Passing Through
Stopping off one day at a studio, two saxophonists meet. One is just passing through, the other just travelling along. The small talk is daring, and after the briefest time becomes a real conversation. The two get to know each other in their playing. Alongside this, they tell each other about the stations they’ve passed and those up ahead. The focus is sharpened. A Shakuhachi is introduced. Breadth fills the space where depth had arched before.
The New Yorker Ned Rothenberg (1956) and the Swiss Peter A. Schmid (1959) are saxophonists and bass-clarinetists, who, in their interest in sound exploration, don’t forget playfulness and discovery. The conventional becomes casual, the uncertain concentrated. Passing through allows no fixed points on which to rest. The moment is brief, the impressions are unfiltered. Yet the duo is anchored. Nothing hastily scratched out hangs in the air. Instead, fate forces a cautious rapprochement, seeking the vertical, seeking something higher. A massive tree of deep tones. Sometimes birds chirp in the branches.
“In Passing” is very definitely a record of sound. Voluminous and many stories deep. Bass clarinets vibrate. Contrabass clarinet. Caverns of the world, hinges rattling. The interaction unfolds itself in loops and autonomous movements which could synchronize, but don’t have to. Both musicians have something to do with each other. Duos, which first freely improvise have a certain purity because every sound and interaction that arises indicates the level of the energies coming together and reacting to each other.
Ned Rothenberg frequently travels the world, Peter A. Schmid moves geographically speaking in a narrower radius. There the passer-through, here the local traveller. This doesn’t disturb the communication, to the contrary: both have a similar language and technique, their attitudes also resonate with each other. They don’t grab each other by the collar, they listen and let themselves be heard. Polyphonic ways of playing and circular breathing are unquestioned crafts, to be exchanged. In this, Rothenberg and Schmid are not seeking the spectacular. They let themselves reflect. They just pass through.
Peter A.Schmid tubax, bass & contra bass clarinet, tarogato
Ned Rothenberg bass & Bb clarinet, alto saxophone, shakuhachi
Creative Works Records CW 1042
Multi-instrumentalists Peter A. Schmid and Ned Rothenberg are experienced improvisers, but even their impressive resumes do not prepare one for the impact of En Passant, a series of duets recorded entirely off-the-cuff during a single day recording session in Switzerland, April 1, 2003. While there are no April Fools Day pranks played on the recording, there is a pervasive sense of surprise and spontaneity that is rare, even by the standards of free improvisation.
Though there are only two participants, the rotating assortment of instruments that they employ supplies ample timbral variety. I am particularly fond of the fifth piece on the recording (no titles, just track numbers here), where Schmid plays contrabass clarinet and Rothenberg plays shakuhachi; it is a celebration of low end sonorities, bent notes, and occasional extended techniques – squeals, multiphonics, etc. Also exciting is “#9,” on which Schmid plays tubax and Rothenberg plays alto saxophone – trills, sepulchral tubax blats and alto squalls combine in a piece that manages to harness skronk mayhem into a structured and purposeful colloquy. “#12” ends the album on a frolicsome note, with both performers playing burbling and bumptious licks on bass clarinets, one-upping each other in a formidable display of prowess. Don’t pass up En Passant.
CD review by Dr. Christian Carey