not new, but very noteworthy

[alocispepraluger102]

i ordered this today.

Think Agustí Fernandez meets Barry Guy and you're probably thinking of the kind of deluge of molten lava that characterised the Spanish pianist's volcanic contribution to Guy's Oort-Entropy back in 2005, or his spectacular scrap with Mats Gustafsson on Critical Mass. Add wildcard dynamo percussionist Ramón López to the mix and you've got all the makings of a Fire Music trio of epic proportions, right? Yes, well, right, but if you won't get any of that here. In fact, if this had been recorded by Jan Erik Kongshaug up in Rainbow Studios in Oslo or by Martin Wieland in Tonstudio Bauer in Ludwigsburg, it'd be perfectly at home in the ECM catalogue. Indeed, it makes for an interesting comparison with the 1998 Paul Bley / Gary Peacock / Paul Motian reunion outing on ECM, Not Two, Not One (though López's flick / splatter percussion probably has more in common with the work of Tony Oxley, so perhaps In The Evenings Out There would be a more sensible choice, even if that was recorded seven years earlier). Fernandez has penned all the tunes on offer, with the exception of Guy's "Odyssey" (previously recorded on the Barry Guy New Orchestra Inscape-Tableaux album), and they're unashamedly tonal throughout, revealing a side to the pianist's playing that aficionados of Fire Music are probably unfamiliar with (though closer listening to the Fernandez discography reveals a strong current of lyricism, even romanticism – check out Dark night, and luminous with Marilyn Crispell). And Guy, whose spiky virtuosity has been a cornerstone of aggressive modernism in both free and contemporary classical music for nearly 40 years, proves he's just as good at running up and down the standard scales as Eddie Gomez or Dave Holland. López's flecks of tabla, brushes and rattles are a good foil to it all: though he can, when he wants to, ride that cymbal as well as Jon Christensen (on "Rosalia"), he's really in his element sprinkling tiny showers of colour and light over the canvas. With a more conventional drummer like Motian behind the kit it could all too easily sound sentimental, even maudlin. As it is, it might be a little too pretty for hardcore free jazzers, but if you're prepared for once to accept that there's more to life than blowing the other guy (no puns intended) into the Oort cloud, this is a welcome reminder that music can also be tender, subtle and unashamedly beautiful.

Dan Warburton

Paris Transatlantic - February 2007

Edited June 6, 2008 by alocispepraluger102

[A Lark Ascending]

It's a beautiful disc - similar in feel to the Guy/Crispell/Lytton discs.