« Construit par Han-earl Park, io 0.0.1 beta++ est un automate musical moderne. Ce n’est pas un instrument dont on joue mais un musicien artificiel, non-humain, qui joue avec ses contreparties humaines. io 0.0.1 beta++ représente une investigation politique et personnelle de la technologie, de l’interaction, de l‘improvisation et de la musicalité. Il évoque capricieusement un robot venu des films de série B des années 50, fait de bric et de broc y compris matériel de plomberie, ustensiles de cuisine, haut-parleurs, éléments de simili-missiles qui célèbre le matériel et le corporel. Les performances avec ce musicien artificiel mettent en lumière la prise de la technologie sur notre société, montrent d’autres manières de proposer une interface entre le musicale et le technologique, et illuminent les processus créatifs et improvisatoires en musique. La performance est un engagement total et ludique dans les rêves (parfois les cauchemars) puissants et problématiques de l’artificiel, un rêve aussi vieux que l’anthropologie des robots. »
Expériences de résonnances et d’occupation de l’espace sonore. Très dramatique sans narration. Tout l’espace est occupé, toujours de manière surprenante, avec peu de sons, peu de matière (toutefois l’occupation peut se densifier sans rupture), travaillée finement, une dentelle de musique. Des allers et venues des sons comme de personnages sur ce qu’on peut vraiment appeler une scène musicale. Un travail de legato général, structurel, dans la rupture permanente des sons individuels. Un disque étonnant dans lequel les sons de l’automate sont reconnaissable sans être décalés. Les humains ne jouent pas comme s’ils étaient entre eux, le robot les influence, l’inverse est vrai.
Noël TACHET CHRONIQUES Mars 2012
https://sites.google.com/site/improjazzmag/home/chro20120
Google translation:
"Built by Han-earl Park, io 0.0.1 beta ++ is a modern musical automaton. This is not an instrument to be played but an artificial musician, non-human, who plays with his human counterparts. io 0.0.1 beta ++ represents a political and personal investigation of the technology, interaction, improvisation and musicality. It evokes a capriciously come robot B-movies of the 50s, made of bits and pieces including plumbing, kitchen utensils, speakers, leather-missile elements which celebrates the material and body. The performance with this artificial musician highlight the taking of technology on our society, show alternative ways to provide an interface between music and technology, and illuminate the creative process and improvisatoires music. The performance is a total commitment and fun in dreams (sometimes nightmares) and artificial potent issues, a dream as old as anthropology robots. "
io 0.0.1. beta+++ est un automate musical moderne. Sa sonorité, rauque au possible, évoque quelque criquet électronique enroué. Face à la machine, Han-earl Park (guitare),Bruce Coates (saxophone alto & sopranino) et Franziska Schroeder (saxophone soprano) envisagent la possibilité d'un dialogue. Mais, convenons-en : le dialogue est impossible si ce n'est en de très rares instants (4G / Laplace: Pertrurbation) ; les élans s'accordant, on ne sait trop comment. Ailleurs, l'échec se consomme, la machine n'est plus qu'anecdotique. Et ce sont dans ces instants précis – et précieux-– (solos, duos, rarement trio) que ce disque passionne. Généreux, torsadant leurs souffles, décomplexés, oubliant la machine ; Park, Coates et Schr improvisent avec décontraction et naturel (saxophones rugissants ou expérimentant la litanie, guitare grouillante et acide). Il fallait donc en passer par là pour faire éclore la sombre beauté de leur musique. Voila, c'est fait.
Luc Bouquet http://grisli.canalblog.com/archives/2012/09/26/25188028.html
TRANSLATION(??)
io 0.0.1. beta + + + is a modern musical automaton. Its sound, hoarse with possible electronic cricket evokes some hoarse. Front of the machine, Han-earl Park (guitar),Bruce Coates (alto & sopranino) and Franziska Schroeder (soprano saxophone) consider the possibility of a dialogue. But we must admit: the dialogue is impossible if it is very rare moments ( 4G / Laplace Pertrurbation ) elk agreeing, it is unclear how. Moreover, the failure is consumed, the machine is more anecdotal. And it is in these precise moments - and valuable - (solos, duets, trio rarely) that drive passion. Generous, twisting their breaths, uninhibited, forgetting the machine; Park , Coates and Schr improvise with relaxed and natural (saxophones roaring or experiencing the litany, guitar and teeming acid). He had to go through it to hatch the dark beauty of their music. Voila, you're done.
The rather unprepossessing "io 0.0.1 beta++" isn't just the album title– it's the name of one of the "musicians" playing on it, an automaton ("a freestanding mélange of industrial, military and domestic hardware") which jams along merrily with its creator, guitarist Han-earl Park and saxophonists Coates and Schroeder. Park's skill as an instrument builder must be considerable, though as a guitarist he could do to take some lessons from Mr. Bailey about using those volume pedals, which might explain some of the downright ugly tweets and bleats io spits out in response. The gizmo evidently has more of a sense of humour than its playing partners, it seems, getting resolutely stuck on a twittering minor third in the second track, and there's little the humans can do to dislodge it. One wonders what it might do if teamed up with a real improv prankster like Han Bennink or Eugene Chadbourne.
Dan Warburton, September 2011
io o.o.1. beta++ (SLAMCD 531) is the title of a CD I received via the School of Music and Sonic Arts at Queen's in Belfast, although it's released on Slam Productions in Oxford and the chief instigator, Han-Earl Park, is based in Los Angeles. The guitarist Park, sometime member ofMathilde 253 whose fine CD impressed us in March this year, is joined by two improvising saxophonists, Bruce Coates (from the Birmingham Improviser's Orchestra) and Franziska Schroeder (member of the trio FAINT), and the record documents the meeting of this trio with the "machine musician" io o.o.1. beta++. This device is an automaton, a musical robot if you will, built by Mr Park; it's not just another computer programme that plays random sounds or builds an "interactive" space for other laptop musicians, but actually occupies physical space and performs on the stage alongside its human counterparts. Shades of Pierre Bastien…it might have been nice to scope some photos of this mechanical man at work, but there are none provided with the release. The multi-media artist Sara Roberts from California writes the liner notes and she does a much better job than I possibly could in articulating the cultural resonances of this man-meets-automaton event.
By Ed Pinsent http://www.thesoundprojector.com/2011/09/10/the-infiltrators/
Leave it to Irish musicians to take oddball innovation one step further. With improvisations matching traditional instruments with electronic manipulations now commonplace, Cork-based guitarist Han-earl Park personifying Dr. Frankenstein, has created a non-human artificial musician from ad-hoc components including speakers, kitchenware and missile switches. This CD is a literal record of how the non-human, prosaically named io 0. 0. 1 beta++, sounds in concert with flesh-and-blood counterparts. Worth noting, the resulting nine improvisations are intriguing, but in a 21st century context, no more startling than any electro-acoustic outing featuring musical software and sound design.
For a start, Park, who regularly plays with trumpeter Ian Smith and drummer Charles Hayward; alto and sopranino saxophonist Bruce Coates, co-founder of the Birmingham Improvisers Orchestra; and soprano saxophonist Franziska Schroeder, a lecturer at Belfast`s School of Music and Sonic Arts, all have long histories of working with advanced, experimental musicians. These include live-electronics stylist Richard Barrett and accordionist Pauline Oliveros. Moreover io 0. 0. 1 beta++ is unobtrusive and egoless enough – no surprise – to warble its staccato particle contributions without trying to engulf or show up the humans. Its contributions are unique enough on their own.
For instance on the initial "Pioneer: Variance" and "Pioneer: Dance" contrasting alto and soprano saxophone trills and squeaks are put into bolder relief as the otherworldly flutters, oscillated tones and flanged rotations of the machine are kept in a straight line by Park's legato picking. The thoughtful pauses audible in the guitar playing confirms Park's human-ness, especially when compared to the grainy whistles and juddering vibrations that arise from io 0. 0. 1 beta++. Additionally, while the machine's gradually swelling splutters and harsh quivers demonstrate broken octave counterpoint to the saxophonists' multiphonic oscillations, its hissing abrasions retreat into the background as Park's spidery licks become more rhythmic.
Nonetheless the machine further demonstrates its versatility on the 59-second "4G", with metallic muted trombone-like snores and even raises the question as to whether io 0. 0. 1 beta++ or extended saxophone techniques are creating the air pops and abrasive tongue flutters on subsequent tracks. In the main crackling reductionist resonations are attributed to its properties, while any legato or lyrical intermezzos are, more likely than not, propelled from the instruments and imaginations of full-fledged Homo sapiens.
Succinctly as the three demonstrate on "Return Trajectory", during which io 0. 0. 1 beta++ appears to have taken five, an additional voice – human or otherwise – is necessary to create a pleasing sound picture. The guitarist's connective down strokes plus the swelling layers of contrapuntal reed timbres are distinctive and solipsistic enough on their own.
Notable in demonstrating what artificial intelligent can contribute to an improv session, this CD also confirms that the very artificiality of AI confirms that robotic players won't be taking all the musicians' jobs any time soon.
Ken Waxman http://www.jazzword.com/review/127689
O 0.0.1 BETA++ [HAN-EARL PARK/BRUCE COATES/FRANZISKA SCHROEDER] - io 0.0.1 beta++ (Slam 531; UK) Featuring Han-earl Park on guitar, Bruce Coates on alto & sopranino saxes, Franziska Schroeder on soprano sax and io 0.0.1 Beta playing itself. Some of you should recall guitarist Han-earl Park from a couple of discs he has done Paul Dunmall, a duo and a quartet. British saxist Bruce Coates also worked with Mr. Dunmall as well as with John Edwards and Christopher Hobbs. I hadn't heard of Franziska Schroeder before this although she has worked with Pauline Oliveros, Evan Parker and Chris Brown. Even more rare is that these three human musicians are improvising with a machine called io 0.0.1 beta or io for short. Io was constructed by Han-earl Park and is an integral part of this quartet. Io creates some sort of electronics sounds which don't really sound like that much like the electronic sounds created by humans. Io does create sounds based on what the other three musicians are doing. The music made by this quartet is improvised and does make sense. Both saxists work well together, cautiously bending their notes around one another while Han-earl also plays fragmented sounds on his guitar. Io also adds its own diverse yet fractured sounds to the blend. On "Pioneer: Dance" Mr. Coates plays slightly twisted alto sax while io adds similar textural sounds. If I didn't know better, I would think that this was a successful session of European improv by a quartet of gifted yet thoughtful players who take their time to explore similar textures and terrain together. I am not so sure that machines will ever take the place of human improvisers in the future, however this disc shows that someone is working in the right direction. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery, July 2011.
Il titolo da romanzo o di sigla di messaggio segreto è il nome della
macchina sparamusica/rumori che fa bella mostra di sè sul palco e che
senza alcun intervento dei musicisti intorno tira giù il suo catalogo di
suoni con cui gli altri si trovano a confrontarsi. Un´idea che sarebbe
piaciuta ai futuristi di omai un secolo fa, un inno totale alla
modernità. Altro che strumenti acustici!
I tre musicisti coinvolti insieme alla macchina sonoHan-earl
Parkalla chitarra,Bruce Coatesal sax alto e sopranino e
Franziska Schroederal sax soprano. Non hanno nessuna paura per
il confronto e così si avventano con passione sulla proposta
dell´oggetto inanimato.
La session completamente improvvisata richiede molta attenzione da parte
dell´ascoltatore, ripagata completamente da quello che è un esperimento
riuscito. Non siamo qui in presenza di programmi che danno un risultato
che il compositore/programmatore si aspetta già bensì di una macchina
lasciata in balia di se stessa a proporre, rispondere, per quel che è la
sua comprensione, rilanciare, su cui il trio dei musicisti umani crea
interazione all´istante, improvvisazioni che a tratti acquistano
atmosfere molto forti.
I tre non stanno solo a scoprire le possibilità intrinseche ai loro
strumenti al di fuori delle tecniche ortodosse. Stanno anche ad
esplorare, a farsi prendere dalle possibilità intrinseche al suono in
quanto tale ed a volte sembra di ascoltare la lezione di uno Steve Lacy.
È cosí che il tutto acquista una dimensione più terrestre e
l´incontro/scontro con la macchina improvvisante regala paesaggi sonori
inconsueti e densi di idee. Vittorio Lo Conte http://www.musiczoom.it/?p=3564
TRANSLATION
The title theme of the novel or secret message is the name of the
machine sparamusica / noise that makes a fine show of himself on stage and thatno intervention from musicians around pulling down his catalog ofother sounds with which they are confronted.An idea that wouldlike to Futurist henceforth a century ago, a hymn to the total modernity.Nothing but acoustic instruments!
The three musicians involved with the machine areHan-earlParkon guitar,Bruce Coateson alto and sopranino andFranziska Schroederon soprano sax.They have no fear ofconfrontation, and so they passionately with passion on the proposalinanimate object.The completely improvised session requires a lot of attention fromthe listener, to be paid back fully what it is an experimentfailed.We are not here in the presence of programs that give a resultthat the composer / programmer is expected to have a car butleft to fend for itself propose to answer, for what it ishis understanding, raise, on which the trio of musicians creates humaninteraction instantly, improvisations that sometimes buyvery strong atmosphere.The three are not only to discover the possibilities inherent in theirinstruments outside of engineering solutions.They are also toexplore, to get caught by the possibilities inherent in the sounditself, and sometimes seems to listen to a lesson Steve Lacy.It is so that everything takes on a more earthly andthe encounter / clash with the machine gives improvvisante soundscapesand full of unusual ideas.
Progetto rumoristico, destrutturato, ad elevato tasso di provocazione e insieme di ispirazione ed ascolto "altri",io 0.0.1 beta ++salta il preambolo ed esiste d'emblée nelle iperacide note della distorta chitarra di Han-Earl Park che di getto aprono le lievitanti turbolenze di un trio minacciosamente sensibile (o viceversa) e forte, peraltro, di una piuttosto enfatica auto-presentazione " Sul palco: due uomini, una donna e un artefatto, un mélange sospeso di hardware industriale, militare e domestico. Gli umani reggono oggetti lucidi e graziosi, ma il marchingegno si regge solitario; e mentre la donna e gli uomini producono suono (vibrando l'aria) toccando e diteggiando i graziosi oggetti, l'artefatto suona senza esser toccato affatto. Esso e gli umani improvvisano insieme, rispondendo alle reciproche gestualità musicali".
Le corde tese di Park imbastiscono un plateau scabro ma di lungo e persistente respiro, vivente nelle articolazioni e nella tessitura della sua fisica elettroacustica; mentre sul versante "meccanico" dell'instrumentarium i modi performanti di Franziska Schroeder arricchiscono l'altra metà del sax (a fianco delle Matana Roberts, Alexandra Grimal, Ingrid Laubrock etc.) di una voce sperimentante e nuda, in sintonia e insieme dissonanza con i flussi paralleli e convergenti del free-player purosangue Bruce Coates, e il tutto si dipana entro uno svolgimento a canovaccio libero e istantaneo, lungo il suo deviante svolgimento interrogandosi (senza eccessivo paradosso) se l'autentica "alienità" sia rispettivamente appannaggio della cosa o, piuttosto e viceversa, dell' "umano".
E ancora così prosegue la sofisticata presentazione (peraltro abbastanza sinergica agli intendimenti dei tre): "io non ha inclinazione melodica e non ha addestramento narrativo per prevalere: vi è, però, un definito sentimento di connessione in ciò che Park chiama: gestualità non-periodiche, che nondimeno evocano periodicità".
Ennesimo esempio di post-avanguardia "desiderante" (com'era in voga insinuare nell'era della sperimentazione più politicizzata - almeno negli intenti),io 0.0.1 beta ++vive di ascolto trasmissivo e di performance aperta, che si abbevera nell'istantaneità, e nell'interplay sdogana il segno ed il polso strutturante dell'aleatorietà.
Insomma, l'avanguardia è tornata: non che fosse mai stata davvero latitante, ma gli interrogativi sonori, lacerati e critici, del trio pongono come oggetto radicale la disumanizzazione progressiva e le implicazioni del sempre più preponderante avvento della macchina, forse retrodatando le intenzioni alle prime decadi del secolo scorso e alle relative allarmistiche dottrine, ma riprendendole lungo le forme acutamente nervose e l'attenzione creativa dei medianici e cyborghiani performers e del loro interplay attrattivamente imperfetto.
Romualdo Del Noce http://www.jazzconvention.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1122:parkcoatesschroeder-io-001-beta-&catid=2:recensioni&Itemid=11
TRANSLATION:
Project noisy, unstructured, with a high level of provocation and inspiration together and listen to "other",I + + 0.0.1 Betaskip the preamble and exists in iperacide emblée of distorted guitar notes of the Han-Earl Park and open cast Raising the turbulence of a trio ominously sensitive (or vice versa) and strong, however, a rather emphatic self-presentation "On stage: two men, one woman and an artifact, an outstanding blend of industrial equipment, military and domestic. Humans hold shiny objects and pretty, but the gimmick stands alone, and while the women and men produce sound (vibrating air) and diteggiando touching the pretty objects, the artifact played without being touched at all. It improvise and humans together , responding to each other's musical gestures. "
The tight strings of Park imbastiscono a rugged plateau but a long, lingering breath, living in the joints and in the weaving of his electro-physical, while on the "mechanical" dell'instrumentarium ways of performing Franziska Schroeder enrich the other half of the sax (alongside Matana Roberts, Alexandra Grimal, Ingrid Laubrock etc.) of an item experiencing and naked, together in harmony and dissonance with parallel and converging streams of free-player thoroughbred Bruce Coates, and everything unfolds within a plot to conduct free and instantly, along his deviant conduct questioning (no paradox, excessive) if the authentic "otherness" is the prerogative of the matter or, respectively, rather than vice versa, of '"human."
And yet as continues the sophisticated presentation (which is quite synergistic with the intentions of the three): "I have no inclination melodic narrative and has no training in order to prevail: there is, however, a definite feeling of connection in what Park calls: non-periodic gestures which nevertheless evoked frequency. "
is another example of post-avant-garde "desiring" (as it was fashionable to suggest the era of experimentation more politicized - at least in intent),0.0.1 beta + + Ilive transmission of listening and open performance, who is drinking instantaneity, and customs clearance nell'interplay the sign and the pulse structuring of uncertainty.
In short, Vanguard is back: not that it ever really was a fugitive, but the questions sound, mangled and critics, the trio pose as an object radically progressive dehumanization and the implications of the advent of the machine more and more important, perhaps the intentions backdating the early decades of last century and its alarmist theories, but riprendendole sharply along the nerve and forms the focus of mediumship and creative performers cyborghiani and their interplay attractively imperfect.
Rui Eduardo Paesdescribes a "fake quartet" in which the organic musicians bring their experience in ‘avant-jazz' and the "electroacoustics' border with contemporary music" to the music, and in which the automaton "interactively reacting to what they do and even giving them cues":
Este é um falso quarteto entre uma máquina de improvisar, oio 0.0.1 beta++, criada pelo guitarristaHan-earl Park, e três improvisadores humanos, o próprio Park e os saxofonistasBruce Coates(alto e sopranino) eFranziska Schroeder(soprano). O autómato em questão tem um computador incorporado, mas foi construído com utensílios de cozinha. Os sons que produz são de espectro limitado, pois o propósito é ironizar as bandas sonoras dos filmes de ficção científica das décadas de 1950 e 60. Os músicos de carbono envolvidos ora trabalham na área do ‘avant-jazz', ora na da electroacústica de fronteira com a música contemporânea: Park com Charles Hayward, Wadada Leo Smith e Paul Dunmall, Coates com Tony Oxley, Lol Coxhill e o compositor indeterminista Christian Wolff, e Schroeder ao lado do pianista português Pedro Rebelo e em colaborações com Pauline Oliveros e Evan Parker. Todas essas experiências se reflectem em temas como ‘Ground-Based Telemetry' e ‘Laplace: Instability', sempre com o io a reagir interactivamente ao que fazem e até a dar-lhes deixas. Rui Eduardo Paes Jazz.pt #39 Nov 2011
Translation below byFelipe Hickman.
This is a fake quartet between an improvisation machine,io 0.0.1 beta++, created by guitaristHan-earl Park, and three human improvisors, Park himself and saxophonistsBruce Coates(alto and sopranino) andFranziska Schroeder(soprano). The automaton in question has a computer attached, but was built with kitchen utensils. The sounds it produces have a limited spectrum, as the purpose is to mock the soundtracks of sci-fi movies from the 1950s and 60s. The carbon musicians involved sometimes work in the field of ‘avant-jazz', sometimes on the electroacoustics' border with contemporary music: Park with Charles Havward, Wadada Leo Smith and Paul Dunmall, Coates with Tony Oxley, Lol Coxhill and the indeterminacy composer Christian Wolff, and Schroeder besides the Portuguese pianist Pedro Rebelo and in collaborations with Pauline Oliveros and Evan Parker. All these experiences are reflected in themes such as ‘Ground-Based Telemetry' and ‘Laplace: Instability', always with io interactively reacting to what they do and even giving them cues.
Han-earl Park/Bruce Coates/Franziska Schroeder
io 0.0.1 beta++
(Slam)
Once again, a CD I found in my mailbox made me painfully aware of the great quantity of fine music about which I know absolutely nothing (the real problem being, of course, that my condition is quite typical). Of the three flesh-and-blood musicians performing on this album (the reason for my being so specific will became apparent in a moment or two), the only one I'm somewhat familiar with is sax player Bruce Coates (mainly for his collaboration with Paul Dunmall); though they both possess long and prestigious curricula, I'm sure this is the first time I've listened to guitarist Han-earl Park and soprano saxophonist Franziska Schroeder.
Closing track here, Return Trajectory is a good for instance of the excellent rapport existing among the aforementioned players, whose parallel traveling seems to suggest a good dose of telepathy - check the final moments, the two winds going towards a note in teleological mode. This is the track that, in my opinion, clearly shows more than a trace of these musicians' formative influences, with Schroeder's soprano reminding me of Evan Parker (elsewhere on the album she sounds quite more personal), while Coates's alto is clearly reminiscent of the zig-zag wondering of Anthony Braxton (an influence that is also quite apparent elsewhere on the album, both on alto and sopranino). Han-earl Park's guitar sits somewhere halfway between Joe Pass and Derek Bailey, being quite aware of the jazz vocabulary and the art of comping, though of course filtered through a modern sensibility, starting with timbre, but not as "indifferent" to the surrounding as Bailey's sometimes could be.
Were the album as good as its closing track, well... we'd only have a good album, nothing more. But - surprise! - as per its title, we have an "unknown quantity" called io 0.0.1 beta++: a "musical automaton" created by Han-earl Park whose improvising - so rich when it comes to timbres (which are sometimes more than a bit old-fashioned, a fact that goes well with its bizarre physical aspect, so reminiscent of 50s sci-fi movies), so mysterious when it comes to its decision-making - works as a valuable stimulus for its fellow musicians.
If on an aesthetic plane the main parallel that I can trace (one that I hope can be useful to readers) is with mid-80s Company, here the work as it's offered to the listener appears to highlight the issue of the decisional process which is at the basis of improvisation when seen as a conscious "discipline of choices". And in the CD liner notes penned by Sara Roberts I seemed to detect more than an echo of those debates which flourish about the famous (?) Turing Test. My quick description of the music featured on this CD which follows puts the "mystery" of the decision-making process in the background - it could be said that "man or machine", it's all so similar, though when it comes to issues like this I'd prefer a bit more technical details, à la George Lewis's Voyager (but the liner notes refer readers to writings and texts, some of which are accessible via the Web).
Opening tracks Pioneer: Variance and Pioneer: Dance (total length: about 25') are maybe my favourite moments here. The former opens with "bizarre" synth sounds, sporting vintage "squeaks" and modulations; then it's the soprano sax, with "split" notes and a fine dialogue; then it's the guitar, played with volume pedal, harmonics, and chords rich with echo. The latter features alto sax, quite Braxton-like (of the four musicians featured here, Coates is the one who can easily be classified as the one with a "jazz" background); the automaton formulates an interesting answer, with a square wave animated by an LFO (at least, that's what it sounds like to me); there are fine bass (meaning: bottom) guitar strings appearing in the left channel, sounding almost like toms or bongos, the high strings being placed in the right channel (an interesting idea, having the guitar so spread in the stereo field, and one used with good taste); a serene soprano goes hand-in-hand with a "noisy" synth and a "flamenco" guitar; the synth has a few interesting oscillator "beatings", and a very fine coda.
Discovery: Intermodulation has a frantic sopranino and a "dark" soprano, the "automaton" producing both long and short notes; "pizzicato guitar", with "cramped" arpeggios. Discovery: Decay opens with io 0.0.1 beta++ playing solo, its timbre somewhat reminiscent of vocals filtered through a vocoder; then it's the guitar, and the soprano sounding somewhat "Baroque" and "Renaissance-like", the whole sounding quite consonant, and so offering the most listener-friendly moment on the album.
Laplace: Perturbation starts with timbre halfway between trombone and filtered cymbals, with a long solo part by io 0.0.1 beta++; the guitar plays in a dialogue, the alto sax quite Braxton-like, the three musicians traveling parallel streets, with fine results. Laplace: Instability says a lot in just about three minutes; while alto sax and "synth" are somewhat reminiscent of the preceding track, there's a meditative soprano performing a counterpoint that's quite chamber-like, the track ending on a consonant note.
Beppe Colli
© Beppe Colli 2011
CloudsandClocks.net | Sept. 4, 2011
Han-earl Park/Bruce Coates/Franziska Schroeder
io 0.0.1 beta++
(Slam)
Una volta di più, un CD trovato nella cassetta della posta ci ricorda in modo (s)piacevole quanto poco conosciamo di quanto c'è in giro (il vero problema, ovviamente, essendo che la nostra è una condizione tutt'altro che atipica). Dei tre musicisti in carne e ossa presenti sull'album (una distinzione il cui senso diventerà chiaro tra un istante) l'unico con il quale abbiamo una pur minima familiarità è il sassofonista Bruce Coates (diremmo per la sua collaborazione con Paul Dunmall); mentre a onta di curricula ampi e prestigiosi questa è la prima volta che ascoltiamo il chitarrista Han-earl Park e la sassofonista Franziska Schroeder.
Posto in chiusura, Return Trajectory è una buona illustrazione del rapporto fra i tre, con un procedere parallelo cui non sembra estranea una buona dose di telepatia - si veda la chiusa, verso la quale i due fiati viaggiano spediti con spirito che diremmo teleologico. Questo ci è parso il brano in cui è più facile scorgere influenze formative, con il sax soprano della Schroeder a riportare alla mente Evan Parker (altrove sull'album la musicista ci è parsa più personale) e il sax alto di Coates a ricordare l'incedere zigzagante tipico di Anthony Braxton (un'influenza che diremmo nettamente percepibile anche in altre parti dell'album, sia all'alto che al sopranino). La chitarra di Han-earl Park si situa in un'ideale terra di mezzo tra Joe Pass e Derek Bailey: cosciente del vocabolario jazzistico e del ruolo di "accompagnamento", pur interpretato con disinvoltura innanzitutto timbrica, non raggiunge le vette di "indifferenza" tipiche del secondo.
E se l'album si fosse mantenuto a questi livelli avremmo avuto un buon album e nulla più. Invece, come da titolo, si aggiunge qui quella "quantità misteriosa" che prende il nome di io 0.0.1 beta++: un "automa musicale" creato da Han-earl Park il cui improvvisare - ricco nei timbri (ma con un che di old-fashioned che ben si accoppia con il bizzarro aspetto fisico da film di fantascienza degli anni cinquanta), misterioso nel procedere decisionale - funge da prezioso stimolo per gli altri musicisti.
Se un parallelo (che speriamo utile al lettore) potrebbe essere tracciato con certe pagine della Company degli anni ottanta, qui l'attenzione ci pare attribuita soprattutto ai processi decisionali che stanno dietro all'improvvisazione quale "disciplina delle scelte". E nelle note di copertina di Sara Roberts ci è parso di individuare più di un'assonanza con le discussioni che sorgono intorno al famoso (?) Test di Turing. La veloce descrizione della musica che proviamo a tracciare qui di seguito pone quindi sullo sfondo la questione del "mistero" concernente le decisioni - "uomo o macchina", potremmo dire, poco cambia, anche se da parte nostra avremmo preferito un minimo di corredo tecnico alla maniera del Voyager di George Lewis (ma qui c'è una bibliografia con testi consultabili in Rete).
Venticinque minuti in due, Pioneer: Variance e Pioneer: Dance, posti in apertura di CD, sono forse i nostri episodi preferiti. Apertura del synth con timbriche "bizzarre", con fischi e modulazioni "vintage"; poi ingresso del sax soprano con note "split" e un buon procedere dialogico; si aggiunge la chitarra con pedale di volume, armonici e accordi arricchiti dall'eco. Il secondo brano vede la comparsa del sax alto, non poco braxtoniano (dei quattro musicisti qui presenti, Coates è senz'altro quello al quale è più agevole attribuire la definizione di "jazzista"); interessante la risposta dell'automa, con onda quadra animata da LFO; belle le corde basse della chitarra che entrano sul canale sinistro, come tom o bonghi, con le corde sottili a destra nello stereo (un'idea interessante, quella della distribuzione della chitarra nello spazio, impiegata con gusto); un sereno soprano si affianca poi a un synth "rumoristico" e a una chitarra "flamenco"; synth con "battimenti", e bella coda lunga a chiudere.
Discovery: Intermodulation ha un sopranino frenetico e un soprano "scuro", con "l'automa" a produrre note ora lunghe ora contratte; chitarra "pizzicata", con arpeggi "stretti". Discovery: Decay apre con il solo io 0.0.1 beta++ con timbro che ricorda una voce filtrata tramite un vocoder; poi la chitarra, e un soprano "barocco" e "rinascimentale" per un insieme consonante che è senz'altro il momento più accattivante dell'album.
Laplace: Perturbation apre con timbri a metà strada tra il trombone e dei piatti filtrati, e una lunga parte in solo di io 0.0.1 beta++; chitarra dialogica, sax alto braxtoniano, con i tre a percorrere con efficacia strade parallele: ottimo. Laplace: Instability dice molto in tre minuti; sax alto e sfera sintetica mantengono le coordinate del brano precedente, si aggiunge però un soprano meditativo per un contrappunto che ha non poco di cameristico; il tutto si spegne su una nota consonante.
Beppe Colli
© Beppe Colli 2011
CloudsandClocks.net | Sept. 4, 2011
HAN-EARL PARK, BRUCE COATES & FRANZISKA SCHROEDER / io 0.0.1 beta++ (Slam Productions)
Une collaboration improvisée entre le guitariste Han-earl Park, le saxophoniste (alto et sopranino) Bruce Coates, la saxophoniste (soprano) Franziska Schroeder… et io 0.0.1 beta++, un automate. Cette créature mécanique, présente physiquement sur scène et commandée par un ordinateur intégré à son "corps", interagit et improvise avec les improvisateurs humains. Ce quatuor (ou faux-quatuor, à la limite) propose des improvisations libres exigeantes faisant appel à de nombreuses techniques étendues, des pièces aux gestes décomposés, aux timbres déstabilisants, mais à la synergie impressionnante.
A free improvisation collaboration between guitarist Han-earl Park, (alto/sopranino) saxophonist Bruce Coates, (soprano) saxophonist (Franziska Schroeder,… and io 0.0.1 beta++, an automaton. This mechanical creature is physically present on stage and commanded by a computer sitting inside its "body." And it interacts and improvises with the human improvisers. This quartet (or faux-quartet, if you prefer) performs demanding free improvisation calling on a range of extended techniques. Pieces of dismantled gestures, destabilizing timbres, and impressive synergy.
François Couture http://blog.monsieurdelire.com/2011/08/2011-08-04-antonio-quijano-quartet.html
A somewhat experimental 'frowning, anything but accommodating, distinguishes this unique album, the result of improvisation without a safety net between a trio of musicians in the flesh and the 0.0.1 beta + +, ie a sort of humanoid built by Han- Earl Park with the aim to interact in real time with human partners.
What comes out?A work in fact marked by a never-ending dialogue between saxophone and electronics (somewhat pushed in this direction is the use of the Park is guitar), with Coates that, since the choice of instrument, certainly does not seem insensitive to the magisterium Braxton, all along a ridge improvisational daring of course (even if on balance rather than practiced), almost outrageous at times, even from a good control of developments, directions, take the musical material gradually, with the only limit, perhaps , to score a little 'up the pieces when you expand too much (like the thirteen-minute "Pioneer Dance") without the support of an adequate dynamic range of the base.
Among the most pollution-minimal segments, and others are more scattered and nervous, it goes like this, sometimes stopping at a sort of limbo emotional, of quiet truculence, however, always admirable consistency and rigor.
Alberto Bazzurro http://italia.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=6952
ORIGINAL ITALIAN
Uno sperimentalismo un po' accigliato, tutt'altro che accomodante, contraddistingue questo singolare album, frutto di improvvisazione senza rete fra un trio di musicisti in carne e ossa e lo 0.0.1 beta++, vale a dire una sorta di umanoide costruito da Han-earl Park con la finalità di interagire in tempo reale con partners umani.
Cosa ne vien fuori? Un lavoro contrassegnato di fatto da un dialogo inesausto fra sassofoni ed elettronica (alquanto spinto in tale direzione è l'uso che Park fa della chitarra), con un Coates che, fin dalla scelta strumentale, non pare certo insensibile al magistero braxtoniano, il tutto lungo un crinale improvvisativo senz'altro ardito (anche se a conti fatti piuttosto praticato), a tratti quasi oltraggioso, pur dall'alto di un buon controllo degli sviluppi, delle direttrici, che la material musicale imbocca via via, col solo limite, magari, di segnare un po' il passo allorché i brani si dilatano troppo (tipo i tredici minuti di "Pioneer: Dance") senza il supporto di un adeguato spettro dinamico di base.
Fra segmenti più atmosferico-minimali, e altri invece più frammentati e nervosi, si procede così, talora arrestandosi a una sorta di limbo emozionale, di quieta truculenza, peraltro sempre ammirevole per coerenza e rigore.
Alberto Bazzurro http://italia.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=6952
Este é um falso quarteto entre uma
máquina de improvisar, o io.0.0.1
beta++, criada pelo guitarrista
Hean-earl Park, e três improvisadores
humanos, o próprio Park e os saxofonistas
Bruce Coates (alto e sopranino)
e Franziska Schroeder (soprano). O
autómato em questão tem um computador
incorporado, mas foi construído
com utensílios de cozinha. Os sons
que produz são de espectro limitado,
pois o propósito é ironizar as bandas
sonoras dos filmes de ficção científica
das décadas de 1950 e 60. Os músicos
de carbono envolvidos ora trabalham
na área do "avant-jazz", ora na da electroacústica
de fronteira com a música
contemporânea: Park com Charles
Hayward, Wadada Leo Smith e Paul
Dunmall, Coates com Tony Oxley, Lol
Coxhill e o compositor indeterminista
Christian Wolff, e Schroeder ao lado
do pianista português Pedro Rebelo e
em colaborações com Pauline Oliveros
e Evan Parker. Todas essas experiências
se reflectem em temas como
"Ground-Based Telemetry" e "Laplace:
Instability", sempre com o io a reagir
interactivamente ao que fazem e até a
dar-lhes deixas.
Rui Eduardo Paes Jazz.pt #39 Nov 2011