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Zarko · 05-06-2009, 05:11 AM

Pig Inside The Gentleman – Contemporary Noise Quintet (2006)

GENRES - Jazz

Million Faces - 8:04
Army of the Sun - 5:49
A Coin Perfectly Spinning - 4:21
Goodbye Monster - 6:14
Walking Sun - 5:40
Even Cats Dream About Flying - 5:00
Evil Melody - 7:32
Invisible Train - 5:20
P.I.G. - 5:42
Sophie - 7:03

Yet another European jazz discovery, this time is the Contemporary Noise Quintet from Poland. It isn’t really noise jazz, as the title suggests, and I struggle to tag anything other than jazz to it. Perhaps jazz-rock would be the way to go, but purely because of the intensity with which the group performs. This has been one of the more exciting discoveries in recent times in regards to a more ‘pure’ jazz. The album itself is full of both normal jazz and almost film-inspired music. Although it might not be apparent to everyone, it has its film noir moments, and I even started identifying songs with particular aspects of a film. It has its free jazz moments, but if anything I would put it in the avant-garde section, as it is still structured to an extent, however, in the end it’s just jazz. Best experienced LOUD.

A deep bass line drives ‘Million Faces’ into fruition, and it is simply stunning from the get go. Some hard piano jazz controls the piece, with a solid contribution by some superb drumming. The initial tone is almost of a tranquil nature, despite its power, with the slow and groaning brass section keeping the other aspects in check. However, it all quickly gets out of control, as the same brass section blows its lid, leading into a fantastic little free jazz jam in the middle of the track. It keeps its joyful attitude throughout, and once the jam finishes, another peaceful period reigns to send off the song.

‘Army of the Sun’ offers up a slightly different experience, and has a more raw aggression to it that grows and grows until it eventually explodes. It comes to sound like a mischievous anger that seems threatening but is far from actually being so. The layering of sounds is absolutely superb, bustling with energy as the saxophones and trumpets layer upon each other in an orgy of noise. The track really comes into itself after 3 minutes, where two opposing’ brass instruments attempt to outdo each other, before they all seemingly become tired of one another and come down from the previous high.

‘A Coin Perfectly Spinning’ introduces a bit more jazz guitar, evocative of Sonny Sharrock’s ‘Guitar’ and ‘Ask The Ages’ before the brass section kicks into gear. The track suggests feelings of melancholy, as the lower pitch instrumentation sing a sad song infused with the perfect amount of passion. The saxophone section is amazing here, exuding power and authority. The final minute is a small piano focussed section that builds up the sad and morose attitude offered up earlier.

‘Goodbye Monster’ puts forward a film noir-esque song of solitude. Personally, it creates the image of the anti-hero, covered in a long overcoat and hat in the middle of a footpath being forced out of town as rain plummets down. The main piano beat is great, and keeps the track firmly planted to the earth in misery, despite how much the brass section may want to take off. The second half is redolent of a chase scene as the hero escapes his enemies. ‘Walking Sun’ is another morsel of the same jazz produced earlier, yet is more unhurried in its nature. It becomes a case of controlled malevolence as it trundles on at its own maniacal pace, with the piano tunes sounding particularly hammered, rather than elegantly performed. It is a nice break from the intense speed and sounds earlier in the track, without being boring.

‘Even Cats Dream About Flying’ is my favourite track on the album which offers up some more film-based music, as the music has already decided the fate of the anti-hero, and the only choice is to fight or die. Every action seems to be pointless as the track builds up to the final showdown. The base beat from the piano and bass is dark and infectious, and the harsher screeching electronic overlays are a treat. The sax solo at 3 minutes is probably the best solo on the album in my opinion.

‘Evil Melody’ introduces a heavier Brazilian flavour to a seedy bar atmosphere. The jazz guitar is more prevalent, and in the second half is actually used as a focal point, which was an interesting change up. The track is full of zeal and passion, but it perhaps isn’t used to its fullest extent following up the previous track. This is one case where it does feel like the flow matters, and the change is a little too drastic for me, but it is still a nice track overall. ‘Invisible Train’ is another slow piano based track, where the melody is in groove mode. The piano and drumming in particular offers a sick line to build upon, and the sax/trumpet/bass use it to its fullest extent. It is a very cool, laidback tune that in the right mood can be perfect.

‘P.I.G.’ is a high octane track full of sublime performances all around. In its pace and hostility it almost becomes a rock tune made up of jazz components. The piano work is once again amazing; both in its blistering velocity as well as the variety of sounds it can pull from itself before it calms down into a moment of gloom. Crying trumpets enter the track and the transition is amazing in its ability to evoke fiery power one second then sadness the next, as it becomes a serenade for lost friends and family. It is another standout track. The album sends off with ‘SOPHIE’, a more traditional piano jazz track to start with that becomes heavier handed with time. Yet another gloomy track, there is an interesting introduction to a string ensemble on the final track. The second half is also particularly interesting, and as a whole, it holds up well against its predecessors to makes sure the album ends with a bang.

It was difficult to write about this album purely because it’s hard to explain what makes individual tracks so great. Really, the best thing to do is to listen to the album. This is my favourite contemporary jazz albums, because it is both interesting and content with what it is. It offers up emotions on a platter, power, anger, violence, sadness and hopelessness all in a package. Sometimes it can feel like some tracks are going on for a long time when in reality they are only half way through due to how much they pack in. However, ears are better than words at describing such music.

TOTAL SCORE

9.0/10

– Army Of The Sun
– Goodbye Monster
– Even Cats Dream About Flying
– P.I.G.

05-06-2009, 05:11 AM	#83 (permalink)
Zarko Barely Disheveled Zombie Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Australia Posts: 1,196	Pig Inside The Gentleman – Contemporary Noise Quintet (2006) GENRES - Jazz Million Faces - 8:04 Army of the Sun - 5:49 A Coin Perfectly Spinning - 4:21 Goodbye Monster - 6:14 Walking Sun - 5:40 Even Cats Dream About Flying - 5:00 Evil Melody - 7:32 Invisible Train - 5:20 P.I.G. - 5:42 Sophie - 7:03 Yet another European jazz discovery, this time is the Contemporary Noise Quintet from Poland. It isn’t really noise jazz, as the title suggests, and I struggle to tag anything other than jazz to it. Perhaps jazz-rock would be the way to go, but purely because of the intensity with which the group performs. This has been one of the more exciting discoveries in recent times in regards to a more ‘pure’ jazz. The album itself is full of both normal jazz and almost film-inspired music. Although it might not be apparent to everyone, it has its film noir moments, and I even started identifying songs with particular aspects of a film. It has its free jazz moments, but if anything I would put it in the avant-garde section, as it is still structured to an extent, however, in the end it’s just jazz. Best experienced LOUD. A deep bass line drives ‘Million Faces’ into fruition, and it is simply stunning from the get go. Some hard piano jazz controls the piece, with a solid contribution by some superb drumming. The initial tone is almost of a tranquil nature, despite its power, with the slow and groaning brass section keeping the other aspects in check. However, it all quickly gets out of control, as the same brass section blows its lid, leading into a fantastic little free jazz jam in the middle of the track. It keeps its joyful attitude throughout, and once the jam finishes, another peaceful period reigns to send off the song. ‘Army of the Sun’ offers up a slightly different experience, and has a more raw aggression to it that grows and grows until it eventually explodes. It comes to sound like a mischievous anger that seems threatening but is far from actually being so. The layering of sounds is absolutely superb, bustling with energy as the saxophones and trumpets layer upon each other in an orgy of noise. The track really comes into itself after 3 minutes, where two opposing’ brass instruments attempt to outdo each other, before they all seemingly become tired of one another and come down from the previous high. ‘A Coin Perfectly Spinning’ introduces a bit more jazz guitar, evocative of Sonny Sharrock’s ‘Guitar’ and ‘Ask The Ages’ before the brass section kicks into gear. The track suggests feelings of melancholy, as the lower pitch instrumentation sing a sad song infused with the perfect amount of passion. The saxophone section is amazing here, exuding power and authority. The final minute is a small piano focussed section that builds up the sad and morose attitude offered up earlier. ‘Goodbye Monster’ puts forward a film noir-esque song of solitude. Personally, it creates the image of the anti-hero, covered in a long overcoat and hat in the middle of a footpath being forced out of town as rain plummets down. The main piano beat is great, and keeps the track firmly planted to the earth in misery, despite how much the brass section may want to take off. The second half is redolent of a chase scene as the hero escapes his enemies. ‘Walking Sun’ is another morsel of the same jazz produced earlier, yet is more unhurried in its nature. It becomes a case of controlled malevolence as it trundles on at its own maniacal pace, with the piano tunes sounding particularly hammered, rather than elegantly performed. It is a nice break from the intense speed and sounds earlier in the track, without being boring. ‘Even Cats Dream About Flying’ is my favourite track on the album which offers up some more film-based music, as the music has already decided the fate of the anti-hero, and the only choice is to fight or die. Every action seems to be pointless as the track builds up to the final showdown. The base beat from the piano and bass is dark and infectious, and the harsher screeching electronic overlays are a treat. The sax solo at 3 minutes is probably the best solo on the album in my opinion. ‘Evil Melody’ introduces a heavier Brazilian flavour to a seedy bar atmosphere. The jazz guitar is more prevalent, and in the second half is actually used as a focal point, which was an interesting change up. The track is full of zeal and passion, but it perhaps isn’t used to its fullest extent following up the previous track. This is one case where it does feel like the flow matters, and the change is a little too drastic for me, but it is still a nice track overall. ‘Invisible Train’ is another slow piano based track, where the melody is in groove mode. The piano and drumming in particular offers a sick line to build upon, and the sax/trumpet/bass use it to its fullest extent. It is a very cool, laidback tune that in the right mood can be perfect. ‘P.I.G.’ is a high octane track full of sublime performances all around. In its pace and hostility it almost becomes a rock tune made up of jazz components. The piano work is once again amazing; both in its blistering velocity as well as the variety of sounds it can pull from itself before it calms down into a moment of gloom. Crying trumpets enter the track and the transition is amazing in its ability to evoke fiery power one second then sadness the next, as it becomes a serenade for lost friends and family. It is another standout track. The album sends off with ‘SOPHIE’, a more traditional piano jazz track to start with that becomes heavier handed with time. Yet another gloomy track, there is an interesting introduction to a string ensemble on the final track. The second half is also particularly interesting, and as a whole, it holds up well against its predecessors to makes sure the album ends with a bang. It was difficult to write about this album purely because it’s hard to explain what makes individual tracks so great. Really, the best thing to do is to listen to the album. This is my favourite contemporary jazz albums, because it is both interesting and content with what it is. It offers up emotions on a platter, power, anger, violence, sadness and hopelessness all in a package. Sometimes it can feel like some tracks are going on for a long time when in reality they are only half way through due to how much they pack in. However, ears are better than words at describing such music. TOTAL SCORE 9.0/10 – Army Of The Sun – Goodbye Monster – Even Cats Dream About Flying – P.I.G. Last edited by Zarko; 06-21-2009 at 12:17 AM.