AprilCadence2013

MUSKAP
UPRIGHT AT THE
END OF LIPPESTAD
PRISMA RECORDS
THEME FOR HENRY (TAKE 1)/
THEME FOR HENRY (TAKE 2)/
MARCHE MILITAIRE/ VIOLET/
LIPPESTAD/ CLACRI-BADOU/
TO MISTET/ MO2/ MO3/
CHALUMODULE (TAKE 1)/
CHALUMODULE (TAKE 2)/
CHALUMODULE (TAKE 3)
70:51
Jean-Francois Doucet, flt,
pic; Jon Christophersen,
alto cl; Harold Clark, b, vcl,
electron; Anthony
Barnett, perc, misc
instruments.
July 15, 26, 1976,
Høvikodden, Norway.
New Issues
180 | CadenCe Magazine | april May June 2013
Philosopher Lao Tzu stated that “Life is a series of
natural and spontaneous changes.”
Using spontaneous music as a representative paradigm
for life, the trio known as Muskap worked to create an
intuitive music that was free from form and clichés.
Deeply influenced by Karlheinz Stockhausen and his
“Aus den Sieben Tagen,”Muskap’s sound draws from the
experiences of life to create a conversational setting
where three instrumentalists are free to discover human
relationships on a new level. Although the liner notes
give much of the inspirational credit to Stockhausen,
it is Stockhausen’s mentor, Olivier Messiaen, whose
influence can be clearly heard on these recordings.
The rhythmic intricacies and birdsongs of Messiaen
psychologically seep into the conceptual language of
these musicians. The first important strength of these
recordings is the abundance of variety. Often, pure
improvisation can sound like a random jumble of sound,
but Muskap is careful to vary the theoretical model for
each performance. “Violet” begins as a commotion of
noise but gradually moves into melodic brilliance as
each instrument finds its place in the order. The title,
“Marche Militaire,” perfectly describes the jovial, dancelike
presentation of another performance. The highlight
of the recording comes from Doucet’s flute and piccolo
mastery. Of all of the musicians, Doucet seems to have a
largest penchant for this type of musical setting.
Each of these performances was recorded in July of
1976 and is just now being released to the public 36
years after the recording took place. Muskap stands as
one of Norway’s earliest ensembles to explore this type
of extemporaneous music-making. Spontaneity can
be a double-edged sword. As Olav Thommessen’s liner
notes state, “Occasionally, a musical situation
emerges where nothing happens of much interest…
This record is proof of what can emerge when things do
go right!”
Dustin Mallory