Released in May 2012 via Peira on a very limited run of one hundred CDs, the latest offering from Chicago based experimental Jazz outfit Ed Bear and Lea Bertucci, who also work under the name Twistycat, is called “Controlled Burn”. It is a master class in improvisational techniques and free form sounds.
About the duo
The duo base their act round the coupling of electro-acoustic woodwind instruments of bass clarinet and baritone saxophone and use a blend of feedback techniques to produce a sound that is both intensely passionate and yearning, yet remaining strangely discordant.
They seek to try and stop the distance between audience and performer and break down the barriers that have been firmly put up in the past, which haven’t always allowed a strong connection between the two within this particular form of music.
On this latest album, they further their ideas of creating a harmony between sight and sound, with a collection of instrumentals that provoke thought and feeling, conjuring up many emotions and inspiring the listener to let their imagination flow as they hear what Bear and Bertucci call “post-industrial dissonance”.
The album
The tracks on the album create an innate sense of space and time, yet hold an immense energy within them that charges thoughts and feelings. The second track, “Scelsi Girls” is a prime example of this. It’s an experiment in long, droning notes with peaks and troughs.
The saxophone and clarinet feel like they are playing a game of cat and mouse in a way, chasing each other and trying to compete for supremacy over the almost four minute in length piece. The end of the track, though quite abrupt, brings a lulling sense of stillness and calm as if the battle between the two instruments has been fought and won.
The saxophone and clarinet feel like they are playing a game of cat and mouse in a way, chasing each other and trying to compete for supremacy over the almost four minute in length piece. The end of the track, though quite abrupt, brings a lulling sense of stillness and calm as if the battle between the two instruments has been fought and won.
At just over nine minutes, “Tooth” is the longest track on the album. It has a jarring quality to it, a sense of unease. Its wisps, crackles and disjointed feeling promote a feeling of anxiety within the listener, almost a sort of “who might be behind the door” horror movie aura that is very compelling.
The shortest track on the album is the sublime “Fanfare”, which in many ways is the most coherently structured piece of the entire work. Listening to it brings a memory of Michael Nyman and his use of woodwind instrumentation in his film score for “The Draughtsman’s Contract”. It has a beautifully rolling structure to it, a repetitive melody which makes it easy to recognise and remember. In some ways, it felt as if it was almost too short and that it could have carried on and developed for a much longer time frame without becoming too much.
“Rare Earths” is a quiet, slow burner, once it swings into action it pulls the listener in with an intense, swirling maelstrom of noise. At first, it feels like it might ever start. It jolts the listener into awareness at around fifty seconds with a high pitched note to make its presence felt. It has a beautiful juxtaposition of elongated, high notes that jostle with an undercurrent of crackling and fizzing. At one point, the two are engaged in a battle that feels like cold air and warm air before a thunderstorm might do. It’s sometimes an uncomfortable listen.
There is a gentle lull at around six minutes thirty in which it becomes, quieter, less piercing, more fluid in it’s movement. Then it charges up again for a final flourish that ends on a droning note that lasts for around forty seconds, before quietly fading.
There is a gentle lull at around six minutes thirty in which it becomes, quieter, less piercing, more fluid in it’s movement. Then it charges up again for a final flourish that ends on a droning note that lasts for around forty seconds, before quietly fading.
Where can the album be purchased?
The tracks from the album can be downloaded from the duo’s Bandcamp page here, as well as purchased from Peira Records website. For an intense experience that combines dissonance with jazz and electro-acoustic instrumentation, then Bear, Bertucci Duo should be listened to, bought and loved. For more information, news, back catalogue details and a list of previous and forthcoming events that the duo are participating in, then their website can be visited by following this link here. Lea Bertucci also has her own website with videos, news and contact information which can be accessed here.
It’s well worth a look for anyone that really likes what they’ve heard via Twistycat or would like to further explore a new experience in jazz.
It’s well worth a look for anyone that really likes what they’ve heard via Twistycat or would like to further explore a new experience in jazz.
(Review by Eve Raphael)
Eve is a music aficionado, spiritualist and writer who's always interested in opening up to new sounds and experiences. By day she writes on behalf of a number of health and nutrition sites such as a grass fed whey specialist and an organic coffee retailer.
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Ed Bear: baritone saxophone
Lea Bertucci: bass clarinet
Label: Peira
Cat. #: PM12
Format: CD-R
Release date: 05/2012
Tracklist:
01 - Somniferum (06:12)
02 - Scelsi Girls (03:43)
03 - Tooth (09:08)
04 - Fanfare (01:24)
05 - Things Have To Change (07:38)
06 - Rare Earths (08:47)
07 - Lines And Sirens (08:56)
08 - Please (05:16)
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Links:
Ed Bear
Lea Bertucci
Peira
