Utilities
See Through 5
All-Set AS001
Transcombobulation
Mike Smith; Jonathan Adjemian
All-Set AS003
Never Get Lost for Long
Ali Berkok
All-Set AS002 (all-set.org)
The experimental music scene in Toronto is bustling. It had all but been written off with the virtual retirement of Bill Smith, who, almost single-handedly, brought in musicians such as trombonist George Lewis, the great Anthony Braxton, bassist Dave Holland and many others. Together with the late John Norris, Smith put a lot of the 60s avant-garde on the Sackville label. With Smith in hermitage and the death of John Norris, the centre of this daring music seemed to shift to Guelph, Ontario, where the annual festival seemed to be the only event that showcased the new music. But the Greater Toronto Area appears to have awoken again and the latest manifestation of this is a new imprint called All-Set! (all-set.org). This enterprise founded by bassist Mike Smith has exploded out of the blocks with three discs featuring bold new music where conventional instruments have been leavened with electronica.
Some people’s reaction on hearing the synths and loops of See Through 5 on Utilities might be “this is not a jazz album.” But Mike Smith, pianist Tania Gill, bassist Pete Johnston, reeds and woodwinds specialist Karen Ng and percussion colourist Jake Oelrichs may confound yet please critics. But then the virtuoso musicians seem to have cut the improvised to the bone and turned it into tracks with tunes or at least music with irresistible hooks. To complement the crisp clarity of the electronics, See Through 5 have sown carefully constructed pieces with sections of Ng’s magisterial saxophone and clarinet improvisations. As a studio production it works beautifully.
Once you get past the almost unpronounceable title of this recording, Transcombobulation by Mike Smith and Jonathan Adjemian, you truly enjoy its exploratory music. This is a six-part musical adventure that abounds in variety, depth and invention. Smith is among the foremost of the talented Toronto musicians who has developed an individualistic, difficult-to-classify personal genre. On this riveting disc, Smith and Adjemian imaginatively and (by-and-large) subtly mix in elements of electronic music, rock and contemporary composition with an occasional nod to noise music. Although the pieces develop from beguiling, elegant melodies, what makes them special are Smith and Adjemian’s arresting textures and colours.
Ali Berkok’s Never Get Lost For Long is one of the most adventurous recordings by a Canadian in a considerable length of time. Angular, with a proverbial doffing of the hat towards minimalism, Berkok’s playing is exhilarating, extroverted and virtuosic. Simple as it seems it actually presents rather formidable technical challenges, all of which are surmounted almost with nonchalance. Berkok has a particularly rewarding sense of rhythm, high-sprung, light and incisive, and entirely secure. John Coltrane’s Giant Steps is particularly brilliant, also played with no-holds-barred intuition.
