By Eyal Hareuveni
Every journey to the Festival Music Unlimited feels like a meeting with
many known and unknown siblings from an ancestral mother, or taking part
in what the editor of the Austrian FreiStil, Felix Fellinger, called
“soziales Gesamtkunstwerk” (a term used by composer Richard Wagner and
literally means total or ideal work of art, but adding to it the social
aroma).
The sold-out 39th edition of the Unlimited Music Festival was the most
international to date, featuring more than 60 musicians from 24
countries and all five continents, who performed 19 concerts. Many
musicians and members of the audience were returning visitors, putting
their trust in the festival’s artistic choices and the new musicians who
would play in the festival for the first time. And, as in every year,
the festival offered many opportunities to meet and talk with the
musicians during its three days, in the festival’s restaurant and the
beautiful photo exhibition of Italian photographer Luciano Rossetti.
First Day, Nov. 8
The opening performance was by the Vienna Improvisers Orchestra (VIO),
founded and led by saxophonist and artistic director Michael Fischer.
The VIO, in its changing lineups, is dedicated to the art of conducted
instant composition, a form of structured, real-time composition based
on Fischer’s hand-signal system in which the distinction between the
conducted cues and the improvised blurs. The 15-member VIO was divided
into string, reed and brass, and vocal sections, and the most
adventurous section, comprised of Bernhard Loibner on modular synths,
Wolfgang Fuchs on turntables, and drummer Didi Kern. Fischer gave a lot
a freedom to the musicians and maintained a fragile balance between the
eccentric female vocalists – Nika Zach, Isabell Kargl, and Claudia
Cervenca, the wild, driving force of Loibner, Fuchs, and Kern, and the
more structured improvisations of the string, brass and reed sections,
while injecting a sharp sense of irony.
American, Amsterdam-based drummer-percussionist Frank Rosaly followed
with a solo set, Bimini, that traces his Puerto-Rican ancestral roots,
with a unique drum-set of two bass drums, two gongs, two snare drums,
two cowbells, and more percussive instruments. This powerful, spiritual
set was informed by the traditions of the indigenous Caribbean Taíno and
was performed in almost total darkness. This timeless trance-like ritual
calibrated Rosaly and the audience into a collective, compassionate
frequency, but also explored Rosaly’s own questions of identity and
larger, more pressing issues of decolonization, in the Caribbean and
elsewhere.
The pan-European, multi-generational quartet Turquoise Dream – Polish,
Amsterdam-based pianist Marta Warelis, Swedish cellist Helena Espavall,
Portuguese veteran violinist Carlos Zingaro, and guitarist Marcelo dos
Reis – released only one album (JACC, 2021), and have not played
together much since then. The performance provided a unique opportunity
to experience the deep listening, spontaneous conversations of these
distinct improvisers, sketching and deconstructing loose textures with
an organic, poetic interplay, grace, and elegance, and, obviously, enjoy
the wisdom and imagination in every touch of Zingaro.
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| Elisabeth Harnik & Camila Nebbia |
The night ended with New Quintet assembled in the last minute, after a
cancellation – American trombonist Jeb Bishop, Argentinian tenor sax
player Camila Nebbia, Austrian pianist Elisabeth Harnik, Brazilian
double bass player Vinicius Cajado, and fellow Austrian drummer Didi
Kern (who plays with Harnik in the DEK trio with Ken Vandermark). This
first-ever, free improvised performance stressed a reserved, often too
respectful interplay, and focused on patient, collective improvisations,
with enough space for individual aolos, with Bishop steering the intense
commotion with his quiet, commanding presence.
Second Day, Nov. 9
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| Akira Sakata |
The afternoon performances at the local Landesmusikchule began with a
solo set of Japanese legendary reed master-vocalist Akira Sakata, who
performed his version of the Tale of Heike (originally released by
doubtmusic, 2013). This epic story is about the fight between two
samurai clans for the control of medieval Japan, and was performed in a
dramatic, vivid way, with Sakata acting like a sage telling the story,
playing the heroic characters, and reflecting on the story with his
openly emotional playing, mourning the loss of so many lives due to
arrogance, hate, and sheer evil. The duo of Czech trumpeter and
electronics player Petr Vrba and Cypriot vibes player Andria Nicodemou
was formed after a chance meeting at the Irtijal Festival in Beirut.
They presented a yin-yang dynamics. Vrba thoughtfully structured dense
textures with a pocket trumpet and live electronics, while Nicodemou
instantly abstracted his ideas into sensual, surprising sounds, often
using objects like a long coil or ping pong balls, totally possessed by
the sounds of the augmented vibes, and both fed by the stimulating
tension. The last set was by the trio Flowers We Are, featuring Serbian
harmonium player Marina Džukljev, Austrian cellist Arnold (Noid) Haberl,
and electronics player Matija Schellander, who released a self-titled
album (Klanggalerie, 2024). The minimalist, austere dynamics of this
trio correspond with the pioneering work of Morton Feldman and the
British AMM. This trio sketched a mysterious drone where Džukljev’s
hrominium soft hums resonated the overtones of Schellander’s
electronics, while Haberl reconstructed this abstract syntax into his
cello playing, but slowly the collective drone gravitated into an
irreverent, powerful spiritual meditation.
JeJaWeDa
The evening performance began with the JeJaWeDa – the initials of
American trombonist Jeb Bishop, Dutch vocal artist Jaap Blonk, and
fellow Americans drummer Weasel Walter, and double bass player Damon
Smith – a kind of super-group that collides eruptive free jazz
explosions and dadaist, absurdist sonic experiments, and already
released two albums (Pioneer Works Vol. 1 & 2, on Smith’s Balance
Point Acoustics, 2019), and stopped at the festival during its European
tour. It was a wild, intense set where Blonk provided theatrical,
eccentric texts in expressive gibberish and toy electronics, Smith was
all over the double bass with multiple bows and assorted objects, and
Walter banged his head with the cymbals, drummed while lying on the
ground, stood on the drum stool and shouted on all, and often ran across
the stage. Throughout this manic mayhem, Bishop kept his commanding calm
and charged it with some reason and direction. In one instance, he stood
closely to Blonk, listened carefully to another absurdist complaint of
Blonk, and instantly transformed it into an inspired theme.
The quartet Plüsch – Argentinian tenor sax players Ada Rave and Camila
Nebbia, Polish pianist Marta Warelis, and German drummer Christian
Lillinger – has not released an album yet, but it already sounds like a
working band. This quartet’s dynamics contrasted Lillinger’s hyperactive
drumming on an extended drumset with Rave, Nebbia, and Warelis’ more
patient, multifaceted play of structuring and deconstructing of form,
melody, and pulse, and adventurous timbral explorations, but suggested a
challenging kind of complementary interplay.
Gabby Fluke-Mogul & Mariá Portugal
The new trio Endless Breakfast – American violinist Gabby Fluke-Mogul,
Brazilian, Berlin-based drummer Mariá Portugal (who will curate the next
edition of the Unlimited festival), and Argentinian-Swiss cellist Paula
Sanchez – was formed backstage at the Unlimited festival, and its
performance there was part of a European tour. This trio has not
released an album yet, but already shaped its idiosyncratic, imaginative
form of collective and vibrant free improvisation, comprised of
vulnerable, poetic soundscapes, often furious ones (and fluke-mogul
reminded the audience of the importance of resistance), but most of the
time, introspective, fragile ones, fully possessed at the art of the
moment, and offering a highly immersive, illuminating listening
experience.
Akira Sakata returned to the stage with his working trio Chikamorachi –
double bass player Darin Gray and drummer Chris Corsano – that has been
working since 2005, as the core trio or as an extended ensemble with
such improvisers as Jim O’Rourke, Masami Akita (aka Merzbow), Keiji
Haino, Michiyo Yagi, and Yōsuke Yamashita. Gray and Corsano offered a
propulsive, attentive support to the mostly lyrical, commanding
performance of Sakata, which was highlighted with a highly emotional
delivery of an anti-war song mourning the ones who are lost.
The evening ended with Chicagoan sax hero Dave Rempis’ new quartet Archer – Rempis on alto sax, Dutch guitarist Terrie Hessels (of The Ex),
and the rhythm section of Norwegian double bass player Jon Rune Strøm and drummer Tollef Østvang (who are also the rhythm section of the
Friend and Neighbors quintet and the Universal Indians trio). The
quartet released its debut album Sudden Dusk (on Rempis’ Aerophonic
label), and was in the middle of a European tour. Its set was intense
and powerful, with Rempis and Strøm kept pushing forward, most of the
time in muscular free jazz power, speed, and intensity, while Østvang
intervened with sharp, explosive but concise contributions, and Hessels
challenged any attempt to form a linear narrative with imaginative,
disruptive rhythmic guitar augmented with assorted abjects (including
the box of famous Austrian chocolate-coated marshmallow treat called
Schwedenbomben).
Third (and last) Day, Nov. 10
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| Sakina Abdou |
The afternoon performances at the distant Schloss Puchberg began with a
solo set of French tenor sax player Sakina Abdou, who played a series of
call-and-response chants with a raw, and powerful sound, first on stage
and then through the audience, stressing the communal, spiritual essence
of her playing and herself as a sort of a high priest who channels the
audience’s energy into a prayer for a better, compassionate and peaceful
future. Then the 150-year-old duo of Dutch violist Ig Henneman (80) and
tenor sax player, clarinetist, and shakuhachi player Ab Baars (70)
decided at the last minute to play a free improvised set (and not the
program Autumn Songs, Wig, 2013). It was an inspired, deeply emotional
conversation between soul mates who know and love each other and always
find the innocent joy and inspiration in playing together. It sounded as
if all notes landed in their perfect place and none were redundant, and
articulated with captivating elegance, sheer beauty, and inspired grace.
The last set featured a trio of Taiwanese, Vienna-based guzheng player
Ming Wang, Italian, Vienna-based sound artist Isabella Forciniti, and
Austrian trumpeter Thomas K. Berghammer, who weaved mysterious, layered
textures made of the unconventional playing of Ming Wang, using objects
and bow, the extended breathing techniques of Berghammer, and
Forciniti’s otherworldly electronics.
The evening performances began with the quartet Trapeze – tenor sax
player Sakina Abdou, German trombonist Matthias Müller, drummer Peter
Orins, and Swiss turntables wizard Joke Lanz. The quartet has released
only one album (Level Crossing, Circum Disc, 2023), but already refined
its chaotic, dadaistic dynamics, propelled by the hyperactive, inventive
drumming and the constant supply of inventive cinematic, cartoonist
quotes by Joke Lanz, both charging the music with a stimulating,
subversive aroma, while Abdou and Müller keep this volatile commotion on
solid but intense ground. At one point, when Joke Lanz sensed that Abdou
and Müller refer to a jazz phrase, he immediately played and muataed a
spoken-word quote from an album on the masters of jazz, mocking such
reverent, respectful homages, and making his point by tossing this vinyl
in the air.
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| Oren Ambarchi |
The following performance was by the Swedish power trio Fire! – Mats
Gustafsson on baritone and tenor saxes, flute and harmonica (!), bassist
Johan Berthling, and drummer Andreas Werliin, with Australian,
Berlin-based Oren Ambarchi on guitar and electronics. Fire! collaborated
before with Ambrachi (In The Mouth – A Hand and She Sleeps, She Sleeps,
Rune Gramofon, 2012 and 2016), and Ambrachi plays with Berthling and
Werliin in the trio Ghosted. The first extended piece sounded as if
continuing the hypnotic vibe of Ghosted, with Berthling and Werliin
dictating a stubborn, massive pulse, Ambrachi colors it with a
psychedelic sounds, and Gustafsson adds reserved blows, but as this set
progressed, it settled on the familiar, heavy, uplifting, and
irresistible grind of Fire! with a few surprising moments when
Gustafsson incorporates his small harmonica sound into Fire!’s syntax.
Next, Austrian pianist Ingrid Schmoliner (on prepared piano) and
trumpeter and electronics player Alex Kranabetter presented their Drank
project, which released its debut album earlier this year(Breath in
Definition, Trost, 2025), with guests – drummer Lukas König and vocalist
and electronics player Anja Plaschg (aka Soap&Skin). The stage was
dark, and the music was based on repetitive, short motifs, woven into a
layered, rich drone, enriched by hazy electronics, the processed sound
of Kranabetter’s trumpeter, Plaschg’s suggestive voice, and König’s
drums, and hypnotic grooves. It suggested an endless, Steve Reich-like
swirling effect, but with a strong psychedelic effect.
The festival ended with a wild performance of the French trio Nout –
Delphine Joussein on amplified flute, electric harp player Rafaëlle
Rinaudo, and drummer Blanche Lafuente, who describe themselves as “the
missing link between Nirvana and Sun Ra”, augmented by Gustafsson. The
trio released its debut album last year (Live Album, Trost/Gigantonium,
2024), but until experiencing this trio live, it is hard to believe how
much infectious, primal, and raw power this trio can produce, with
Lafuente drumming as if she plays in a thrash metal band, Rinaudo uses
her electric harp as an electric guitar and bass, and Joussein mutates
her amplified flute sound with countless effects. Gustafsson integrated
immediately and organically into these punkish tsunamis, and it sounded
even better and happier when Akira Sakata and Johan Berthling joined for
the encore.
The next, the 40th edition of the Unlimited festival, with Mariá
Portugal as the curator, will be in Nov. 6-8, 2026. Keep it in your
diaries.