Udo Schindler/Nikolaus Neuser/Georg Karger

Deriving distinctive textures from instruments not commonly juxtaposed, three German players on Rhapsodic Topologies create an equally uncommon but defining variant of close-knit improvisation. Udo Schindler, who plays cornet and clarinets here is a Munich-based polymath who has collaborated with numerous international sound explorers. Bavarian bassist Georg Karger divides his time among improv, film and theater music, while Berlin-based trumpeter Nikolaus Neuser plays regularly with Silke Eberhard among others.

Layered carefully so that the expected and extended timbres of the horns and strings intersect, project and decorate, Schindler’s brass/reed ambidexterity gives him the most improvisational scope. Clarion clarinet trills or altissimo doits, modify or move alongside Neuser’s portamento smears or brief brass bites. Elsewhere chalumeau reed snarls evolve in counterpoint with Karger’s hard thumps. Switching to cornet Schindler’s half-valve emphasis or plunger growls contrast tellingly with the trumpeter’s expanding plunger tones, brassy smears or open horn vibrations. The bassist’s stops and col legno slaps distend as much as they cinch the four improvisations. As part of tandem exposition transformation, the Neuser also varied his part with mouthpiece oscillations, short brass bites or expels speedy triplets to alter and extend the line.

Still Neuser’s bright shakes and widening open-horn pressure commonly add a lyrical tinge to Schindler’s brassy sneers, tongue slaps, line fragmentation and curved tempo shifting. Since horizontal fluidity underlines the playing of all three, these aren’t singular moves. In fact the final sequence of “Rhapsodic Topologies #2” is straight-forward enough to include a percussive walking bass line, reed puffs and the trumpeter’s evocative plunger work.

This tone mixture of the direct and the deviated is what makes the musical cartography here something that can be followed from beginning to end. What initially seems like usual concurrence and repurposing proclaims its creative logic by the end.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. Rhapsodic Topologies #1 2. Rhapsodic Topologies #2 3. Rhapsodic Topologies #3 4. Rhapsodic Topologies #4

Personnel: Nikolaus Neuser (trumpet); Udo Schindler (clarinets and cornet) and Georg Karger (bass)