Tom Ward/Nuno Trocado/Sérgio Tavares

Turning the usual definition of the noun on its head, the Corrosion trio members refine disparate sounds into stable free improvisations. Located in two European port cities. London’s Tom Ward, who plays alto saxophone, clarinet and flute here, and Porto-residents Nuno Trocado, guitar and electronics and bassist Sérgio Tavares, emphasize sonic oxidation when sound transformation is necessary for innovation.

Ward, who has recorded with Dirk Serries, and Trocado and Tavares, who are involved with many Portuguese bands, are experienced in creating musical chemical reactions. So the CD, which begins with the suggested sounds of rooster crowing, emphasizes the whorls, squeaks and sputters of dissonance as well as extended and unbroken harmonies.

Ward’s skill in jumping from flute peeps to reed bites and vibrations brings additional resonations to the nine tracks; so do the angular crackles and buzzes from Trocado’s electronics mixed with intense guitar twangs and flanges. Concentrating on ostinatos and string stops, Tavares’ woody arco and pizzicato affiliations pace the others’ motif stretching.

Whether guitar licks are chiming or cutting, Trocado’s strokes also contribute to the horizontal evolution, whether intersecting with the saxophonist’s Aylerian honks as on “Aquifer”; mixed with bass rubs; or using a sudden explosion of strums and finger picking to team up with jagged saxophone squeaks on “Derationalise”. Meanwhile Ward’s aerophone ability is most prominent on “Contaminated by Faltering Frequencies” when he unexpectedly shifts from superfast sax flutters and split tones to a transverse interlude where two tone are heard simultaneously: one horizontal and one jarring.

Guitar filigree and thick double bass thumps create perfect counterpoint and consolidation in the architecture of that track and others. And it’s this three-pronged ability to unite exploration and evolution which characterize the sophisticated timbral integration and evolution of this disc.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. Reflecting the Uncanny 2. Synthesising the Celestial 3. Undercarriage Rust 4. Aquifer 5. Refuse 6. Contaminated by Faltering Frequencies 7. Derationalise 8. Dissipation 9. Keep Staring, Something Is Bound To Happen

Personnel: Tom Ward  (alto saxophone, clarinet, flute and voice); Nuno Trocado (guitar and electronics) and Sérgio Tavares (bass and voice)