CASCO1
Klinkklaar
as if 3
€18.50 (incl. shipping + tax)

The name is the cue to their point of view – an enticingly eccentric one at that. Though all three members are active participants on the Dutch scene (with bassist Raoul van der Weide and drummer Wim Janssen previously having teamed up in Guus Janssen trios), the musical fruit of this collaboration suggests less a common ground than a mutually accepted, if temporary, mindset of wary speculation and creative skepticism. These nine original pieces reveal qualities of spontaneous construction – tempos that emerge, drift, and dissolve before being reestablished; separate, barely related details that ultimately click together; conflicting gestures; familiar, yet abstracted motifs that skirt around the edges of song – while maintaining a firm grip on ensemble rapport. A good deal of this is due to pianist Frank van Bommel, whose previous projects include surveys of the Dick Twardzik and Eric Dolphy songbooks. The noirish, unruffled poise is his, whether it echoes of hip ’50 swing (‘Ball Shelley’), modest Wynton Kelly-type riffs (‘Horsecombing’), modes of lyrical compression (‘Klinkklaar’), or open intervals resonating in space in homage to Morton Feldman (‘M.F.’).
The plots thicken, though, as van der Weide’s harmonic and textural digression and Janssen’s terse rhythmic responses complicate the mood. The result is a trio that plays not only ‘inside’ and ‘out’, but turns the conventional piano trio format inside-out as well.
- Art Lange

From: Issue 22 of Bill Shoemaker’s ‘Point Of Departure’; launches 7 june 2009

+++

english version follows

AS IF 3 is een initiatief van contrabassist Raoul van der Weide, maar opereert als een collectief. Samen met pianist Frank van Bommel en slagwerker Wim Janssen worden stukken ingezet zonder vast thema, en uitgewerkt op een manier waarbij iedereen een gelijkwaardige inbreng heeft.

Vrije improvisatie kan chaotisch en ontoegankelijk klinken, maar dat is hier niet het geval. Dit is free jazz zoals ook pianist Paul Bley die maakt: zich welluidend en organisch ontvouwend. Sommige nummers hebben geen uitgespeld tempo maar wel een puls, terwijl andere onbedaarlijk swingen, vooral als Janssen zijn brushes inzet en van der Weide een ouderwetse ‘walking bass’ laat horen. Ritmische spanning en melodische rijkdom zijn altijd aanwezig, ook in de ademende ballads, waarbij aandachtig om de stilte heen wordt gespeeld (4/5 stars). Frank van Herk, Volkskrant April 2009-04-25

translation (by Linda Cooper):

AS IF 3 was initiated by Raoul van der Weide but operates as a collective, together with pianist Frank van Bommel and drummer Wim Janssen. The pieces do not have fixed motifs and everybody contributes equally. Free improvisation can sound chaotic and inaccessible but that's not the case here. This is free jazz as Paul Bley plays: euphonic and unfolding organically. Some of the tunes do not have a set tempo but a pulse; while others swing unrestrained, especially when Janssen uses his brushes and van der Weide plays a traditional walking bass line. Rhytmic tension and melodic richness are always present, as well as in the breathtaking ballads where they play attentively around the quietude.

Frank van Herk, Volkskrant April 2009-04-25

 

frank van bommel piano
raoul van der weide contrabass
wim janssen drums

1. Ball Shelly 3:07
2. Back & Forward 4:33
3. M.F. 6:58
4. Afternotes 9:11
5. Klinkklaar 8:41
6. Intuitionism 4:34
7. Horsecombing 10:09
8. Ce qu'il se passe 10:32
9. Asifgnature 1:49

recorded, (28-10-08) mixed & mastered 18-01-09 mark nieuwenhuis
cover art raoul van der weide
cover-cd graphics melle hammer
production raoul van der weide
thanks to ThuisKopiefonds and luthier harry jansen
casco records 1 buma/stemra
www.raoulvanderweide.nl