Pandelis Karayorgis/George Kokkinaris

Johannes Nästesjö/Sten Sandell
Duo akt I-VII
Konvoj  KOR 25

There’s no need for extra instruments as these piano and bass duos put the inspiration into improvisation. Balancing light and dark, delicate and coarse textures acoustically, together they demonstrate similarities and singularity. The most obvious separation is that akt I-VII was created by two Swedes, while Out from Athens captures a meeting between two Greeks. But there’s more cross-cultural baggage than is obvious at first. On Duo pianist Sten Sandell is a veteran creative musicians whose experience with bands like Gush goes back to the early 1980s. Bassist Johannes Nästesjö is a younger experimenter who has recorded with the likes of Vasco Trilla and Jon Lipscomb. As for Athens, bassist George Kokkinaris is Greece-based and active in improvised and notated music. Meanwhile pianist Pandelis Karayorgis expatriated many years ago to the Boston area, where besides being a respected academic he works with fellow free players like Jeb Bishop and Luther Gray.

While it’s not overriding, Karayorgis’ residency also means that a Jazz sensibility peeks through the mostly abstract themes of the duo’s work. Cognizant of musical story-telling and forward motion, the Greek duo refers, if only obliquely, to the principles of swing, variations and counterpoint. This begins with “Sandbar”, the first track, and is sensed on all 13 selections.

A exemplar on its own, “Sandbar”, is based on hard pumps and cadences with free-form energy from the pianist, whose speedy forward motion and backwards feints mesh prominently with the bassist’s screaming arco swipes or the low buzz from his pizzicato strokes. While some dual expositions may be more obtuse than others, bright, jocular keyboard patterning with Free and Bop antecedents are put into bolder relief coupled with darker rubs and pressurized pops from the bassist.

Sometimes, as on “Bumpy” and others, sectional motifs exist in foreshortened spaces, with Karayorgis’ relaxed Monk-like patterning pivoting to soundboard and string explorations and finally swift expressions, supported by mid-range  double bass counterpoint. Or, as on “Erasures”, the emphasized emotional overlay from Kokkinaris’ string thumps and variations are refreshed and resized by tight single key projections that bring out airy variations.

Both musicians can express doleful or delighted motifs at a variety of tempos, but overall it’s the pianist’s presto glissandi that lighten the load. This is most clearly expressed on “Argle-Bargle” as Karayorgis’ jittery tinkles sharply contrast with Kokkinaris’ gouging sweeps and string scratches, while the bassist’s deeper swells confirm his commitment as well as  cooperation.

Sounds are more abstruse on the other discs as can be intuited by the abstract and somewhat formidable titles of the seven tracks: Duo akt I-VII. Still this is far from an exercise in Nordic gloom. There are even several points where hints of a lyricism float in and out of a track evolution. Like Karayorgis and Kokkinaris, Nästesjö and Sandell define their parameters as early as the first track. The bassist announces his presence with a wrenching string pop and the pianist with a stopped key plink. From that point on the sounds fluctuate back and forth among thick pizzicato thumps, pauses and vibrations from the bassist and a piano fantasia made up of elevated key clips, patterned tinkles, and after a pause, responsive pedal point. Summarily, Sandell extends the line still further with melodic cascades on top and darker keying below.

Reverberations however are expressed more aggressively by Nästesjö, whose biting arco sweeps are matched with caustic bass string tolling. Although bow gashes sometimes go beyond the string set there’s never a question that the bassist is dealing with wood and taunt catgut. Yet at the same time as he’s rubbing sul ponticello lines, Sandel gradually increases keyboard tension, creating new textures by vibrating items on the piano’s inner string set and rumbling timbres from the soundboard.

Notable instances of stripped-down double bass and piano inspiration, neither CD could be termed conventional. But the Greeks may bear more gifts to some with faint suggestions of melody.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Out: 1. Sandbar 2. Stele 3. Tropon Tropoi 4. Athene Noctua 5. Angry Trees. Chasing Down The Light 6. Astrikon 7. Erasures 8. Mumbling Urban Poems 9. Argle-Bargle 10. I Wake to Sleep, And Take My Waking Slow 11. Bumpy 12. Throughgoing Line 13. Out From Athens

Personnel: Out: Pandelis Karayorgis (piano) and George Kokkinaris (bass)

Track Listing: Duo: 1. Akt I  2. Akt II 3. Akt III 4. Akt IV 5. Akt V 6. Akt VI  7. Akt VII

Personnel: Duo: Sten Sandell (piano) and Johannes Nästesjö (bass)