Schlippenbach Quartet - Hunting the Snake
(Atavistic)
Alexander von Schlippenbach has been playing with his trio for many years now, which
also contains the legendary Evan Parker on soprano and tenor sax and percussionist Paul
Lovens. The rarely recorded quartet adds Peter Kowald on bass, and while they have
released two LPs, Hunting the Snake is the first Schlippenbach Quartet release available
on CD.
Recorded in 1975 for a German radio station, Hunting the Snake contains four long
pieces that showcase the speedy improvisations of the group. It's a dense sound, with
lots of action and jumping about (especially with Lovens) but at times it spreads out and
the group gets into a quieter (though never mellow) connection.
Schlippenbach's piano is circular and disorienting. He plays many notes quickly but his
touch is light. Even when he gets loud he remains delicate, especially when dancing
around both ends of the keyboard at once. At times it sounds like Schlippenbach is
directly plucking the piano strings, sounding like raindrops on glass. His communication
with Lovens is remarkable.
"Moonbeef" opens with some sort of circular breathing from Parker; it sounds like two
saxophones are playing at once, with a low bleating and some shrill squeaks on top of it.
He builds up, using frantic flutters of notes, with Kowald alternately tapping and bowing
his instrument. Either one of them can play remarkably on their own--the interplay of
Parker's alien sax over Kowald's deep moans is quite unique.
Hunting the Snake is somewhat lengthy, stuffing the CD with the pieces. Sclippenbach
never pulls the group anywhere that they can't handle--when working with such skilled
musicians, there's a lot more room to explore. While each individual moment of the
album is bright and lively, nothing is ever gratuitous.
The Unheard Music Series continues to present challenging, important music that sounds
great and is nicely packaged. I've hardly bought anything that wasn't part of this series
recently. Let's hope that they continue with other fine releases.
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