Markus Krispel / Matija Schellander / Szilveszter Miklós – Put

 

1. Put (40:59)

 

· Markus Krispel: alto and baritone saxophone
· Matija Schellander: double bass
· Szilveszter Miklós: drums

 

All music by Markus Krispel, Matija Schellander and Szilveszter Miklós
Recorded live at Vodnikova Domačija Šiška, Ljubljana on 5 May 2017
Engineered and recorded by Iztok Zupan
Mixed and mastered by Hannes Mottl and Markus Krispel
Photos by Iztok Zupan
Collage and packaging design by Igor Ripak
Executive producer: Nataša Serec
Associate producer: László Juhász

 

Trios are a regular feature of the world of free improvisation but there continues to be room for surprising and unpredictable concerts. Austrian reed player Markus Krispel, Austrian – with Slovenian roots – double bassist Matija Schellander, and Hungarian drummer Szilveszter Miklós come from very different backgrounds in both education and practice. They all draw their primary inspirations from their personal achievements of new contemporary music and free jazz, resulting in music that is inconceivably inventive.

Krispel, the wild autodidact with various reeds, the deliberate conceptualist Schellander, and Miklós with his devotion towards the traditions of free jazz have created a reciprocal compassion where their personal sonic universes rewardingly coexist. Their sharing of musical ideas, extensive dialogues and durable recycling of choices and discoveries make their music a bulk of positive emotions and attitudes sparked by their inventive imagination and deep wish for sharing time and space together for creating music.

This trio took part in three Borderless Dissonance events – an annual cross-regional collaborative project initiated by Slovenian cultural and artistic association KUD Mreža which asks Austrian, Slovenian and Hungarian improvisers to work together for the first time by giving three exploratory concerts in the capitals of the three neighbouring countries: Budapest, Ljubljana and Vienna. In addition to those concerts, these highly motivated musicians arranged eight more public performances in Serbia, Croatia and the Czech Republic. Instantly, their trio became a “working group” with clear visions and conscious realizations of their ideas. The music that you will hear on this release is the trio’s complete Ljubljana performance, held at Vodnikova Domačija Šiška – exactly as it happened. Compellingly put.

László Juhász
February 2018

 

Released: March 2018 / first edition of 300 cds
Direct purchase: Bandcamp / Discogs

 

 


 

REVIEWS ↓

 

“La musique improvisée se vit comme une aventure éminemment collective et la synergie entre scènes locales et musiciens se révèle toujours payante. C’est ce qu’ont compris Nataša Serec et László Juhász, deux activistes de Ljubljana avec leur série de concerts FriForma / Borderless Dissonance. Réunissant trois musiciens de pays voisins, Slovénie, Autriche et Hongrie durant plusieurs concerts par delà les frontières en collaboration avec d’autres organisateurs et d’autres lieux à Budapest et Vienne, mais aussi en Tchéquie, Serbie et Croatie, l’initiative de KUD Mreža offre une perspective aux musiciens et l’occasion de développer leur pratique musicale et de progresser face des publics fournis d’auditeurs passionnés qui feraient pâlir les métropoles à l’Ouest de l’Europe. Il semble que Nataša et László ont suggéré la formation de ce trio. En effet, une nouvelle collaboration peut se révéler être un challenge, mais aussi une nécessité pour ne pas tourner en rond à force de jouer avec les mêmes. Markus Krispel souffle intensément dans son sax baryton en faisant grailler l’épaisseur du timbre et les scories de jeu. Le contrebassiste Matija Schellander, un Austro-Slovène, fait vibrer les cordages en sortant des sentiers battus. Le batteur Szilveszter Miklós parcourt peaux, fûts et cymbales comme un jardin d’herbes folles. Une musique tellurique, appliquée, tendue, où l’énergie déployée rencontre un goût atavique pour le sonore, le bruit plus que la note, les raclements, les frictions. Put (40:58) est une intéressante course poursuite d’un seul tenant avec des moments intenses, une évolution et très peu de passages redondants. Une scène à suivre!” / Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg, Orynx-improv’andsounds, 8 July 2018

 

“Elég régen írtam már improvizatív zenékről, aminek az oka az, hogy kevés ilyet van időm hallgatni, mert ezek a kiadványok nagyon rétegzenék és nagyon leülősök is. Egyáltalán nem utcai hallgatásra vagy csupán háttérzenének valók. Nem könnyű befogadni őket és van olyan zenehallgató, akinek már nem is a zene kategóriába tartoznak. Pedig az, vastagon! Az Inexhaustible Editions Ljubjanában működő, de szegedi gyökerekkel rendelkező kiadó ismét meglepett lemezekkel. Most a kiadó ljubjanai és egyéb helyszíneken szervezet koncertjeikhez kapcsolható alkiadójának, az Edition FriForma-nak egyik kiadványáról fogok írni. Ez pedig Markus Krispel, Matija Schellander és Miklós Szilveszter triójának Put című lemeze. A tagok hangszer felosztása a következő: Markus Krispel – alt szaxofon és bariton szaxofon, Matija Schellander – nagybőgő és Miklós Szilveszter – dobok.

A lemez 40 perc játékidővel bír, ami koncertanyag révén egy tracként fut végig, de jól hallhatóan tagolható is lehetne, bár akkor megszakadna a zenei folyamat. Nem szabad elfelejteni, hogy ez az album is improvizatív zenei felvétel, no meg jó adag free jazz is. Tehát az anyag a koncerten nyerte el a végleges formáját és hangulatát. Még mielőtt belemennék a lemez tárgyalásába, sokakban él az a tévhit, hogy ezt a műfajt azok csinálják, akik “nem tudnak” zenélni. Valóban lehet ilyen, de a három úriemberről mindent el lehet mondani, de azt biztosan nem, hogy nem ismerik a hangszereiket. Kicsit nézzetek utánuk. Előre elnézést azoktól, akik jobban ismerik az improvizatív zenéket, és a műfaj szakmai szlengjeit nem használom jól, vagy egyáltalán nem használom, mert olyan mélyen nem ismerem őket, de megpróbálkozom vele.

Szóval: a lemeze első kb. 8 percében, nagyon tördelt dob-nagybőgő-szaxofon “kérdezz-felelekkel” kezdődik. Úgy fogalmaztam meg magamnak, hogy a szokásos beszoktatás. Valahogy olyan, mintha a végére mégis csak kezdene össze állni valami benne, de mégsem, mert a nagybőgő egy tompított pengetős kör után visszahozza a kezdő darabos köröket, a szaxofon pedig újabb és újabb dallam köröket fúj, amiben nem a harmónia és a bele simulás a jellemző, majd a dob is bele-bele üt ezekbe a körökbe, a 10. perc körül megállnak és a dob-bőgő páros nagyon fura, szinte kaparászós zajokat produkál, majd lassan felépülget és elindulnak a hangszeresek egy kicsit a jazz felé. Egy kicsit! A szaxofon nagyon érdekes, szinte feszültség keltő hangulatokat hoz és olyan érzésem volt, mintha néhány hangot nem engedne maga a hangszer kifújni magából, pedig jönne a zenészből. Ez persze átcsap egyfajta kaotikus masszába, ahol nagyon együtt húzzák szét a zenei teret a hangszeresek, de a szaxofon itt is dominál, olyan mintha egy maraton futás közben “beszélne” a futó a hallgatóhoz és még és még jönni akarna ki belőle valami, de bent kell maradjon. A ziháló futó jutott a megszólalásáról eszembe, olyan igazi feszültséggel teli free jazz lenyomat. Ennek a lezárásaként egy újabb rész következik, ami nagyon érdekes: ismétlődő zajokat építenek fel, a nagybőgő nagyon érdekes hangokat ad ki magából, szerintem valami vonó-féleséggel csinálhatta Schellander – ezt csak az tudhatja, aki látta is – és baromi izgalmas, de nem könnyű rész, ami felvezeti a végét. Szintén érdekes zajok köszönnek be a nagybőgőstől, szinte az ipari-, experimentális zene határait súrolja és repetitív jár körbe-körbe, amibe a szaxofon játszik bele fojtott dallammeneteket, majd az utolsó néhány percben mindhárom zenész, örült köröket enged el magából, hogy valahol a katarzis előtt vége legyen a lemeznek.

A Put nem egy könnyen emészthető anyag, de aki szereti a kísérletezős, free jazz-be hajló dolgokat, annak tetszeni fog. Igen, az elején eldől, hogy be tudjátok-e fogadni. Nekem sikerült, és voltak benne olyan részek, amelyeknél igen csak hegyeztem a fülem és agyaltam azon, hogy ezt most hogyan csinálták?” / Károly Szabó, Komakino’zine, 12 July 2018

 

“A few lines on the participators: Krispel started his musical career in Vienna with bands like Licht and Ron Bop. He had his solo-projects like Der Polizist and Lesco Lak, experimenting with all kind of instruments. Later he concentrated on alto sax and improvisation. Schellander is an Austrian composer and improviser also based in Vienna, using double bass, modular synthesizers and speakers and also for this collaboration the double bass is prominent. He worked with musicians like Isabelle Duthoit and Burkhard Stangl. Szilveszter Miklós is a Hungarian free jazz drummer, he graduated at the Franz Liszt Academy Of Music in Budapest, but learns most from playing with other fellow improvisers. We have them here as an improvising trio, recorded live at Vodnikova Domačija Šiška in Ljubljana on 5 May 2017 at one of the Borderless Dissonance events, a travelling festival that invites Austrian, Slovenian and Hungarian improvisers to collaborate. They play one 40-minute set, simply named ‘Put’. We hear Markus Krispel playing alto and baritone sax, Matija Schellander plays double bass and Szilveszter Miklós drums. Krispel is in the lead throughout this improvisation. The music goes through different stages, moving from very silent and intimate to loud and expressive. We learn above all more on Krispel and Miklós as players. Miklós is an inventive and playful drummer and Schellander impresses with a solo near the end of the improvisation. This is quite a worthwhile release by Edition FriForma, a subsection of Inexhaustible Editions, in an edition of 300 copies. A bedroom label focused on improvisation and contemporary composed music.” / Dolf Mulder, Vital Weekly, 17 July 2018

 

“Ein Impro-Trio der besonderen Art: Sozusagen das perfekte Setting für ausgefuchste Improvisation – und das gelingt von der ersten Minute weg. Es wird vorgegeben, reagiert, zugehört, gespielt oder auch nicht. Von laut bis leise verschmelzen die drei Instrumente und erinnern positiv an die Ästhetik der Chicago-Szene. Bei ziemlich genau der Hälfte passiert dieser Moment, dieser unpackbar große und magische Moment, bei dem sich, in diesem Fall, alle drei auf Obertöne stürzen und die vorsichtig und mit Bedacht aufschaukeln lassen. Miklós lässt Metalle und Snare erklingen, während Schellander einen stetigen Drone aufbaut und Krispel feinste Fragmente kreiert und alle drei gemeinsam mit einer stetigen Verdichtung und raffinierten Gespür für Klang operieren. Eine Dreiviertelstunde dauert dieses gelungene Experiment. Diese Dreiviertelstunde ist der Mitschnitt von ihrem Konzert im November 2017 in Ljubljana, im Rahmen der Borderless Dissonance.” / Richard Herbst, freiStil, Juli/August 2018

 

“Put is a new release of Inexhaustible Editions label. Album was recorded by a trio – it’s Markus Krispel (alto, baritone saxophone), Matija Schellander (double bass) and Szilveszter Miklós (drums). All three musicians like to make inventive and creative musical decisions, put contrasting and absolutely different styles, chords, expressions and other elements of musical language. Their music is fresh, evocative and filled with bright and provocative musical decisions, brave sound experiments and astonishing special effects. Musicians are analysing whole musical pattern and its lays – each time they are trying to create new, extraordinary and bright sound. They also pay the highest attention to the extraction of unusual timbres by using huge and wide arsenal of extended playing techniques, they produce dozens of strange, weird and interesting sounds, which colorfully illustrate whole musical pattern. The musicians have their own playing techniques, unique sound and interesitng playing manner. It’s always interesting to listen, how masterfully they fuse together uncompairable and contrasting musical language elements – marvelous synthesis of all these elements is made organically, naturally and effectively. That makes an effort to expressive, remarkable and bright sound.

Put is based on free improvisation and basics of avant-garde jazz. One ling composition is recorded in this album. It has fascinating, bright, expressive and dynamic sound, huge variety of playing techniques, expressions, sounds, rhythms and other elements of musical language. The improvising of musicians is inspiring, evocative and interesting – they are playing especially expressive, emotionally, sensibly and bright. Hot and expressive playing manner, dynamic, furiously rapid and wild fast rhythmic create an energetic, aggressive, moving and touching mood of the composition. Open form, free strcuture, abstract, difficult and polyphonic musical pattern are the main elements, which contain the base of this composition. Musicians are trying out new and experimental ways of playing – it’s mixed together with traditional playing techniques, special effects, own and specific methods of instrumenting and inventive musical decisions. That effects whole sound of the album – it colorfully illustrates all musical pattern, background and melodic section, give an opportunity to each improviser to experiment in all fields of musical language. Colorful, bright and dynamic harmony is consisted by many different chords and pitches, which have interesting and unusual structure. Free, turbulent and bright rhythmic improvisations are fused together with the main rhythmic forms of other jazz styles. Provocative, sharp, hot, emotional and difficult rhythms of bebop, aggressive and harsh hard bop solos, hard, bright and dynamic explosions of energy are twisted together with calm, static and monotonic rhythms of traditional, cool and other styles of contemporary and modern jazz. The improvisations of the saxophones are filled with bright, dynamic and expressive sound. Flowing and sparkling solos, turbulent, vibrant and luminous free improvisations, bright, expressive, touching and moving melodies, remarkable and spontaneous musical experiments, tremendous and powerful blow outs, rigorous, aggressive and provocative riffs – all these elements are gently connected together in one place. That gives the main mood and tune to the composition – dynamic, effective, bright and dynamic sound. Double bass imrpovisations are filled with astonishing musical experiments, gorgeous timbres, bright and harsh solos, dramatic culminations, wild fast, thrilling and free improvisations and turbulent melodies. These elements are contrasting with silent, calm, slow and light excerpts with monotonic and strong bass line, hard and solid harmonic pattern and dozens of unusual sounds and strange timbres. The drums section is a real burst of energy. All kinds of different rhythms and ways of playing are used here – monotonic, solid, calm and harsh rhythms meet with turbulently rapid and thrilling solos, extremely fast passages, colorful tremolo, tremendous, roaring and vibrant culminations and other similar elements of musical language. Album is based on rapid and dynamic mood, but there’s also is the other side of the compositions – calm, relaxing and light saxophone solos, deep and static tunes, monotonic and solid bass line, dozens of different playing techniques, sounds, timbres and expressions are gently fused together in one musical pattern. The change between various moods and expressions reveals wide and fascinating ability of improvisers to improvise creatively, brightly and passionately. The improvisations have especiqally wide range of sounds, styles and colors – effective and organis synthesis between all these musical language elements and inspiring improvising makes an effort to bright, remarkable, intensive and passionate sound.” / Avant Scena, Avant Scena, 29 August 2018

 

“Contemporary free jazz item from the label Edition FriForma, which is a sub-label of Inexhaustible Editions in Slovenia. Put contains a single 40-minute performance from the trio of Markus Krispel, Matija Schellander and Szilveszter Miklós in a live recording made in Ljubljana. It seems this threesome have been working at their craft and bonding closely through a series of live concerts in eastern Europe, touring Serbia, Croatia and the Czech Republic; some of these were organised under the aegis of the “Borderless Dissonance” concert series.

I found this record very appealing in a dour sort of way; it’s not out to prove something about the heat and energy of free jazz, and instead there are many awkward pauses and difficult angles which they have to negotiate. This may be something of a relief, as I sometimes feel there are too many people trying the “energy jazz” thing in the contemporary round, and they mostly end up with clouds of loud noise which lead nowhere. Free playing ought to have some sort of edge to it (e.g. political, social, artistic); I worry it’s in danger of becoming too glib a tongue. Not so with Markus Krispel and his sidemen¹, who almost seem to be inventing a reason to play together before our very eyes, respectfully but cautiously mapping out common ground. This may reflect something about their respective backgrounds; Krispel, the Austrian alto and baritone sax player, is apparently self-taught as a musician (the liner notes describe him as a “wild autodidact”), and his musical tastes are such that he sees no conflict in adding his sax work to the band [[[Altar:Thron]]], who play experimental metal. As we listen to his halting phrases and slightly ungainly textures, I find much to enjoy in his unconventional style. He’s not freighted down with chops, be-bop structures, or the slickness that has afflicted many American stars since the ascent of Wynton Marsalis. Could be that Krispel’s getting closer to the true “tongue” of the jazz idiom than many more established players.

Then there’s the bassist, Matija Schellander, also Austrian, described here as a “conceptualist”; it’s true he studies computer music, and has also played in that highly unusual group Rdeča Raketa who made the nifty Wir Werden LP in 2012. There’s something so austere and strict about his work on this record that he makes the sax player seem positively baroque, and that’s no mean achievement. The drummer Szilveszter Miklós seems to be the only one of the trio more steeped in jazz traditions, and he’s been playing with the Grencsó Open Collective in Budapest for about ten years. What I like here is his uncluttered, punchy technique; never a wasted beat, and each stroke tapped in firmly with a certain no-nonsense tone. All of this amounts to music which, as hinted at earlier, is full of rough edges, gaps, and unfinished surfaces; at times, it’s a miracle the work hangs together at all, so tenuous are the connections. Some may find this a frustrating listen (why doesn’t the music get going more often?), but it’s just right for me. Will look for further developments from this trio with interest.

¹ I use the term advisedly.” / Ed Pinsent, The Sound Projector, 2 January 2019

 

“Matija Schellander je austrijanac slovenačkog porekla koji pored sviranja kontrabasa, često improvizuje i na modularnom sintisajzeru sa velikim brojem muzičara sa evropske improv scene, a figurira i kao jedna polovina dua Rdeča Raketa sa Majom Osojnik. Na ovom izdanju udružio se sa austrijskim saksofonistom Markus Krispel-om i mađarskim bubnjarem Szilveszter Miklós-em, kako bi proizveo teksturalno bogati dijalog pun nijansi, podjednako u vodama free jazz egzaltacije kao i tiših registara apstraktnije i nepredvidljivije procesije proširenih tehnika na ovim instrumentima .Trio se sreo na Borderless Dissonance događajima – kao deo programa godišnjeg regionalnog kolaborativnog projekta koji je pokrenula slovenska kulturna asocijacija KUD Mreža, a koji se odvijao u tri glavna grada njihovih zemalja prebivališta, nakon čega su ovi improvizatori nastavili svoje balkansko putovanje na kome su predstavili rezultate svog zajedničkog rada.” / Marko Milićević, Popscotch, 13 February 2019

 

“A terrific surprise is the recording Put by an assembled trio. It appears that label chief László Juhász had a hand in bringing together Austrian saxophonist Markus Krispel, Austrian with Slovenian roots bassist Matija Schellander, and Hungarian drummer Szilveszter Miklós for a series of performances under the Borderless Dissonance moniker in Budapest, Ljubljana and Vienna. First let’s credit Juhász for the vision, then applaud the fruits of this collaboration.

Recorded live at Vodnikova Domačija Šiška in Ljubljana in May 2017, this single set of 41-minutes of music draws upon the same traditions as those early Workshop Freie Musik concerts in Berlin of the 1970s. But this music, in a more noisy way, calls to mind the manner in which the Australian trio The Necks builds a performance. That is, by way of momentum. Their stealthy entrance of quiet bowed bass, breath forward saxophone and stirred cymbal invites a closer, albeit quiet attentiveness. Maybe you’re not familiar with Schellander’s work in Bulbul (a noise rock band) and Krispel’s gig in a metal band, because yes, we are going to get loud here. Thunderous yes, but like the aforementioned The Necks, this trio keeps to the script. If there were such a thing as a script in free jazz. What we have here is coherence. They present logical and consistent improvisation throughout.” / Mark Corroto, All About Jazz, 3 September 2019

 


 

RADIO PLAYS ↓

 

· Glasni Novi Svet at ARS – 3. Program Radia Slovenija, Ljubljana, 28 March 2018
· Glazba vs BetPeH6aYa at Orange 94.0, Vienna, 27 October 2018
· DJ Grafiti at Radio Študent, Ljubljana, 8 February 2020