Tim Berne, Oscar Noriega, Matt Mitchell & Ches Smith - Snakeoil (2012) [Hi-Res]
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BAND/ARTIST: Tim Berne, Oscar Noriega, Matt Mitchell & Ches Smith
- Title: Snakeoil
- Year Of Release: 2012
- Label: ECM Records
- Genre: Jazz
- Quality: 24-bit/88.2kHz FLAC & booklet
- Total Time: 2:16:26
- Total Size: 1.1 GB
- WebSite: Album Preview
After compelling contributions to ECM discs by David Torn and Michael Formanek, here is Tim Berne’s first leader date for the label. “Snakeoil” introduces a fascinating ensemble, a “chamber-like group” in Berne’s words, albeit one that packs some power. Tim’s tough alto is heard with Oscar Noriega’s earthy clarinets, Mat Mitchell’s cryptic piano, and Ches Smith’s tone-conscious drums, tympani, gongs and congas. Berne: “I'd decided on this very transparent instrumentation to try and avoid obvious stylistic references and to focus the listener on the musical ideas being presented.” Two years of wood-shedding preceded the recording of “Snakeoil” at New York’s Avatar Studios early in 2011, and the band was ready to roar. The disc is issued on the eve of a tour that takes in dates on both sides of the Atlantic.
Saxophonist Tim Berne introduces a new quartet and a programme of powerful new music on his first studio album in eight years. “Snakeoil” is Berne’s third ECM appearance – he previously contributed to David Torn’s “Prezens” and Michael Formanek’s “The Rub and Spare Change” - and his leader debut for the label. It is also an exemplary manifestation of his compositional directions. Berne’s exacting pieces propel the players down maze-like corridors, with new challenges looming around every corner: startling textural shifts, serpentine melodies, sudden rhythmic displacements, modular grooves that gradually attain an unstoppable momentum. Written and improvised sequences blur into each other, overlap, run parallel. Throughout, Berne’s tough alto tone, honed decades ago under the mentorship of Julius Hemphill, is set off against the earthy lyricism of Oscar Noriega’s clarinets, Matt Mitchell’s compendious piano and Ches Smith’s buoyant net of drums, gongs and cymbals. It’s an arresting collective sound, from a disciplined crew: two years of workshopping and woodshedding preceded the recording to reach what Berne calls “the necessary ‘looseness’ essential for a group identity”, and to realize “the dynamics that would enable the sonic details of this chamber-like band to emerge clearly.” He describes the processes of preparing the project as “similar to how one would approach a classical recording”, yet the outcome is as far outside the genres as any of his work. Obvious stylistic reference is avoided.
Recent opportunities to hear the influential American composer and saxophonist Tim Berne have included free-funk adventures with guitar wildmen such as Marc Ducret and Nels Cline – but Berne's current band, Snakeoil, is a different story. He still balances interlocking, rhythm-rooted melody with an affecting modern lyricism, but this group (with Oscar Noriega on clarinets, Matt Mitchell on keyboards and Ches Smith on drums) downplays electric rawness for more of a chamber ensemble sound. The opening Simple City begins as a beautiful acoustic piano melody that keeps resolving in yearning dissonances, until the drums rise around it, Noriega's bass clarinet drifts across the soundscape, and a subdued melee develops for Berne's long alto-sax notes to gleam through. The punchy postbop themes of Scanners and Not Sure are typical Berne works – exultant, convoluted twisters over edgy, driving percussion. It's a terrific set, and an object lesson in balancing composition, improvisation and the tonal resources of an acoustic band. (John Fordham, The Guardian)
Tim Berne, alto saxophone
Oscar Noriega, clarinet and bass clarinet
Matt Mitchell, piano
Ches Smith, drums & percussion
Tracklist:
01. Tim Berne, Oscar Noriega, Matt Mitchell & Ches Smith - Simple City (13:58)
02. Tim Berne, Oscar Noriega, Matt Mitchell & Ches Smith - Scanners (7:25)
03. Tim Berne, Oscar Noriega, Matt Mitchell & Ches Smith - Spare Parts (14:14)
04. Tim Berne, Oscar Noriega, Matt Mitchell & Ches Smith - Yield (12:10)
05. Tim Berne, Oscar Noriega, Matt Mitchell & Ches Smith - Not Sure (8:44)
06. Tim Berne, Oscar Noriega, Matt Mitchell & Ches Smith - Spectacle (12:02)
Saxophonist Tim Berne introduces a new quartet and a programme of powerful new music on his first studio album in eight years. “Snakeoil” is Berne’s third ECM appearance – he previously contributed to David Torn’s “Prezens” and Michael Formanek’s “The Rub and Spare Change” - and his leader debut for the label. It is also an exemplary manifestation of his compositional directions. Berne’s exacting pieces propel the players down maze-like corridors, with new challenges looming around every corner: startling textural shifts, serpentine melodies, sudden rhythmic displacements, modular grooves that gradually attain an unstoppable momentum. Written and improvised sequences blur into each other, overlap, run parallel. Throughout, Berne’s tough alto tone, honed decades ago under the mentorship of Julius Hemphill, is set off against the earthy lyricism of Oscar Noriega’s clarinets, Matt Mitchell’s compendious piano and Ches Smith’s buoyant net of drums, gongs and cymbals. It’s an arresting collective sound, from a disciplined crew: two years of workshopping and woodshedding preceded the recording to reach what Berne calls “the necessary ‘looseness’ essential for a group identity”, and to realize “the dynamics that would enable the sonic details of this chamber-like band to emerge clearly.” He describes the processes of preparing the project as “similar to how one would approach a classical recording”, yet the outcome is as far outside the genres as any of his work. Obvious stylistic reference is avoided.
Recent opportunities to hear the influential American composer and saxophonist Tim Berne have included free-funk adventures with guitar wildmen such as Marc Ducret and Nels Cline – but Berne's current band, Snakeoil, is a different story. He still balances interlocking, rhythm-rooted melody with an affecting modern lyricism, but this group (with Oscar Noriega on clarinets, Matt Mitchell on keyboards and Ches Smith on drums) downplays electric rawness for more of a chamber ensemble sound. The opening Simple City begins as a beautiful acoustic piano melody that keeps resolving in yearning dissonances, until the drums rise around it, Noriega's bass clarinet drifts across the soundscape, and a subdued melee develops for Berne's long alto-sax notes to gleam through. The punchy postbop themes of Scanners and Not Sure are typical Berne works – exultant, convoluted twisters over edgy, driving percussion. It's a terrific set, and an object lesson in balancing composition, improvisation and the tonal resources of an acoustic band. (John Fordham, The Guardian)
Tim Berne, alto saxophone
Oscar Noriega, clarinet and bass clarinet
Matt Mitchell, piano
Ches Smith, drums & percussion
Tracklist:
01. Tim Berne, Oscar Noriega, Matt Mitchell & Ches Smith - Simple City (13:58)
02. Tim Berne, Oscar Noriega, Matt Mitchell & Ches Smith - Scanners (7:25)
03. Tim Berne, Oscar Noriega, Matt Mitchell & Ches Smith - Spare Parts (14:14)
04. Tim Berne, Oscar Noriega, Matt Mitchell & Ches Smith - Yield (12:10)
05. Tim Berne, Oscar Noriega, Matt Mitchell & Ches Smith - Not Sure (8:44)
06. Tim Berne, Oscar Noriega, Matt Mitchell & Ches Smith - Spectacle (12:02)
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