Exta by John Butcher, Thomas Lehn, and John Tilbury.
Bandcamp Link: Exta
I’m not quite sure how to describe this album, nor am I sure how to explain why I like it so much.
John Butcher plays saxophones, Thomas Lehn plays synthesizers, and John Tilbury plays piano.
John Tilbury is probably most well known as part of the influential British Improvising group, AMM. In AMM, Tilbury, and his compatriots Lou Gare, Eddie Prévost, Keith Rowe, and others (including composer Cornelius Cardew), charted a path for improvisation that moved far from the Jazz based fire music of the New York scene and towards something else entirely.
Like AMM, Butcher, Lehn, and Tilbury use of silence, extended instrumental technique, and musical expressions to create sounds and sonic environments that are not traditionally associated with Jazz.
Exta often sounds more similar to 20th Century music, say Xenakis or Stockhausen, than Jazz. But it is more organic. There can be menace and agitation here, yet it moves from tension to stillness and back.
Often I am not quite sure initially which instrument is making a sound. The Sax and Synthesizer intertwine especially intriguingly, with the piano providing percussive and often bell-like counterpoint.
On Exta, Butcher, Lehn, and Tilbury have created their own sonic world and invited you to get lost in it.
#Exta #JohnButcher #ThomasLehn #JohnTilbury #TodaysCommuteSoundtrack
