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Michael Moore - alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, melodica, bird whistles
Tristan Honsinger - cello, voice
Cor Fuhler - keyolin, piano, organ
This is chamber music composed and performed by three people. To describe it any other way would be to accept the whole patrilinear packet of western music history which so conveniently divides us all into composer, performers, improvisors, listeners, jazz musicians, etc. This music is traditional: we are part of the international and. more specifically, Dutch improvised music traditions. As in much of contemporary music the form is organic; what could be better than decisions made in real time? The music is about timing and texture; the sounds that we make and how they interact with each other. The written material is used more as a point of reference than as an entity to be faithfully reproduced. 'Welcome to "Air Street"! That`s the title of Michael Moore's second release under the "between the lines" label. "Air Street" continues the concept of "Monitor" (btl 003), its predecessor, as the line-up clearly shows: Moore again performs with Cor Fuhler (piano, hammond organ and keyolin (a home-made hybrid between violin and piano) and cellist Tristan Honsinger. "Air Street" is a little street in the centre of London and the opening of Moore's new release sounds "very British": his three-part composition "Train chords / Spiky-haired boy / Mule standing in the field" starts with an intro by Tristan Honsinger, which develops into a melody reminiscent of the English "Penguin Café Orchestra"... The comparison, however, does not get one further than the next street corner, for the music of Moore, Fuhler and Honsinger deliberately defies pigeon-holing. Michael Moore sums up the group's concept very simply: "'Air Street' is chamber music, composed and played by three people." Full stop. Moore is not a believer in the classical distribution of roles that is so common in European music history. On "Air Street", all three musicians perform on an equal footing: as composers, soloists, but also as listeners... The egalitarian concept also extends to the musical styles: if Moore were to be part of any one line of tradition at all, it could only be that of Dutch improvised music. Ever since the American took up permanent residence in the Netherlands, he has been part of the close-knit circle of the Dutch avant-garde scene. That he is a virtuoso of improvisation, he has already proven in groups such as the legendary "Clusone 3" (together with Ernst Reijseger and Han Bennink). And Moore still impresses us with his brilliant spur-of-the-moment ideas: in passing, he evokes different stations of western musical culture and, true to Dutch tradition, always does it with a twinkle in his eyes.... Regrettably, "Clusone 3" are no longer around but "Air Street", the new product of the Michael Moore Trio, is very much alive and kicking!' |
