AprilCadence2013

GRATKOWSKI/
BROWN/ WINANT/
+ GERHARD E.
WINKLER
VERMILLION TRACES
LEO 653/654
CD 1: TRAMPOLINE/ RETORT/
UNDERBELLY/ SIRENS/
GESTICULATIONS/ OPAQUE
CIRCLE/ FALL BACK/ FUNKY
GHOST/ VERMILLION TRACES
74:09
CD 2: BIKINI ATOLL/ VERGIN
ON ORANGE/ SHADOW OF
HANDS 41: 25
Frank Gratkowski, as, cl b cl,
contra b cl; Chris Brown p, live
computer signal processing;
William Winant, perc; Gerhard
E. Winkler, Computer and
live electronics on Bikini
Donaueshinger, 17 Oct 2009
New Issues
185 | CadenCe Magazine | april May June 2013
As the liner notes state, and as any astute listener
can hear, this music sounds like contemporary
composition, but is all improvised.
The three musicians met in 2006 and have been
performing regularly together. Even though there
are only three players, because of the nature of the
sounds, it is often difficult to tell who is doing what.
The electronic sounds dominate the performances. I
am not sure if the reeds are electronically enhanced
or if Gratkowski is just making various sounds with his
instruments to work with the electronics. But there are
places where it is clear that a sax or clarinet is being
played. Brown’s piano reflects various recent influences
such as Cecil Taylor. To my ears, though Winant’s
percussion blends nicely with the electronic sounds, my
own tastes would have preferred a bit more assertive
percussion playing.
While the short pieces are okay, they go by too quickly.
It is in the longer pieces that we get to hear some real
developments and interactions between the players.
This is especially the case with “Underbelly” and
“Fallback.” The pieces, like so many long improvised
pieces, have their highs and lows, but in both of these
pieces there is some nice sustained interplay. And the
beginning of “Funky Ghost” with percussion and bass
clarinet is a nice contrast to the very soft ending of
“Fallback.” Winant does play a bit more assertively on
this track. He is playing various percussion instruments,
and a drum set. “Bikini,” the piece with Winkler, stands
out a bit from the rest. It is a bit more complex and all
four musicians play more. There is more electronics,
but also more of everyone else. Some of the computergenerated
sounds were prepared and the others had
to improvise around those sounds. There is a lot of
percussion, subtle as it is, some nice piano clusters, and
some nice bass clarinet lines. And this just makes the
point about the relationship between purely improvised
music and contemporary classical composed music,
where both forms use the same materials. And here
they do it extremely well.
Bernie Koenig