Mark Holub

Taking a new approach to group sounds while steering a mid-course between fusion and pure improv, both of which he has dipped in and out of during the past two decades is Led Bibb leader Mark Holub. The American drummer, who has been a Vienna resident since 2012, has organized a strings and reed quintet, which on Anthropods moves past chamber-jazz affiliations, but avoids overt free jazz reed extrusions with astringent string connections.

Besides Holub, the quintet consists of Austrians tenor saxophonist Jakob Gnigler, cellist Clemens Sainitzer and violinist Irene Kepl, who lead their own ensembles, and bass clarinetist Susanna Gartmayer, known as a Vegetable Orchestra member. Having composed all the tunes, the drummer maintains the beat with a cohesive and subdued series of rubs and paradiddles, only intensifying the rhythm with gutsy and tenacious strokes during a couple of solos.

Throughout the disc the band moves through a collection of undulating, mostly up-tempo numbers that cleverly alternate between the string-and-reed duos outputting harmonized lines and individual articulations. At these points Kepl’s spiccato string stops and Sainitzer’s moderated sul ponticellos sweeps provide spiky interludes. Similarly, Gnigler’s honking snarls and Gartmayer’s clarion tongue stops blast dissonant breezes to ruffle the narratives and disconnect them from complacency.

A track like “The Bells” for instance, has clarion reed bites subverting descending string formalism into a melded squirming overlap; while the light march tempo of “Pumpkin Patch” propelled by the reeds’ light clarion tones and moderated cello sweeps is broken up by Kepl’s intense double and triple stopping leading to a tough, relentless resolution. This quick leap between harmony and discord goes into the extended “For Charles”. Pressurized through string hammering, wood rapping and unique tunings plus reed flattement and tongue slaps, tension is eventually released as horizontal string connections join Holub’s bass drum rumbles to cool down and centre the finale.

Anthropods will likely never be as popular as Led Bibb. But it offers more varied approaches to creative performance.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. Sea 2. Forest Capers 3. Messy To Me 4. The Bells 5. One Way 6. For Charles 7. Lunges 8. Pumpkin Patch 9. Home

Personnel: Jakob Gnigler (tenor saxophone); Susanna Gartmayer (bass clarinet); Irene Kepl (violin); Clemens Sainitzer (cello) and Mark Holub (drums)