Search - Leimgruber, Hauser :: L'enigmatique

Pure innovation. Pure music

04/10/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Leimgruber is a Swiss reed player who I learned about from a friend when I asked for recommendations of artists who deserve to be better known. All I can say is that my friend is a genius. Leimgruber seems to share with Anthony Braxton a fascination with all the possible ways that the reed instruments can make a sound and how all those variations can be bent into music both improvised and notated. He also shares with Roscoe Mitchell a fascination with the dynamics of sound and with how music can be expressed (implied?) thru the use of space or silence. He can play multiphonics or other effects so soft it sounds like a whisper. The result is that you have to listen.

He is well matched on this CD by the percussionist Fritz Hauser. Hauser has shared Leimgruber's fascinations for years and the result is some of the most intuitive and startling music I have heard in a while.

Leimgruber squeals, squeaks, whistles, hisses, honks, growls, and then plays beautiful but wierd straight sax (e.g., on The Arrival). Hauser is everywhere on the drums-playing powerful African rhythms, riding the cymbals so quietly it sounds like a pulsating electonic hum, and in general cracking and popping and implying a wonderful variety of rhythms.

Let me be clear- this is strange music. You will not be playing it all day or every day. But for me it has become music that is irreplaceable. Sometimes it is just what I want to hear. It serves to clear my sonic palette and to remind me that there are people out there who never stop exploring, never do anything for any reason than because it sounds good. I will be seeking out other recordings by these two and by their other partners.

The European free jazz community (or that music community that goes back and forth between improvised and notated musics) is hugely worth exploring. This CD has reminded me once again that the best music out there is frequently to be found in either your local clubs or on distant shores."