QUARK records CD05
Hasse Poulsen : guitar, vocals on n° 2
Fredrik Lundin : tenor & soprano sax, flutes, electronics, voice on n° 2
Lars Juul : drums electronics
1. London Girl (Juul, Lundin, Poulsen)
2. Godspeed You All (Poulsen/Juul, Lundin, Poulsen)
3. Night Music
4. Au Soleil
5. Quia Ego Nominor Leo
6. Teaching Peace To the Conquered (Juul, Lundin, Poulsen)
7. Jazz Ain't What It Used To Be
8. Tic
9. Nocturne
10. Hvad skal man Tro (Juul, Lundin, Poulsen)
11. Paparemborde
12. Claudia Waiting
13. On a good day it is better than on a bad day (Juul, Lundin, Poulsen)
All compostions by Hasse Poulsen (KODA/NcB) except when indicated
ABOUT RUGBY IN JAPAN
Rugby in Japan is an excellent demonstration of The Sound of Choice approach:
Starting out with a groovy open blues that growls and twists, London Girl is a nod to the Rolling Stones and the myth of London in the sixties.
Following is a spooky ballad featuring Poulsen’s direct singing and Lundin’s almost Arab chanting. This might also be a nod to English music and the independent rock of the seventies, but however you try to pinpoint it Godspeed you all constantly turns into something else.
Night music is one of five short musical poems spread out over the album: Built around a figure in the guitar, the twelve-tonal (well, not strictly) soprano plays an approximate unison with some strange drumming.
In Au Soleil we get closer to contemporary French jazz (leader Hasse Poulsen, lives in Paris and is an active element of the scene there).
The bass flute plays a unison theme with the bowed (yes) guitar. Whereafter they go into a heated duo. The theme is then repeated over a laid-back odd-meter figure. Very French.
Another two poems follow each other : Quia Ego Nominor Leo starts off as an intro to a mainstream rock hit – and never gets any further. 16 measures in 26 seconds followed by the mad electronica explosion Teaching Peace to the Conquered.
After this hint to the electronic experimentation of the fifties the jazzy Jazz Ain’t What it Used to Be, recalls another fifties icon : Monk. The title and the form of course refers to Duke Ellington, but the improvising after the theme is more related to Evan Parker and European free jazz, with its free-tonal, free tempo convulsions.
Beware of Mr. Schmidt is a reference to public posters in Britain during the Blitz. And Mr. Schmidt was Poulsen’s grandfather who lived in Yorkshire most of his life.
Lundin is the featured soloist on Tic. An up-tempo jazzy thing. Big intervals and a big sound before he lets Juul solo over a short riff.
With Nocturne we approach the end. This is a poem to sunsets. The bass line keeps ascending, the chords sound almost tonal, and the melody turns on its own with a beautiful soprano sound. Very eerie.
After the last poem Hvad skal man tro that repeats the melody of Quia Ego Nominor Leo but this time using it as a bass-line played by the tenor, we go into rugby-land.
Paparemborde known as « Le Patou » was one of France’s mythical players. Between ’75 and ’83 he played 55 times for le 15 de France, winning 2 grand Chelems and one five nations tournament. Later on he won the French championship as a manager for Racing FC.
Sound of Choice chooses a fast virtuoso rock theme to celebrate this colossus. Poulsen takes a first improvisation spurred on by Juul’s insisting drums. Diving into the bass he hands the solo over to Lundin who runs past all adversaries to place the ball directly behind the Dead Ball Line. The Trio shoots the ball far beyond the stadium walls with the final theme.
Paparemborde is replaced by Claudia waiting. Where she is waiting and whom she is waiting for we can only guess, but the beauty of the melody and the soft playing gives us more than a hint.
To end the album Sound of Choice invites the listener into one of the soundscapes that have been the group’s trademark since their 1995 release “Sound of Choice”. E-bowed strings in eternal echo, soprano with wah wah, distortion, and more esoteric electronics, sampled drums scratching the surface, barely indicating a pulse.
Since 1991 Sound of Choice has released 5 albums, Rugby in Japan being the sixth.
From the early atonal experiences through completely free improvisation, Sound of Choice now stands out as a unique voice on the European scene - a unique voice in jazz.
Lundin, Juul, and Poulsen have achieved a complete freedom of their means: they can touch at whatever style, or return to their own well-known paths: Their music is constantly fresh and surprising.
D. T-C. may 2006