improvisational scene alongside such a prolific artist as double bass player
Barry Guy, but the two are a fabulous match sonically, and one is unable to
immediately determine from this performance who was the more experienced
player.
Recorded in 2022 at the Schwere Reiter in Munich, a venue which has become a
haven for avant-garde and experimental music of the jazz persuasion in
southern Germany, the photo booklet depicts sharp, black and white stills of
two very focused musicians who are not here to mess around. Spatially, Guy
is slightly panned to the left with Millá slightly on the right, which
sounds a rather simple production technique on paper, but it really does
give the effect that they are right there in the room with you. This nuanced
attention to detail on the production is mirrored by the beauty of the
performance itself. Like just about anything on the ECM label, the quality
of the mixing and mastering is exceptional.
The pieces are mostly ominous and foreboding. The prepared piano is used
percussively or melodically in turns, as Guy and Millá explore a myriad of
textural sound-making methods: deep sawing, rubbing, twangs, snaps, rough
and vigorous harmonic flicks through to bone-rattling creaks and turns. This
is interspersed with more tonal runs and harmonies.
It’s often difficult to distinguish from which instrument each sound is
coming, as both string instruments resonate with a similarly chilling
frequency. This dark, graphic sound collage is represented appropriately in
the black and grey cover photograph by Thomas Wunsch.
The pieces are intense and sombre – the deepest notes are the most
satisfying, especially towards the tail end of “Part I.” It’s serious and
introspective, but the tension is not anxiety inducing per se. It’s
fascinating and compelling, stirring, brooding, and always interesting.
However, there is a general calmness to the tension which is intriguing. The
pizzicato piano harmonics and cello string accompaniment sound fabulous
together, almost as if they were designed to be played this way.
Every so
often we will be blessed with a small, tangible melody on either instrument.
Millá’s playing is deeply sensitive, wonderfully dynamic, glistening, and
emotional. Transitions between her more melodic moments to atonal sections
are gradual and seamless. So too are the more rapid instances, and those of
reverberant beauty. Guy is completely in tune with Millá, and the idyllic
nature of this balance is further underlined by the enthusiastic cheers that
follow each of the six parts of this live recording. What they are doing
sounds as if it was meant to be, and it’s obviously resonating with the
audience.
Perhaps this is due to the chemistry of Millá and Guy, which has
been established over several years – their previous album as a duo, String
Fables, was recorded in July 2021, so they have polished this craft over
time.
This is a delicate, mature, and heartfelt release. Hopefully, thanks
to the exposure of ECM and the support of Barry Guy, we will be seeing much
more of Jordina Millá in the years to come.
More here: https://ecmrecords.com/product/live-in-munich-jordina-milla-barry-guy/