projects
upcoming huricain
Pascal Niggenkemper | Gerald Cleaver | Simon Nabatov
︎︎︎ reviews
UPCOMING HURRICANE is a new group in a traditional form, a particular concatenation of musicians that gelled with remarkable speed and which brings its own strong personality to the idea of the piano trio. It has a layered rhythmic dynamism that comes directly from the tradition and the exploding, unfettered energy of free improvisation. It was the young bassist Pascal Niggenkemper’s idea to put together this band with the brilliant veterans Simon Nabatov and Gerald Cleaver, and it’s a sign of both Niggenkemper’s skills and his prescience that the group possesses the depth, vitality and vision that it has.
For his part, Niggenkemper emphasizes the importance of this recording for his own voice: “This recording was important for me. It is a step to free myself up and to give the listener something that can't be measured or evaluated, with no pre-thoughts or compositions or grids. I need to go beyond that. This is a record that follows intuition. It’s a rite--a communication that is very direct, avoiding preconceived ideas, patterns or cliché. That's why it is related to something mystical, personal. If you take out the musical vocabulary, the trio plays music that could have been played by our ancestors.”
Listening to the playbacks, Niggenkemper kept coming back to the group’s special sense of movement, finding in the idea of wind a force that “reflects the spirit of our recording, a natural power that can be found in the trio’s communication. It’s a metaphor that reflects the way we communicate: sometimes very dense and strong over long passages, sometimes light, changing the texture. Furthermore we’re all from different continents and cultures: wind can be seen as a vehicle or link that connects us. It’s also a universal metaphor for freedom which we aim for in the improvisations. The idea of the wind corresponds to my aspiration to communicate freely with other musicians.”
Each of Niggenkemper’s striking titles invokes another element of wind and the closely related idea of flight, until one realizes that this afternoon of improvised dialogues is in itself a coherent suite, a set of inspirations passed back and forth as three remarkable improvisers become a band. “Pusteblume,“ which grows from Niggenkemper’s beautiful arco introduction (his tone hints initially at a soprano saxophone), is the blow-ball of a dandelion, the sudden explosion in air of new seed. “Upcoming Hurricane” may be self-explanatory, but the extended improvisation goes to the core of this group’s identity, first suggesting to this reviewer the parallel of Money Jungle, by the singular trio of Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Max Roach. Here there’s a similar energy and a similar sense of dialogue, growing to a mounting tempest of musical lines with Niggenkemper’s almost vocal bass (“Mingus is my hero,” he exclaims, when I mention the resemblance) chewing through the thunder and lightning of the piano and drums.
“Arbol de PIedra” refers to a startling rock formation in Bolivia in which the wind has blown away the surrounding sand to reveal a rock that bears remarkable resemblance to a tree. “Aeolus”, invoking the god of the winds in Greek mythology, is the sole composed figure here. Nabatov takes the initial phrase and builds it into a vast edifice that ultimately collapses at once into chaos and lyricism. “Fighting the Mill,” referring to Don Quixote’s adventure with the windmill, shows the trio’s talent for extended timbral development, a looming resonance joining piano strings, bowed bass and the light-filled touch of Cleaver’s cymbals in which all is a kind of anticipation.
“Rahonavis,” named for a small and bird-like dinosaur, may suggest flight in the very spaciousness that the three manage to develop, parts developing in isolation then suddenly converging, one musician’s phrase suddenly spinning into collective movement. “Mongolfière” refers to the French balloon and the dawn of manned flight, fitting metaphor for the way the trio takes flight here, and fitting image for the way the group is able to play at the limits of control—making sustained flights that continue to develop a sense of expanding coherence.
Listening to the sparks ignited in the group’s first meeting that afternoon in Köln testifies both to the group’s creative spontaneity and its special potential.
Stuart Broomer
reviews
"The new album, Upcoming Hurricane, pretty much says it all. This is a heavy storm of sound that comes on quietly but resonates brightly over 60+ minutes.
Clean, open and improvised, Niggenkemper is a brilliant performer but more importantly an astute and crafty composer and leader. Niggenkemper's idea of space, wind and earth as a theme for exploring music is embedded throughout this session.
Exquisite execution by composer and trio."... Stephan Moore, JazzWrap read full article
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..."All three are highly attuned to one another, united in unspoken synergy, whether in delicate colloquy or in furious extremis.
Niggenkemper's wiry presence holds it all together, his subterranean rumble transmuting at times into propulsive thrum, though he is at his most individual with his expressive bow work.
Niggenkemper has carved out a very strong outing, and raises hopes that this isn’t a one-off agglomeration."... John Sharpe, All About Jazz read full article
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..."Here Niggenkemper, one of the most virtuosic and promising bass players of the younger improv generation, is joined by Simon Nabatov on piano and Gerald Cleaver on drums and together they have created one of the most fascinating piano trio albums I have heard in the last few years.
Pascal Niggenkemper said that playing together with Nabatov and Cleaver was “a step to free myself up and to give the listener something that can't be measured or evaluated, with no pre-thoughts or compositions or grids. I need to go beyond that. This is a record that follows intuition.” The music speaks for itself."... Martin Schray, Free Jazz Blog read full article
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..."The best example of this group's facility is on the nearly 12-minutes title track, where the trio builds a dense, layered, and ever-increasingly energized sound that morphs constantly into a thunderhead. The brewing tempest has Nabatov favoring left hand rumblings, Niggenkemper the reverberations of energy from bowed and plucked strings, and Cleaver a churning surge of power. It is a masterpiece of instant composition."...
Mark Corroto, All About Jazz read full article
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En síntesis: Pascal Niggenkemper, Simon Nabatov y Gerald Cleaver configuran en Upcoming Hurricane un alegato estético casi tan poderoso e intemporal como el viento pero enunciado con la suficiente convicción, autoridad, imaginación y pericia para llegar a su propio destino creativo.
Sergio Piccirilli, elintruso.com read full article
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..."Por encima de otras consideraciones resalta la gran variedad que presenta la música que aparece en esas improvisaciones: abstracta en un momento, puede ser lírica en el siguiente, alternando en el mismo tema una gran intensidad con el sentido de ligereza que aportan los espacios. Incluso alguno de los temas finaliza con un tremendo groove. El trío maneja con maestría las transiciones entre esos momentos tan variados.
El siguiente elemento a considerar son los músicos, artífices de lo anterior gracias a sus magníficas maneras. Estas no se hacen patentes únicamente en sus solos, sino sobre todo gracias a la interacción entre los tres, que no cesa en su búsqueda en ningún momento. El resultado de su arte es una magnífica grabación de improvisaciones libres que no obvian su vertiente melódica."... Pachi Tapiz, Toma Jazz Spain read full article
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..."Il dialogo si esplica a volte attraverso un dilagante e magmatico incedere nervoso, che ha in Cleaver un esaltante dispensatore di ritmi africaneggianti, altre volte creando scarni ambiti dialettici pervasi da reminiscenze classiche europee di cui il pianismo di Nabatov è intriso. In entrambe le condizioni Niggenkemper si mostra non solo a suo agio ma anche stimolato con tutto il suo preponderante campionario inventivo che lo strumento gli consente di esprimere senza dimenticare di rivelare, che ancor prima di dedicarsi al contrabbasso, è stato in tenera età pianista e violinista. Con cotanta dote innata e con il contributo di musicisti come Nabatov e Cleaver, Niggenkemper, ha realizzato una delle produzioni più interessanti di questi ultimi mesi, oltretutto, disponibile anche in vinile."... Giuseppe Mavilla, Scrivere di Jazz read full article
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..."Upcoming Hurricane, registrato al Loft di Colonia in un pomeriggio di primavera del 2010, è disco dalle tinte forti e senza compromessi. Tre musicisti in stato di grazia (sorprendente l'abilità strumentale e compositiva del giovane contrabbassista tedesco, già note quelle dei suoi compagni di viaggio) danno vita ad una registrazione dove si combinano mirabilmente pieni e vuoti, irruenza e dolcezza, libertà e coerenza."...
Vincenzo Roggero, All About Jazz Italy read full article
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..."Trois musiciens à l’écoute l’un de l’autre dans un free bien mené, pas trop aride, juste ce qu’il faut. Belle exploration sonore entre le déchirement, la contemplation, la vitesse, la tempête, la terre ferme, l’envol, le calme"… Jazz a credit, Maxime Bouchard read full article
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Powstały materiał to improwizowana muzyka emanująca wyczuwalną w każdym niemal momencie niezwykłą intuicją i harmonią poszczególnych instrumentalistów. Siłą płyty nie są indywidualne partie solowe, lecz wspólne poczynania całego tria tworzące kaskadę pasaży granych zespołowo z niezwykłą energią i natchnieniem.
Pośród siedmiu tematów zawartych na płycie, najdłuższymi i najbardziej rozbudowanymi są: tytułowy motyw, gdzie całe trio buduje gęste, warstwowe motywy doskonale ukazujące fantazję improwizacji, oraz 11-minutowy temat ''Fighting the mill''. read full article Robert Ratajczak in longplay.blog
Nie ma tu chwilki przestoju, a partnerzy rozumieją się intuicyjnie odnajdując harmonie i radość w nieprzerwanych i zmiennych pasażach, odsłaniając kolejne wcielenia zespołu - jako trzy odmienne duety lub jako całość (trio). Niewiele jest tu partii solowych - najważniejsza jest bowiem interakcja i inspiracja odnajdywana w poczynaniach partnera. Świetne granie! M. Zając in Multikulti Project read full article