Clemens Kuratle Ydivide

Aiming to mix activism and improvisation, Swiss drummer Clemens Kuratle directs an international quintet through a selection of his compositions on this diversified session. The musicianship is of prime quality. But just as revolution rather than passive resistance is more likely to lead to social change, intense playing is more distinctive than relaxed iterations.

Case in point is the title track, named for Patrice Lumumba, the murdered first president of the independent Congo. Starting with Kuratle’s martial drags and stirring ruffs mixed with inner piano string rustling from the UK’s Elliot Galvin, the introduction ascends to an exposition defined by emphasized tongue stops and harsh split tones from fellow Brit alto saxophonist Dee Byrne. With vibrant head recapping in the penultimate sequence, a coda of drum patterns and keyboard clips upholds the tune’s initial strength. Some variation on a hip-hop waltz the following “Another One for Rose”  makes room for horizontal frails mixed with knob twisting effects and twangs from Irish guitarist Chris Guilfoyle that face-off with concentrated drum ruffs and rumbles plus reed trills. The set’s other standout, though the title seems more scatological than subversive is “Bwegshit”. Defined by Swiss bassist Lukas Traxel’s taut and darkened string plucks and an underlying electronic drone, Bryne’s studied flattement and pressurized triple tonguing may express individuals’ frustration when change is thwarted. This is confirmed by Kuratle’s syncopated groove, although Guilfoyle’s vertical movement down the scale suggesting compromise.

Although contrapuntal reed tonguing, sometimes live processed, electrified buzzes. guiro-like cymbal ratchets, double bass thumps and string slithers enliven other tracks, some are too quietly balladic and atmospheric more Menshevik than the Bolshevik explosions of the more intense and livelier ones. The concluding “Optimism” with pedal point percussion rumbles mixed with sliding reed tonguing lives up to its idealistic title though. Yet like the band’s name, which can be expressed as Why Divide, collectivism is one virtue, but so is individual engagement in politics or music.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. Lumumba 2. Another One for Rose 3. Marvelling 4. They Haven’t Learned Anything 5. No Cynicism 6. Bwegshit 7. Dim the Lights 8. Optimism

Personnel: Dee Byrne (alto saxophone); Elliot Galvin (piano and electronics); Chris Guilfoyle (guitar); Lukas Traxel (bass) and Clemens Kuratle (drums and electronics)