Mahall, Rudi / Alexander von Schlippenbach - So Far
SKU
RPR 1067
“The duo kicks off with 'all Jazz is free' ... we first hear Mahall's bass clarinet with a loopimg mid-register melody shadowed by rhythmic and, mostly consonant, comping by Schlippenbach. Soon, it isn't Mahall leading but Schlippenbach's jazz inflected streams of consciousness darting about. The duo proceeds in a good natured pursuit - handing off leads and supporting roles, intensifying as they go. Schlippenbach's rhythms get punchy, giving Mahall something to run into and bounce off in a new direction. The slow down at the end is simply to end the track, not out of a lack of ideas.
A couple of stand out tracks - among an album full of them - are 'knockemstiff can can' which begins stiffly, with some randomly assembled arpeggios from the piano juxtaposed with an oscillating bass clarinet line. The piano playing gets denser as the bass clarinet continues to jumps octaves, eventually leading into some heated 'discussion' between the heavy rhythmic chords and obtuse melody. 'boiling desire' is a ballad of sorts, Schlippenbach's romantic side comes to the fore in the opening measures. Mahall eventually joins the slowly unwrapping tune on, I assume, the Bb clarinet. The higher timbre wind instrument weaves an evolving melody over the deliberately paced track, leaving many ellipses and open questions.”-Paul Acquaro/Free Jazz Blog
- LabelRelative Pitch
- UPC5902249000863