Timo Lassy Trio

Speicher/Krug/Maddow
Unterholz
Unit Records UTR 5192

Concentrated feet-on-the-floor Free Jazz, these two fast paced blowing sessions alive with sinew and skill, don’t have any loss of subtlety either. While superficially similar, divergences exist between the two. A live club session as the title indicates, the seven performances on Timo Lassy’s disc are directed around the bends and breaks created by the Finnish tenor saxophonist, who was in the Five Corners Quintet and a duo with Teppo Mäkynen. Slightly younger bassist Ville Herralaand drummer Jaska Lukkarinen take up any slack and fill in the holes on this trio’s second outing.

Although German alto and tenor saxophonist Martin Speicher is the veteran on Unterholz, having worked with among many others, Lou Grassi and Cecil Taylor, the compositions instant and otherwise and timbral space are divided among him, percussionist Steffen Moddrow, with whom he has played for many years and younger bassist Sven Krug.

Lassy’s thrusts and wagering tones are reminiscent of Sonny Rollins, and there are echoes of the American saxophonist’s experiments with similar trios. At the same time variety suffuses the tunes, almost all of which are by Lassy. While tracks such as “Mountain Man Exit” and “Rumble Outro” are as harsh and heightened enough to lead the audience to erupt into rock concert-like vocal enthusiasm, others, such as “Better Together” and “African Rumble” are more restrained.

What characterizes the more furious tracks are not only reed hollers, flattement and snorts but how this concentrated flow is met by paradiddle rebounds and snappy pops from Lukkarinen and a fixed double bass pulse. On “Rumble Outro”, when Lassy emphasizes alternations  between low pitch tongue stops and near altissimo strains, this encompasses similar but singly dynamic duets with the bass and drum.

While Lassy’s most Rollins-like resemblance is initially heard on “Better Together” with its drift towards relaxed calypso measures, subsequent irregular vibrations and triple tonguing confirms his own identity. A unison narrative with the rhythm section on “African Rumble” maintains individuality still further with sax swagger and swing doubled with bongo-like drum slaps and bass string pops. By concert’s end themes demonstrate that story telling with Blues-inflected buzzes are as much part of the performance as reed multiphonics, string spins and drum slaps.

A more precise studio session, Unterholz appears to follow a realized plan, since bridging interludes of about two minutes that highlight individual instrument techniques separate the longer selections. More refined than Live in Helsinki at points, but just as raucous in others, the key to this disc is the integration of Speicher’s output, which can move from screeching altissimo, basso split tones, clenched asides and stretched sliding exposition tension in record time, with rhythm section pacing. While Krug and Maddow have enough individual space the whole time, accomplished backing timbres encompass bass thumps and arco sprawls from the bassist and focused ruffs or looser clangs and rebounds from the drummer.

The concluding “Calling The Frogs” sums up the reciprocal arrangement in miniature. Introduced by a solid bass and drum march, treble saxophone flutters delineate the theme which soon speeds up to squeaky split tones and strained smears goosed by cymba ratchets. Krug’s strums signal a change of pace to a measured sequence, which coupled with drum backbeats back Speicher’s repeated mid-range growls and corkscrew flutters that mark the ending.

Even more diverse extensions of the strategy are heard on “Roadrunner in the Undergrowth” as the saxophonist takes on several persona. Beginning with Bop-like also saxophone squeaks that exposition slides into wallowing in bent notes and scooping reflux, as a walking bass line and drum shuffles move upfront with wooden pings and terpsichorean refractions. Reaching andante textures, the saxophonist circles back to his peeping intro but modernizes it with slinky upward slides and repeated slurs.

Whether you prefer your bass-drums-saxophone sessions free-for-all or with some structure, there’s plenty to appreciate on these CDs.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Live: 1. Moves 2. Mountain Man Exit 3. Better Together 4. African Rumble 5. Rumble Outro 6. Love Bullet

Personnel: Live: Timo Lassy (tenor saxophone); Ville Herrala (bass) and Jaska Lukkarinen (drums)

Track Listing: Unterholz: 1. Ad Libido 2. Mr Ribbeck 3. Roadrunner in the Undergrowth 4. Mit einem Schmetterling ins All gejagt 5. Rituale der Lemuren 6. Geröll 7. Calling The Frogs

Personnel: Unterholz: Martin Speicher (alto and tenor saxophone); Sven Krug (bass) and Steffen Moddrow (drums and percussion)