1. Journey to Strange
2. Monster
3. Iono
4. Bobosong
5. Diagonal People
6. Carnival Skin.
Klaus Kugel - drums, percussions
Hilliard Greene - double bass
Bruce Eisenbeil - acoustic and electric guitars
Peter Evans - trumpet, piccolo trumpet, slide
trumpet
Perry Robinson – clarinets
Recorded April 2005 at Leon Lee Dorsey Studio
"CARNIVAL SKIN’s sound
is a catalyst which incites a transmission
of energy through which the audience is compelled
to participate in the process of investigation
and self-discovery." Yes, there is the
usual literary hyperbole through which we
must wade when dealing with such releases,
but this is all part of the fun – I’m not
sure being ‘compelled to participate’ is necessarily
a positive thing, but there is certainly some
compelling music-making on this disc. ‘Avant-garde’
by nature, Carnival Skin’s work rummages around
in that dangerous world of improvisation which
can create marvels, but which always has the
potential to expose itself under the Emperor’s
New Clothes if your belief in the art-jazz
genre is challenged by a sudden saxophone
accident or trumpet tragedy.
Each member of this quintet
has a great deal of experience and proven
track record (literally) in this and other
fields. If critical acclaim and high-class
collaborating is anything to go by then we
are in safe hands. Clarinettist Perry Robinson,
son of folk composer Earl Robinson, has made
many records over the years, and his woody
sound can blend or contrast with Peter Evans’
trumpet - sometimes piccolo or slide trumpet
- with challenging articulacy. Hilliard Greene’s
bass is as much at home in melodic invention,
bowing expressively as well as laying down
a more traditional lower line where required.
Bruce Eisenbeil’s guitar is a restless, roaming
entity which holds the middle ground, providing
harmonic glue between horns and bass or weaving
its own way through the gritty dirt or atmospheric
ambience of the aural soundscape. Klaus Kugel’s
drum sound is a decisive element, colouring,
attention grabbing or supporting as on and
on it goes – like Peter Donald, I found his
constant presence a little oppressive at times.
Reflective of a shared leadership,
the programme includes one composition from
each player and concludes with a collective
eponymous improvisation. The quieter moments
in (for instance) Bobosong and Diagonal
People work best to my ears, giving at
least the impression that the musicians are
listening to each other. There are however
great swathes where everyone is playing
all of the time, something which even
drove my cat up the wall. I tend not to take
too much notice, the cat only likes Mike Westbrook
and Kenny Wheeler, but there were some moments
when we both had to look away and think of
something else. I shall keep to myself what
some of my composer colleagues call this kind
of music-making, but personally I enjoy a
challenge, and relished some of the unusual
sound-combinations which eventually cropped
up – the whistling counterpoints in Bobosong
as a for-instance. I have a feeling that
if this had been a live concert I would have
stayed awake – which is more than can be said
for most of the be-bop fare we get here in
The Hague. The recording is good, but not
without some moments of distortion at peak
levels.
If you like your jazz cooking
on a high flame and bubbling furiously, then
this may well keep your headphones warm for
many a session – please though, not the loudspeakers
– your neighbours may kidnap your cat as a
ransom to stop the noise.
Dominy Clements
CD Reviews
Nemu 0003 [53:13]
