Few albums in the NWOJ-catalogue move as close to the free jazz tradition as Crosscurrents does. The fact that two of the participating musicians witnessed its arrival in Europe up close may be one explanation. Moreover, both Cel Overberghe (°1937) and Patrick De Groote (°1945) played key roles in the creation of an improvisation scene in Belgium. Overberghe, probably better known as a painter than a musician, and De Groote joined the Paul Van Gysegem Sextet in 1966, a few years before a slightly altered line-up recorded Aorta, one of the key documents in Belgian improvised music.
Ghent-based De Groote also contributed immensely to the visibility of free music by being involved in the organisation of several key events, like the first three ‘Gravensteen festivals’ (1969-1971) at the city’s imposing medieval castle. These well-attended events introduced some of the leading improvisers and pioneers of the time – Peter Brötzmann, Sunny Murray, Evan Parker, Frank Wright, Steve Lacy, Misha Mengelberg, etc. – to audiences enthralled by various new forms of revolutionary art. In Antwerp, Overberghe, a member of The Flemish Association of Improvising Musicians (WiM) that would found the legendary Free Music Festival, got noticed with a few recordings with his brother-in-law, pianist Fred Van Hove, perhaps the country’s foremost improviser.
Since the 70’s, recordings of both musicians have been rare (despite their live activities), so it would be interesting to hear the results of them joining forces with musicians who have taken up the baton several decades later. Crosscurrents surprises on several levels. Serries’ Spanish-tinged introduction of album opener “Tonic Field” is only the first of many. With De Groote adding grainy mute textures and Verhoeven’s carefully balanced spurts, they provide a remarkable counterpoint to Overberghe’s more melodically conventional flow, that pulls the quartet closer to jazz territory, with circling motifs, winding explorations and occasional hints towards some of the giants (Coltrane’s “Like Sonny” seems to pop up, just like a more explicit nod to Ornette Coleman’s “Turnaround” in the album’s final piece). The band performs a graceful dance of contradictions, merging fractured elements within a subtle flow of ideas and jagged edges with a sensible empathy.
Throughout the album, the musicians explore a variety of moods and approaches, ranging from the thoughtful, almost dreamy interplay of the appropriately-titled “Airs Out” to the joyfully expanding interaction of “Made Dream”, and a piece like “Verbatim”, that gracefully bounces from tumultuous passages to understated introspection. De Groote’s expressive smears and kissy effects announce a feast of abstraction, mirrored by the sparse, occasionally thunderous outbursts by Verhoeven and serrated runs by Serries, but in the second half, you suddenly find yourself in softer-edged surroundings, with Overberghe’s playing slowly dissolving into beautiful romanticism.
As such, Crosscurrents not only gives some credit to these unsung artists by placing them in this new context, but also proves that the veterans still have something to say and form an intriguing pact with their younger colleagues. Despite different ages and backgrounds, these musicians forge an exceptional alliance that makes more sense with each repeated listen.
Guy Peters 2020
