Solo-CD "Whispering Blue"
Assessment: outstanding
The German experimental and improvising saxophonist Joachim Gies is not the first to grasp the nettle of solo performance: Konitz, Braxton, Parker (Even), Gayle, Gustavsson, Surman... the list is long. However, he is in good company and a worthy companion.
The liner notes inform us that he employs 'new' techniques: multiphonics, quarter tones, circular breathing and slap-tonguing. Well, not so new I'm afraid and he certainly can't claim new ground broken here. But there are other breathtaking new ideas on show. Gies plays a range of horns: soprano, alto, tenor and bass clarinet but with a difference. He plays prepared saxophone. Much like John Cage's work with prepared piano 50 years ago the results are truly unique. The tenor is played with a trombone mouthpiece, hose is placed between the neck and mouthpiece of the alto and the soprano is played with a trumpet wahwah mute. The effect is to make the familiar sound strange.
The compositions are meditative in nature. Sometimes he plays long, melodic lines or terse statements, or strange ethereal notes held to the point of decay. It is a sparse landscape: at times tranquil at others very alien and unpredictable. The goal is the exploration of the sound barrier rather than composition and it succeeds brilliantly. Gies is all discipline and control (no histrionics here) and his approach creates inherent beauty. Four pieces known collectively as 'From Afar' employ additional prepared ambient sounds and they cement the work together.
New music rather than jazz perhaps but classification isn't important. Leo Lab is an experimental imprint and Gies fits perfectly into its agenda. This quiet gem may prove very influential in time to come.
by John Cratchley, Jazzwise, July 2001
TERMINE
