his solo drum album "Un"), guitarist Michał Dymny (known from interesting collaborations with Rafał Mazur or avantgarde band called Nucleon), and saxophonist(ess?) Paulina Owczarek (known from another project with Chołoniewski titled "Uncharted Territory"). 

Apart from them we found here EL Pricto who is playing on alto saxophone and conducting (OMG! Karajan would be astonished by his work indeed...), Wiktor Krzak on bassoon and Vasco Trilla on drums and percussion. But it is difficult to distinguish someone. As typically for free improv it is collective work which decides about the quality of such a cooperation. In this case it deserves praise though my impression is that this music makes biggest impact when played in duos or trios. When whole ensemble joins the game it becomes too disorganized for my taste and I hear little more than unpleasant noise. 

All in all, this is important recording since it seems to me that all these young musisians are somehow connected with Cracow scene. The only serious scene in Poland which up to this pint was almost entirely dominated by rather conservative mainstream jazz. I am therefore happy that new generation is beginning to enrich the musical landscape of this so splendid city...

Rafal Mazur / Keir Neuringer - Improwizje (2010); Rafal Mazur / Michal Dymny - Extension (2009); Eve Rise / Rafal Mazur - Elan Vital (2009)

Since his album "Unison Lines" issued in 2010 by Not Two label I've become a great fan of avantgarde bassist Rafał Mazur.  I therefore am waiting impatiently for his new records which unfortunately are still not coming. So in a meantime I was very happy to discover on one of many fast-developing net labels named INSUBORDINATIONS couple of his earlier recordings, available for free rehearsal.

"Improwizje"

Rafał Mazur  - acoustic bass guitar

Keir Neuringer - alto saxophone

On "Improwizje", recorded in Crracow in venue called Bunkier Sztuki on 22th April 2006, once again we meet the same artists as on above mentioned "Unison Lines", that is Rafał Mazur and Keir Neuringer. Mazur bass and Neuringer saxophone harmonize perfectly: while Mazur line is edgy and stumbling, never obvious, always restless and searching, Neuringer alto saxophone yearns, wails, squeals, full of raw emotions and crystal clear communicado. This 18:35 long improvisation proves that there are few duos in Poland, if not in Europe, that can conjure in musical dialogue emotions stronger and more primal than these two musicians.

Check this link for music or download.

"Extension"

Rafał Mazur - acoustic bass guitar

Michał Dymny - electric guitar

On this album, 33:10 minutes long, recorded on 15th May 2008 in Cracow, we got intimate and subdued conversation of two guitars: Mazur - acoustic bass and Michał Dymny - electric one. Regardless change of style for more "cool" we still get here immensely creative work with Michał Dymny eloquent electric guitar being more than enough challenge fo Rafał Mazur bass pulse. Ambiguous and unsettled it all the same provides very rewarding music indeed!  

Check this link for music or download.

"Elan Vital"

Eve Risse - grand piano

Rafał Mazur - acoustic bass guitar

Finally this one recorded 21.06.2008, Centre of Contemporary Arts, in Kraków, lasts 22:52 minutes. Let me quote few lines from its review: "This experimental net label is always reliable for fascinating avant-garde improvisations and Elan Vital is no exception. With the work being totally acoustic, the two artists delicately weave a pattern of fragmented phrases, staccato lines, and soft tones into a fairy tale piece of art. The two musicians pluck through the session on bass and piano strings for approximately two thirds of the time, then change to bow and keyboard for a decidedly more tense interaction. It is a very interesting work that shouldn’t be too odd for the avant-garde music novice. This is another highly recommended online album from the always exploring Insubordinations net label."

Check this link for music or download.

Summarizing, this three albums from highly original bassist Rafał Mazur shall keep us busy while waiting for his new material after above mentioned excellent "Unison Lines" recorded with saxophonist Keir Neuringer last year for Not Two label.

Author of text: Maciej Nowotny

http://kochamjazz.blox.pl/html

Nucleon - Fitoplankton (Audio Tong, 2011)

Nucleon (group)
Aleksander Papierz (sax)
Michal Dymny (guitar)
Tomek Gluc (electronics)
Jakub Rutkowski (drums)
Andrzej Sawik (piano)

Fitoplankton (Audio Tong; 2011)

(Editor) Stephan Moore (check his excellent blog: JazzWrap) sheds light on this very interesting third release by Nucleon:

With a combination of traditional fusion and a modern rock aesthetic, Nucleon are building an exciting book of material that we should really take note of. The group, developed by founding members Jakub Rutowski and Andrzej Sawik, quietly (or loudly) built a huge following within their home country of Poland. Their self-titled debut ("Nucleon") was fantastic and had all the elements of a young group searching through their influences but also creating its own identity.

The ensemble suffered a major loss last year with the unexpected passing of the classically trained co-leader, Sawik before the group could finish its next record. But Nucleon forged on and created the beautiful, Fitoplankton, an album that explodes through the speakers with vibrancy and urgency. With a sound that is reminiscent of King Crimson, Headhunters, Last Exit and ironically, Nucleus, Nucleon is that "something different" you've been looking for the last couple of weeks.

"Where R U Going Boy?" rambles ans swirls with almost 'third stream' quality in the outset with Papierz and Gluc leading the charge. Sawik, whose piano parts are sampled in perfectly, joins in as the rest of group follow. It's an heavy laden groove that has lots of funky moments but the standout performances lay between Papierz, whose delivery is on fire along with Rutkowski's pulsating timing that never lets the group simmer down. "Metalug", another bristling piece highlights the groups rock influences with a cavalcade of chords in its opening that never really lets up. It's a short piece that soon rolls into the quiet and evocative "Sola W Occie" which is driven by Sawik's classical keys and gently moves back and forth between ambient and experimental thought. Papierz delivers some nice almost Coleman-esque solo passages with Gluc and Rutkowski adding eerie direction just underneath his notes.

"Fitoplankton" presented me with thoughts of Red era King Crimson mixed with the keyboard psychedelics of Headhunters. The group mix a sense of raw, gritty energy thorugh Dymny and Rutkowski but tempered by some buoyant floatation from Papierz.

Nucleon are a group that I hope will soldier on after the lose of their influential co-founder. They found a way to intermingle Sawik's pieces into this power record which keeps his name alive. But it also gives the group a new point of direction for the future. 

Check music from this inspiring CD:

Author of test: Stephan Moore
http://jazzwrap.blogspot.com/