This label has released albums by quite a few uncommon line-ups, but even among those, this recording takes up a special place. In free music, most bands feature at least one brass or woodwind instrument, a piano or a percussionist/drummer. The combination of four string instruments immediately suggests you are about to enter the realm of chamber music. With two acoustic guitars, a viola and a double bass, however, this is more in line with some of the ensembles you hear on Creative Sources, the Portuguese label for electro-acoustic experiments and string ensembles led by viol(in)ist Ernesto Rodrigues.
First, Second. combines two sets of improvised music from a line-up that’s mostly British, with the addition of Belgian maverick Dirk Serries. Guitar player Daniel Thompson already appeared on one NWOJ-release: Boskage, an intimate duo album with Colin Webster. Violist Benedict Taylor has been a recurring member of the Tonus ensemble, but can also be heard on albums with Anton Mobin, Dirk Serries and Martina Verhoeven. The fourth member, bass player John Edwards, is a newcomer on the label, but a familiar presence on the international scene. He performed with numerous heavyweights of improvised music (Evan Parker, Roscoe Mitchell, Louis Moholo-Moholo, etc), but also remains firmly rooted in the British scene, where he maintains close connections to both veterans and younger talents.
What you get here is some pretty unconventional listening. Each of these musicians, including the Belgian, is firmly rooted in a tradition of British free-thinkers and the kind of non-idiomatic improvisation that takes some time to digest, but at the same time avoid the pitfalls of overly cerebral or over-wrought interaction. The music is completely free, so if you crave melodies, conventional harmonies or a clear rhythmic pulse, you will have to zoom in on other aspects. As much as it is about a mental process, adaptive skills and immediate reaction, the interaction between these four musicians is also about material and physicality. Their instruments are working tools, but also speak for them. Occasionally, they might be adversaries, urging or provoking them to change their tactics.
To fully grasp the range of extended techniques, you should be able to see them in action, but it is also perfectly possible to listen to this music and focus on elements such as flow, density and responsiveness. It can be almost impossible to unravel what you are hearing, while at other times the complex web of interaction dissolves into something less frenetic, with subtly layered sounds and longer, often bowed sounds instead of irregular patterns. If you are looking for a challenge and willing to listen without prejudice then you are in for a treat with First, Second. . Repeated and attentive listening – an act of resistance in an era of spoon-fed mediocrity – sharpens the senses and makes you aware of the radical freedom and the remarkable elasticity of these improvisations.
Guy Peters 2019
