‘SEZU’ is the newest release of ‘FMR’ label. The album was recorded by Philip Gibbs (guitar, banjo), Marcello Magliocchi (drums), Adrian Northover (soprano/alto saxophone) and Maresuke Okamoto (cello, voice). Four musicians have especially active, energetic, vital and bright playing manner, suggestive, passionate and innovative improvising style and unique sound. Intense and loud sound explosions, bright, passionate and dizzy solos, flewing melodies, shrieky and strange timbres, uncomfortable, extraordinary and inventive musical decisions, wild, franky and free improvisations – all these elements fill the basics of the compositions, created by these musicians. Each of them is trying to create unique, extraordinary and originaly sound – they are open to new and innovative playing techniques, fusions of different cultures, styles, countries and musical language elements. All kinds of different musical language elements are used here – musicians certainly can find the best and effective way how to connect them. That makes an effort to bright, remarkable, expressive and vital sound. ‘SEZU’ is filled with inspiring, bright and passionate improvisations. All album is based on avant-garde jazz elements and free improvisation. The most part of the compositions is especially bright, luminous and energetic. Music is filled with bright, original, inventive and ambitious musical decisions – that makes an effort to colorful, passionate and tremendous musical language. The compositions have same elements like other compositions of avant-garde jazz – free form, abstract and multi-layed pattern, polyphonic facture, organic mix of outrageous and strange timbres, noises and sounds – all these elements contain the main part of the base. Musicians are experienced and talented jazz masters and improvisers – their music reflects that. They are improvising wild, free and with passion. Improvisations are not just a piece of virtuosic, precise and marvelous technique, it also has breaky, unusual, wild and expressive solos and inspiring, passionate and vital improvising. The music is filled with rigorous blow outs, depressive and sorrow downs, gorgeous, inspiring, passionate and moving passages and dramatic culminations. But all these elements make a strong opposite with silent, calm and relaxing pieces, which are based on abstract timbres, separate sounds, soft and calm intonations, other elements of musical language. To improvise free, cordially and with passion – all four musicians this fact make as a priority and make remarkable, bright and interesting sound. The melodic section is leaded by guitar, banjo, soprano and alto saxophones and voice. Interesting and usual combination of different instruments effect exotic, bright and vivacious sound of the album. Independent melodies, remarkable, charming and memorable solos, vibrant, noisy, blowing and extremely loud blow outs, dozens of strange timbres and bright musical decisions – all these elements contain the main part of their improvisations. The music is filled with basic elements of avant-garde and experimental jazz, which is gently fused together with especially energetic solos, sharp harmony, turbulent energy explosions and free structure. Aggressive and dynamic rhythmic, innovative improvising and huge amount of sharp and uncomfortable timbres and sounds make a strong relation with bebop, post bop, hard bop and other similar modern jazz styles. Melodies are individual and independent, based on different musical language and unique sound. Each master has its own and unqiue sound and interesting playing manner – all of them are improvising charmingly, passionately and not hesitate to experiment in any way or section of musical language. Electric and hard guitar solos are switched with soft, gorgeous and vivacious banjo sounds, terrific blow outs, passionate and virtuosic passages and fantastic riffs of saxophones, hard, bright, solid and independnet bass line of cello and charming voice elements. Drums section is as much independent and interesting as melodic section. The music is based on bright and vivacious rhythms – turbulent and free improvisations are fused together with Afroamerican, Spanish, Western Africa, other rhythms of various world countries music. This marvelous and organic mix of timbres, rhythms and sounds makes solid, intense, energetic and extremely loud drum section. Innovative and interesting instrumentation, bright, adventurous and modern musical language, charming and passionate improvisng, expressive solos and roaring sound explosions – all these elements help musicians to create original, attractive and unique sound.
https://avantscena.wordpress.com/2018/10/09/phil-gibbs-marcello-magliocchi-adrian-northover-maresuke-okamoto-sezu-fmr-2018/
Avant Scena
Guitare électrique (et banjo) : Phil Gibbs, un des plus constants alter-ego du grand saxophoniste Paul Dunmall. Percussions : Marcello Magliocchi, un véritable feu follet pugliesede la batterie alternative dans la meilleure lignée Lovens -Turner - Blume. Saxophone soprano et alto Londonien mordant et distendeur de la polymodalité : Adrian Northover. Violoncelle (et voix), Maresuke Okamoto, énigmatique improvisateur nippon éternellement frippé à la japonaise à la scène comme à la ville. Pour notre bonheur, le groupe n’est pas uniformément relié à une esthétique particulière avec un fort dénominateur commun comme par exemple le légendaire trio Iskra 1903 (Bailey Guy Rutherford). Ces artistes ayant été amenés à se rencontrer successivement au fil du temps, Magliocchi et Okamoto dans des tournées italiennes et portugaises, Northover et Magliocchi à Londres et en Italie intensivement dès 2015 jusqu’à ce jour, Phil Gibbs rencontrant ensuite Magliocchi au Vortex et Adrian Northover à I’Klectic, il s'agit plutôt d'un assemblage amical intuitif qu'une stratégie focalisée sur un dénominateur commun très sélectif. Finalement les quatre se rejoignent en octobre 17 à Londres pour une session où leurs différences se marient grâce à leur esprit de recherche. Une session ad-hoc avec des artistes qui savent évoluer indépendamment de manière intéressante. Il faut entendre Okamoto réciter une histoire incompréhensible en japonais alors que les vagues/ boucles plus ou moins répétitives du guitariste évoluent sans rapport apparent avec les frottements métalliques et grattages percussifs astringents de Magliocchi et le jeu contorsionné à peine audible de Northover. Et l’édifice tient la route. À d’autres moments, le violoncelliste répond au plus profond des intervalles alambiqués du sax soprano pointu. Règne un excellent équilibre sonore des quatre individualités dans le champ auditif. Une volubilité inextricable où l’écoute est prédominante au niveau harmonique, intervalles, bruissements en rhizomes, clés et modes suggérés. Car la suggestion est le mode principal de cette intercommunication – interaction poétique. Partout, les mini-crépitements – roulements accélérés, boisés ou métalliques du batteur commentent les échanges, communiquant une espèce de folie tout en maintenant un savant contrôle sur la qualité de ses frappes et leurs multiplicités – variétés sonores et leur cadence à la fraction de seconde. Des changements sensibles d’atmosphères pointent du nez sans qu’il n’y paraisse, alors qu’est maintenue une cadence aussi tournoyante
qu’accidentée. Une capacité de prendre subitement au vol un élément remarquable dans l’invention volatile d’un des collègues et de le réintroduire subtilement … et spontanément dans des variations travaillées. Il me semble que chacun de ses artistes serait peut - être individuellement mieux mis en valeur dans une autre configuration de groupe (duos – trios ..). Mais, confronté à la réalité du moment présent, ils remplissent ces 59 minutes d’inventions, de délires sans ciller, et font valablement évoluer leurs recherches sonores au fil des sept improvisations. La cinquième atteint, sans doute, un état second de la conscience, aiguillonnée par le jeu complètement dingue et violemment microtonal de Phil Gibbs au banjo acoustique. Ce faisant, libère la furia rentrée de Magliocchi et la vélocité de l’archet d’Okamoto, Northover ayant un réel sens du cool, à la fois feutré et dynamique créant un bel espace pour ses collègues. Dans ce groupe, notez, Adrian Northover se retient d’envoyer la purée, mais je l’ai déjà entendu exploser son soprano en fortissimo avec un Marcello Magliocchi furieux. La créativité et la compréhension du groupe se bonifient dans les deux derniers morceaux, Shanty et Sezu, un peu plus longs que les précédents. Plus longs sans doute parce que la matière devient
plus dense, plus vécue, plus contrastée, nettement moins prévisible et encore plus convaincante. On essaie plus, on oublie ses réflexes. Certains groupes semblent au premier abord plus réussis, comme par exemple ces duos de pointures confirmées qui sont faites l’un.e pour l’autre et ne peuvent échouer. Cette session s’affirme comme une leçon d’improvisation, de transformation de soi, de partage et de découverte où rien n’est acquis d’avance et tout est à conquérir.
Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg
https://orynx-improvandsounds.blogspot.com/2018/09/phil-gibbs-marcello-magliocchi-adrian.html
Sezu
Since Five & now Four, I've been paying more attention to Adrian Northover — who, among saxophonists, is capable of quite subtle ensemble contributions, and the latter might be said of Marcello Magliocchi on drums as well. (Indeed, continuing the remarks begun around Patrizia Oliva & Factorial, Magliocchi has appeared on twenty albums for Setola di Maiale, so he's actually been quite prolific....). On Sezu, another recent release on FMR (recorded in Bristol in March 2017), they're joined by Phil Gibbs on guitar (& banjo for one track), and Maresuke Okamoto on cello & voice (for one track). Gibbs appears on many FMR releases, especially with Paul Dunmall (such that I'm not sure that I've heard him before without Dunmall), but Okamoto (b.1960,Tokyo) was new to me: The most unusual track of the album is clearly the third, on which the vocals appear, mysterious Japanese in the foreground with various shimmering accompaniment. That track does bring an emotional impact after the intricate openings, but the format (straight solo & accompaniment) is simply not one I tend to enjoy. Fortunately, the other tracks are more intricate & contrapuntal: Gibbs brings a dazzling quality on guitar, and has a tendency to dominatethe (front line) sound (as opposed to the more "earthy" Thompson,
above, who weaves in & out...), but Northover can be more assertive & to the fore on alto sax here as well. Okamoto's cello is the more novel contribution, however, provoking some unusual & creative textures early in the program, and forging more characteristic timbral combinations by the end, especially around noisy bowing, and amid the relatively straightforward yet creative percussion sounds (tapping, rubbing, etc.) from Magliocchi. FMR produces a lot of "chamber jazz," much of it rather similar in style & orientation, but Sezu provides some ear catching innovations around its carefully modulated collective quartet texture, and so makes a powerful first impression. In that sense, the vocal track might not be a favorite, but it's provocative, especially on first hearing, changing the way the quartet interaction is perceived — even as the vocals never return. (The resulting stance is a mix of striving & poise....) I've yet to be especially interested by the more soloistic Japanese productions, or by those oriented on (often delicate) pianism, so Sezu ("Without" in Japanese) is a welcome opportunity to hear a Japanese instrumentalist
in a more polyphonic (yet still intense) improvisatory setting. More is clearly possible from such a setting....
Todd McComb's Jazz Thoughts - http://www.medieval.org/music/jazz/
Garage Joe in Bristol (I do not know if it's a real garage or club name), March 2017 and four musicians: Phil Gibbs - guitar and banjo, Marcello Magliocchi - drums, Adrian Northover - soprano and alto saxophone, Maresuke Okamoto - cello and voice. Seven improvisations, a clock hour without a few dozen seconds.
From the very beginning, the musicians weave a delicate but dense web of sounds. The first association of an experienced reviewer leads to the string edition of SME, which here, in the intriguing quartet of Sezu, is equipped with a jazz-frazing electric guitar. From the first sound, Magliocchi strongly accentuates her presence, active, creative, agile as a cat. Northover draws beautiful soprano phrases, torn to shreds by the temperament worthy of Trevor Watts, especially from the period when the most important free improves team recalled in the preamble of this text was a duo. String instruments widely spaced on opposite flanks, both do not shy away from amplification. The narrative is stale, but dramatically brilliant. Musicians dance like doves on the sun-heated roof. For the opening finale the power of sonoristic accents of cello and feisty saxophone. Next to micro drumming from the very bottom of the snare drum. The second fragment begins a bit calmer, although the structure of improvisation is equally dense. The guitar sucks more power, and the whole quartet can gallop ahead after just 2 minutes. Precision, good communication - I hear what my partner plays, I know why I am in the band. Great soprano flow on decay. The third episode definitely escapes into a different style. The element that builds the narrative is the recitation of Okamoto in the mother tongue. Noises from the tube, a trembling background, a few electroacoustic elements, a small rhythm from under the snare drum. A kind of post-industrial mantra. The guitar interjects jazz, small phrases, making modest cognitive dissonance. For the counterweight,
a lot of agile sonoristics on the part of percussion.
The fourth episode also starts from the soothing calming level. The saxophone is repetitive, the guitar is looping. Drums & cello glide with rough gantries. Narration takes on densities, interactions overlap. Alt leads the whole quartet with a really high hill, with a great cello backgrounce and dynamic drums, which avoids any circulatory solutions. The fifth opens with the noise from the saxophone tube and the snare of the snare, rubbing on the cello's griffin, it is also - the only time on the disc - a banjo sound. Though a dense but fleeting narrative. The saxophone in the torn flow again brings us back to good SME timeframe. At the beginning of the sixth episode, the guitar returns with jazz phrases, the saxophone blows on the alarm, and perkusjonalia are looking for new sound solutions. Again a dense web of healthy interactions. Alt wades in the aesthetics of the guitar, but he does not lack psychedelia in the mouthpiece. A gallop of really agile elephants! After a moment, daring and beautiful stopping. After reboot, there is also a bit of trance, fragments of onrism, a great dialogue between sax & guitar, then a gallop and subsequent braking. Probably the best moment of this recording! The final song begins on the fret of a slightly sliding guitar, the cello reminiscent of a strong double bass, a small drumming in the background. A brilliant, truly molecular narrative. The guitar goes ahead, it is well supported by percussion. Rocking and falling - great dramaturgy of the finale. On the final straight of this perfect record, a kind of sloppy dance, and again, the smell of genius from under John Stevens' tutelage. Bravo!
https://spontaneousmusictribune.blogspot.com
Phil Gibbs plays guitar (and once banjo on this album), Marcello Magliocchi is drummer, Adrian Northover plays soprano and alto saxophone and Maresuko Okamoto plays cello, and you hear his voice regularly, and when you hear that voice the music is actually always more ominous than usual, strangely enough, although I do not understand a word.
With Sezu, the four made a phenomenally beautiful free jazz album that strikes us in a strange way in a very British way - that's what I think because of the humor and the specific, detailed, extraordinarily intelligent way of playing that makes every second of this music exciting.These four grandmasters obviously find it a great pleasure to play with each other, challenge each other and keep each other sharp - you hear that they play together from the very first second in an incredibly intensive way.
For adventurous listeners and everyone with open ears an absolute must.
Holly Moors
https://www.moorsmagazine.com/muziek/jazz-blues/gibbs-magliocchi-northover-en-okamoto-sezu/
In addition to Nothover, the quartet is composed of guitarist Phil Gibbs (including saxophonist Paul Dunmall), Italian drummer Marcello Magliocchi and Japanese cellist and vocalist Maresuke Okamoto. Most of the time, it's a frenetic ride with thousands of blows, bugs, and blows that make the participants catch up with each other. A special chapter is a piece of Onkagu Wo Hada de Kike, where Okamoto's urgent but de facto calm sprechgesang, with a distinct Japanese diction, subverts an incredibly nervous (but not frenetic) backing. Fagioli Saltati's fifth entry, where Gibbs exchanges a guitar for a banjo, is a more greedy and mostly floppy trumpet with a chaotic atmosphere. There is a certain setback in the next ten-minute Shanty Shanty, but in the last two minutes it will turn into a more frenetic dash. The final title instant composition is then initially marked by creaking and ultimately circular and ultimately gliding and tinkling drums, and Adrian cuts out a breathtaking spiral solo to spread everything in the finale into an impressive, staggering clump. A truly energizing work.
https://www.hisvoice.cz/saxofonista-adrian-northover-ve-trech-ruznych-konstelacich/
16. 5. 2019 Petr Slabý