The trio at work here consists of three giants of improvised music. On trombone, George Lewis has few peers; multi-instrumentalist Vinny Golia has been a rock of the Los Angeles free-jazz scene for over 30 years; and contrabassist Bert Turetzky has a lifetime of cutting edge experience to contribute. The music on Triangulation II is more than just a record of three virtuoso musicians at the height of their powers, it's a testament to the power of listening.
There is a telepathy going on throughout this session that Turetzky described as "magic." Listening to this disc, it's hard to disagree. All eight of the pieces were improvised on the spot, yet there is a heavy compositional aesthetic going on. There is a history between Golia, Turetzky and Lewis that has been years in the making. All three improvisers extend the language and range of their individual instruments (or in Golia's case, his arsenal of instruments). Consequently, it is often difficult to figure out who is playing what at any given time. That's also at least half of the fun— trying to make those distinctions.
Things begin with the ominous "Reconnaissance." Golia's haunting air pulsations and pad popping on his bass flute set up Turetzky's low-toned arco work. Suddenly Lewis enters with terse staccato repetitions and it's off to the races. The intensity builds with Turetzky sawing at his strings below the bridge, then tapping his bass all over. Then the dynamics shift, and there is a gradual calming of the storm. Somehow they all dial down to a whisper and finish off as if it were all written down. The next piece, "Plenipotentiary Panache," starts with the bass bowing eerie harmonics while Golia alternates between repeated trills and long, intricate lines via circular breathing. Lewis enters, matching Golia's intensity and they trade, short broken phrases that ricochet back and forth. The trio downshifts to almost pointillist exchanges of long, drawn tones. Turetzky interrupts the stasis with a raspy swooshing sound.
Lewis suggested they play a ballad, all starting together: that was the extent of preparation for the remarkable "Ballade." The musicians start harmonizing with each other instantly. Turetzky bows an independent line that supports the thoughts that Golia and Lewis finish for each other. Golia doesn't play tenor saxophone often and that's a shame, because his sound on this is beautiful. After everyone drops out momentarily to showcase the pliant tenor, Lewis returns with some nagging plunger- mute commentary, then soft multi-phonics. Trombone and tenor echo each other's lines, while Turetzky bows dark insinuations that snake around the two horns. Somehow, the three follow each other down to a perfect melodic ending.
"You Don't Say" is a duet between Golia (on one of his ethnic flutes) and Turetzky's contrabass. The flute starts flutter-tonguing while the bassist rubs his bow all over the instrument. There is a percussive interplay where each musician takes on the role of "drummer." There is some brief, deep toned pizzicato work, then back to furious arco over Golia's long, operatic lines. "A Low Frequency Colloquy" offers the chance for Golia and Lewis to dialogue. The reedman sends out high pitched overtones on the contrabass clarinet, maximizing the reverberant effect of his large instrument while Lewis' trombone pushes and pulls with percolating plunger-mute discourse. Out of nowhere, Golia switches to contrabass saxophone and the two pair off for a serious low-frequency sparring session. The sub-tone antics are then broken up by hilarious squealing and screaming sounds that are way out of each instruments range. Instantaneously, the dynamics draw down, and Golia introduces a descending melody that closes out the piece.
It's back to the trio for "Diversion a Tre." Turetzky drags his bow across the strings for mysterious scratching, scraping effects, while Lewis begins a series of manic, comical special-effects sounds using the trombone mouthpiece by itself. Golia's keening clarinet work completes the trio's independent conversation. Lewis and Turetzky duet live over some pre-recorded Golia tracks for "Another Heated Conversation." This is another piece that seems highly composed. Trombone and bass start and stop on a dime—as if they can read each other's minds. Turetzky places a piece of paper in between the strings of his instrument to achieve some distorted, wicked bag-pipe effects, and Lewis responds to the recorded tracks with a strong, willful voice.
It all comes to a close with "Up Is Down (Jan Sedifka R.I.P.)" Golia's breathy bamboo flute sets the stage, and Turetzky responds by vocalizing strange humming sounds. Lewis gets an odd, percussive sound by blasting pure air though his trombone. Everyone makes use of, and manipulates overtones for ghostly effects. The bassist begins bowing somber, funereal lines, then abruptly starts striking the instrument. Meanwhile, Golia switches to piccolo, layering piercing melodic fragments while Lewis comments very softly underneath.
Triangulation II is a sublime, powerful document. Turetzky uses his bass to paint pictures and tell stories; Lewis delivers a state-of-the-art compendium of trombone potential; Golia's total mastery of the entire woodwind family is stunning. In the end, it's three master musicians communicating at the highest level. Anyone interested in free improvisation and the cutting edge of creative music should give this a listen. - Robert Bush
This is what my children are calling 'Ghost Music', which is a great description for such a music as this. And when I say that my children gave it this title it's a big compliment, after all I notice that children (mine at least) often hear music in another way, giving names to sounds or melodies with no prejudices about what they mean or might infer. So here we have it Triangulation II (#30) in the catalogue of Kadima Collective, a label run by Jean - Claude Jones.
The music here suits the ghost images very well as these improvisations are all based on atmosphere that could be described as cinematic - i.e. they would not be out of place on a film soundtrack. The reason for this, to my ears at least, is the interesting use of bass flute, bass saxophone and a few other 'extreme' register instruments by Vinny Golia. Due to imaginative use of wind instruments - clarinet, bass sax, flute, bass flute and others probably, the (un)usual trombone sounds of George Lewis combine with the bass playing of Bert Turetzky, much of the music builds on atmosphere and rarely melodies, except for the last piece. Commenting on individual pieces is difficult and rarely do the titles of the tracks define the music - which is where Anthony Braxton's number system for titles springs to mind as a useful way of categorizing tunes/tracks without influencing the listener as to what they might hear.
However, if one had to describe the music at all I would say that almost all the pieces are ballads in feeling. Never is there any aggressive screeching and it's almost as if the musicians hoped to keep a calm reflective sound in the music, almost serene. Of course there are aggressive moments such as "Diversion Ta Tre" which use Lewis's singing harmonics combining later with the bass. The end section of "A Low Frequency Colloquy" also uses the bass saxophone to great effect. But the general direction of the music is towards a calm contemplative sound and much of that is due to the unusual choice and use of such instruments as the bass flute and bass sax. As already mentioned the last piece "Up Is Down" has a quite amazing opening with flute, trombone and bowed bass creating an oriental atmosphere. The music gradually moves into much darker sounds only to return to the original motive at the end .... planned maybe?
All in all this is an album that reveals many details with listening. Whilst writing this review I would constantly hear sections passing which were beyond description when using words. George Lewis' unusual use of trombone sounds often become unidentifiable as such, and when combining with either the double bass of Turetzky and the wind instruments of Golia, create textures of real delicacy. A real success, and one that grows with listening. What more can one ask? - Joe Higham
Tracks
1. Reconaissance
2. Plenipotentiary Panache
3. Ballade
4. You Don't Say!
5. A Low Frequency Colloquy
6. Diversion `A Tre
7. Another Heated Conversation (Thanks To M.W.)
8. Up Is Down (Jan Sedifka R.I.P.)
BERT TURETZKY contrabass
GEORGE LEWIS trombone
VINNY GOLIA woodwinds
Recorded December 3, 2003 at the Warren Music Center Studio, Los Angeles
Kadima Collective - KCR 30