Concert Review by: Lyn Horton
Venue: Bezanson Recital Hall, UMass Anherst (Amherst, MA)
March 30, 2006 - Helpful to my appreciation of the
ICP performance at UMass Amherst was my visual memory of the work of Pieter
Bruegel, a 16th century Flemish painter. Although the subject matter explored by
this late Renaissance master frequently took a religious or traditional turn,
the way in which Bruegel portrayed the figures in his paintings was remarkably
cariactural. Leap to the Instant Composers Pool Orchestra. This is a
contemporary big band made up of an extraordinary group of musicians led by
Dutch pianist, Misha Mengelberg, and drummer, Han Bennink. The band’s collective
demeanor portrays a Flemish realism where the approach to music is playful and
serious all in the same breath.
The connective tissue in this
band has little to do with saccharine expressivity. Rather the music is produced
quite above board on a beautifully clean and dry surface whence can spring spry
improvisations that dip into a rich literature from composers including
Ellington, Monk, Herbie Nichols, and Kurt Weill. A European temperament bursts
forth from this group in ways which paint the music with more formalism than
not. A sense of determination exudes from each player’s attack of his and her
instrument. Tenderness and softness was perhaps evident only a few moments with
Mengelberg’s treatment of the piano and in the fluidity of the
strings.
The regulated direction of the
band is prevalent in every moment of performance. Even though there were times
when the melodies at hand dissolved into multi-directional instrumental events,
a tightness of purpose carried the orchestra through. Perhaps the best example
of this purpose rose out of the many gratifying spurts of harmonization which
were woven in and out of the music. Any harmonic unity was complemented with the
deconstructions and the single instrument improvisations. Clarinets played a
prominent role in the band, endowing the sound with a Teutonic flavor. The
strings contributed a deeply groovy swing signature. And the drums seemed to
drive the engine of the train.
Han Bennink reveals a performance
ethic that has to be experienced to be appreciated. He works a small trap
set and produces a huge, sometimes impressively heavy, sound, although he does
lay back often with cymbal/snare/brush hissing combinations. In any event, he
maintains a constant motion and refuses to let go. The beats are standard and
really satisfying. The most notable and exquisitely humorous maneuver Bennink
presented in his performance occurred in a transitional surge when the orchestra
was building up to the body of a number. Midst a fast and furious flurry of
sticks to the drumset, Bennink placed his left foot on the snare. He was still
sitting down. He transmitted a kind of carelessness with this gesture, not in
the sense of being insensitive, but in the sense of being completely free and
secure in his capacity to make incredible music.
Every single orchestra member had
a lead role. Each was powerful in his/her own right. The playing
generally was raw and sometimes odd. The dynamic, however, from one
instrument to the next, in counterpoint or in synchronization, in a single
accent note, or in a small group effort was crucial to the band’s communicative
power.
This nearly 30 year old orchestra
speaks brilliantly to a peculiarly angular vision of musical history which can
only emanate from a Northern European source. This vision is porous and
accepting of multiple stances, a stronghold for an ultimate heterogeneity.
(The members of the ICP are:
Misha Mengelberg, piano; Han Bennink, drums; Ab Baars, Michael Moore,
Tobias Delius, reeds; Thomas Heberer, trumpet; Wolter Wierbos, trombone; Mary
Oliver, violin and viola; Tristan Honsinger, cello; Ernst Glerum, bass.)
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