Michael Johnsen - Patience Tryouts
(Recorded)
Pittsburgh’s Michael Johnsen has never been an easy man to capture. His public performances, even in his hometown, are spotty, at best, and Johnsen eschews computers and internet communication, thereby avoiding what’s become a vital lifeline for millions of musicians worldwide. Johnsen has appeared on compilations, and played on releases by other artists, but, until now, he’s resisted releasing an album under his own name. Johnsen, however, is a familiar face at Baltimore’s High Zero festival, and it’s from this venture that much of his recorded output has been birthed. Patience Tryouts, issued by Baltimore’s Recorded Records, collects Johnsen’s performances from High Zero’s 2003 incarnation, abetted by a group of seven other improvisers in three different groupings. The freedom of High Zero seems perfect for Johnsen, especially with his use of nondescript boxes of homemade electronic noisemakers and a bowed saw as his usual instruments of choice. The festival, which often plays host to musical inventors and oddball musical personalities, make sit a point to create new improvisatory pairings, with a distinct aim to mix young and old, traditional and eccentric. Johnsen’s collaborators on the disc play a variety of instruments (everything from soprano sax and violin to balloons and self-invented devices), but the uniting factor throughout the disc is the restraint and creativity with which each musicians approaches sound creation. There are no traditionalists here, which, considering Johnsen’s output, it fitting.
Patience Tryouts is a project built more on simpatico sensibilities than ego, with ample space for each musician, and a format that encourages group speak and turn-taking rather than crowded blustering or densely-massed sound. A quiet, simplistic aesthetic is the norm, even in the case of Michael Zerang’s percussion or the electronics utilized by Johnsen and Chris Cooper. As the disc’s title implies, this cd depends greatly on patience, both on the part of the musicians involved and the listener. These sessions weren’t busy ones, and Patience Tryouts may seem dull at times, but a careful listener will find more than a few moments that make up for it. An album that features balloons (Ricardo Arias), a saw (Johnsen), amplified typewriter (John Berndt) and something called the Rubber Airplane (Berndt again) can’t be too mundane, especially when it involves musicians of this caliber. That none of these uncharacteristic instruments become novelty items is a testament to the dedication of the players, creating an almost seamless blend between the unfamiliar and more traditional instruments.
Since Patience Tryouts isn’t exactly a Johnsen album per se, but a collection of improvisations Johnsen just happened to be a part of, it’s hard not to yearn for some solo material, or work that would focus more on Johnsen and his singular musical personality. Perhaps, though, the slight degree of anonymity this disc allows Johnsen is appropriate, and, as it just might be the last recorded bit of his music that is released in the near future, the proverb of beggars and choosers rings true.
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