Tangens

by Thom Jurek Recorded during the Total Music Meeting in 1997, this seemingly historic meeting between the legendary American avant jazzman Sam Rivers and Euro improv giant Alexander von Schlippenbach was anticipated to be a free jazz blowout. One hopes that expectations, though completely thwarted, were not dampened by the remarkable music that occurred between these two men. Rivers long ago ceased to be a "blower"; his music has increasingly been concerned with an idiosyncratic narrative quality that takes nothing away from an immediate encounter with musical language, but orders it is such a way that a system is developed revealing a kind of story that walks a line between musical impressionism and expressionism. With the possible exception of Irène Schweizer, von Schlippenbach is perhaps the most adaptable of the European improvisers. Playing the music of Bill Evans or his own spontaneously combustible compositions, von Schlippenbach's pianism changes color and shape at a moment's notice. The turbulences here are not gigantic; they flow into eruption and dissipate just as gradually. There are complex melodies at work in the chromatic suggestions Rivers makes. Von Schlippenbach, for his part in all this, takes Rivers' well-erected lyrical structures and gently breaks them down into elemental units in order for Rivers to build some other slightly towering yet wonderfully ornate creations. This is music that requires the patience of the players as well as listeners. Rivers has never been one to hurry through anything -- which is what frustrated Miles Davis so when Rivers toured with him -- but this is also what made his own recordings such as Fuchsia Swing Song and Streams so satisfying. Gradual discoveries are usually deep discoveries, and these two men must now know each other deeply on a musical level. This set transcends so much of what is currently on the scene and passes for improvisation: It expresses emotion, transfers it to listeners, and offers them places in the text -- of music -- to find themselves and consider their own, very necessary places in this communication. Tangens is tender, beautiful, and edifying music by two empathic giants.