If there’s a common theme linking this month’s releases then it must surely be rhythm. The first two come from composers experimenting with complex polyrhythms, Møster’s beats are rather more rudimentary but devastatingly effective, while Neset’s percussion-less chamber quartet play with the kind of gusto that generates its own momentum.
Mike Chillingworth: Friday The Thirteenth (Ubuntu Music UBU0174)
London-based alto saxophonist Mike Chillingworth’s arresting sound combines Coltrane’s sheets of sound, the burning lyricism of late-period Art Pepper and the angular logic of Steve Coleman. To date he is perhaps best known for his work with guitarist Ant Law, and this is his second album as a leader. With a top-flight quartet featuring Ivo Neame (p), Tom Farmer (b) and Jon Scott (d), Chillingworth aims to stress-test his fundamentally melodic and groove-based compositions by reframing them in a series of complex polyrhythmic structures.
The title track shouldn’t be confused with the Monk piece of the same name, though its geometric strokes do bear some resemblance to the pianist’s Evidence, and after an energetic Colemanesque burnout Chillingworth passes the baton to the ever inventive Neame, who makes the first of his many intelligent contributions. Kilter Filter is slower but no less rhythmically offbeat, while the spacious Narwhal moves to a beguiling and somewhat ambiguous pulse. Chillingworth is at his most impassioned on Sync Or Swim and Keep It Simple, and both the closing Coach Trip Special and the album’s only cover, Steve Swallow’s Ladies In Mercedes, are so unabashedly playful that you can only smile.
Felix Henkelhausen: Deranged Particles (Fun In The Church Fun051)
Part of Berlin’s thriving creative music scene, bassist Felix Henkelhausen’s outstanding group features the brilliantly idiosyncratic British trumpeter Percy Pursglove alongside Elias Stemeseder (p, kyb), Philipp Gropper (ts), Evi Filippou (vib, pc) and Philip Dornbusch (d). Describing this set as “music that is based on interlocking grids, particles that are individual yet intertwined”, its central rhythmic concepts were inspired by a set of rhythmic inversions played by drummer Eric McPherson, Henkelhausen’s bandmate in the trio Vice Versa, which the bassist likens to superimposed 3:4:5 time.
The album’s faux Deutsche Grammophon cover hints at the simultaneous sense of seriousness and irreverence of what lies within. If Henekelhausen’s rhythmic and compositional structures are undoubtedly complex, they’re never overwhelming; a healthy dash of free-jazz polyphony underscores the extent to which the music is shaped in the moment. Amongst the album’s numerous highlights are the churning grooves of Particle II, its theme thoroughly cross-examined by the contrapuntal horns before the ensemble breaks down into a futuristic electro-acoustic soundscape. Pursglove is at his most lyrical on Particle I, while Filippou’s vibes duel with Dornbusch on Particle IV. Rapidly cycled jump-cuts introduce an extra layer of unpredictability to the Dolphy-esque Yet To Be, and on the breathless Particle VIII vocalist Myka 9 riffs some ingenious counter-rhythmic patterns as the group sign-off in a glorious hail of chaos.
Kjetil Møster: Springs (Action Jazz AJ003)
Formed in 2010 for a commission from the Kongsberg Jazz Festival, Møster! has a settled line-up that includes saxophonist Kjetil Møster (The Core, Ultralyd), guitarist Hans Magnus ‘Snah’ Ryan (Motorpsycho), bassist Nikolai Hængsle (Elephant9) and drummer Kenneth Kapstad (Spidergawd). This is their sixth full-length album and the first not to be released by Hubro, and it’s something of a collaboration with longstanding producer Jørgen Træn (Jagajazzist). Not only does the producer edit and shape the material, but he subtly alters the group’s sound, introducing elements of ambient electronica, indie rock and even Brazilian music into the final mix.
Longstanding fans needn’t worry that this is a belated tilt for chart success – if anything Træn brings a little clarity to their unapologetically dark, dense and noisy music. Dreaming Xaxado, Torsional Pendulum and Atmospheric Entry lean into dub and motoric 70s rock, Spaced Out Invaders Part II turns eastwards, while Knuckles To The Ground has a snarly post-punk strut. If the astral travelling of 70s Pharaoh Sanders is more your thing, look no further than Liquid Fumes, while the closing Atmospheric Entry could be a Bill Laswell remix of a lost session from Archie Shepp and Jaki Liebezeit. A wonderfully flowing set from first to last, Springs is a great place to start for anyone new to Møster!
Marius Neset & Leif Ove Andsnes: Who We Are (Simax PSC1401)
When Marius Neset burst onto the scene in 2011 as a formidable technician in the Brecker mould, few could have predicted the extent to which he would subsequently gravitate towards composition and arrangement. These days he is as much known for his jazz-classical crossovers as his prodigious blowing, achieving peak visibility with a barnstorming performance of Geyser with the London Sinfonietta at the 2022 BBC Proms. If Neset’s recent output hasn’t always fulfilled his considerable early promise, recordings like this are a reminder of why he still matters.
The work was commissioned from Neset by classical pianist Leif Ove Andsnes for the Rosendal Chamber Music Festival. The two headliners are joined by the saxophonist’s flautist sister Ingrid and British-born Louisa Tuck, principal cellist at the Oslo Philharmonic since 2015. Adopting a broadly post-ECM chamber-improv aesthetic, the music has a healthy balance between tight ensemble passages and relaxed conversational interplay. The title track touches variously on 20th-century impressionism and serialism, and although Andsnes claims not to be an improviser, his darting runs and heavy low-end overtones seem to provide a blow-by-blow commentary to the saxophonist’s solos. Elsewhere, highlights include another airing of Neset’s oft-performed Prague’s Ballet, and the three part tenor-piano duet Chaconne, where Neset holds little back. A welcome return to form, this is one of the most persuasive jazz-classical hybrids I’ve heard for some time.
2024 favourites
Kjetil Husebø: Emerging Narratives (new). A serious work that brings a fresh sophistication to the ever popular field of ambient Nordic electro-jazz. Gerd Dudek, Buschi Niebergall, Edward Vesala: Open (archive). Remaster of a sublime 1977 set from FMP, Open is every bit the equal of ECM’s more celebrated free jazz from the period.