Shofar, a free jazz/klezmer trio of saxophone, (Mikołaj Trzaska) electric guitar (Raphael Rogiński) and drums (special guest Tim Daisy!) performed Tuesday night at Kerrytown Concert House. Every member had such unique personality as a soloist, and the synthesis was intensely kinetic. There was no preoccupation with blending sound—this chamber music trope was sidelined in favor of energy and layers.
Macho Polish frontman, Mikolaj wailed on saxophone with a warm trembling vibrato. I’ve never heard such fast sustained vibrato on saxophone before, and I imagine it imitates a Polish or klezmer folk style—the origins from which Mikolaj harkens! The gorgeous warble would often turn impetuously to a polyphonic screech (in which a horn player literally screams into their instrument, creating another pitch that layers with the sounded pitch.) At one of my favorite moments, Mikolaj’s polyphonics ripped into a full gutteral growl that seemed to surprise even him. (Like Bruce Banner realizing he has transformed into the Hulk.) Polyphonics are never about a sterile delivery, so the more roughness, the more squeak, and the more extraneous animal noises the better.
Raphael’s electric guitar playing had at least as much rock to it as jazz, but often when the texture would thin out during a solo he would show a much more gentle meandering approach to melody while fingerstylin multiple voicings.
Tim Daisy was playing in his toy box of bells and whistles for the duration concert. He was in constant motion, like a modern dancer, grabbing for different gongs, and hitting his broom-tipped shaker on every surface within arms reach. At one point he, one-handed, was turning audio recorder samples on and off. This was the first time I have ever seen this in an instrumental performance, way to go Tim Daisy! It was awesome! This is one of the most dynamic performances by a drummer I have ever seen. It reminded me of baroque classical music, where no two notes are ever intended to be the same. There is no such thing as groove or imitative loops—there is only the innovation incited by every musical whim that appeared in his mind, shaped only by what is happening in that specific moment.
Shofar gave some of the best endings– beautiful examples of emergence, like when fireflies light up in perfect sychrony even though there is no apparent organizational push to do so. (Half the things I know are because of Radiolab.) In free jazz there is no predetermined musical form, so convincing endings are so difficult. This trio felt them as one, and often ended with these amazing cliffhanger climaxes, no one so much as stutter stepping to the drop-off.
