Search - ICP Orchestra :: Oh, My Dog

Terminal wackiness

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 07/06/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"That's generally a good thing in my book. And these guys (and gal) deliver the full monty. The ICP part of the ICP Orchestra stands for "instant composers' pool," tipping off the unwary consumer as to the goings on--i.e., that most of these numbers are totally improvised, made up (completely, or at least for the most part--they may hang on some slim melodic thread) on the spot. If you're not familiar with this kind of thing, it may take some getting used to.



Most of the nine members (Misha Mengelberg, leader and piano; Han Bennink, percussion; Mary Oliver, violin/viola; Tristan Honsinger, cello; Ernst Glerum, bass; Ab Baars, tenor sax/clarinet; Michael Moore, alto sax/clarinet; Walter Wierbos, trombone; Thomas Heberer, trumpet) not only have played together in the ICP Orchestra for more than a decade, they represent some of Europe's most accomplished jazz practitioners. Together they create stop-on-the-dime melodic, harmonic, rhythmic, tempo, and mood changes. From the most out squalling and squawking will emerge a passage of startling, ethereal beauty ("Precise Dimensions and Weight"), punctuated, though it may be, by Bennink's percussive nonsense, only to morph into more caterwauling and screeching. One piece ("Travel Agent") contains a brief section that sounds almost exactly like a pack of hyenas yowling over their latest prey, then, nicely, segues into buzzing bees, followed by a serene (if slightly soused) soiree on the Serengeti, and ending in quiet, almost inaudible, repose. Sandwiched in between such goings on comes a track ("A la Russe") that maintains a most rigorous and precise fugal character. Other pieces contain strict formal passages juxtaposed against wildly free ones ("Ham on Air"), faux military fanfares and marches devolving into chaos ("Hand and Checked Luggage"), drunken polkas turning into highly stylized swing ("Oh my Deer") and back again. Then there are the crazed circus motifs cropping up throughout . . .



But you know what? It all makes a bizarre kind of sense. Once you realize they're in it mainly for fun, to see what kind of weird sounds they can conjure and in what interesting ways they can make them fit together, or juxtapose them sillily, or make them intermingle, dance, cavort, howl, swing, and entrance, then you can get on board with the wacky Calypso (for example) that marvelously emerges and dominates for a minute or two in the middle of an extended suitelike piece, only to transmogrify into some industrial/jungle sawing that itself shifts into music sounding like the national anthem of an obscure south African country.



Certainly not for everyone, but those who appreciate the Dutch scene in general, and, more specifically, groups like Clusone Three, will feel entirely comfortable with the vibe here, and will definitely want to check out this altogether remarkable music. For me, I'm thrilled that Amazon is starting to carry some the great stuff on the BVHAAST label as well as things it distributes (like this)."