Glas(s)no(s)t

This track started its life on Vinyl but as it was recorded digitally by ECM ECM and produced by Manfred Eicher, the sound on the CD is as crisp and northern sounding as all the later ECM CDs. I picked it up second hand almost 15 years ago, and it's been one of my favorites since. It's obscure - it didn't show up on most CD databases (although freeDB freeDB does have it), and definitely requires several listens for it's stark beauty to register. The music here is exactly what this blog is about - a trip from chaos and cold disharmony to melody and even warm feeling. A cello and clarinet start out with what sounds like discordant shrieking and humming, but soon the clarinet finds its melody and starts repeating it. The cello understands and joins in but by then the clarinet is already adding to the tune and repeating it faster and faster, while the drums are playing dramatically off-beat, reminiscent of a Jack DeJohnette line. Now the cello and clarinet are racing each other, going round and round - crescendo and its over! German free Jazz from the eighties like you never thought it could sound.

Listen to 'Glas(s)no(s)t'