Pienso Oculto

Pick of the Week/Concerts

Sunday is a day of inponderables, like "Is Holy Communion cannibalism?" and "Why do the Raiders suck?" It's also the perfect time for improvisational music, so we're lucky to have this once-monthly Sunday series to provide opportunities for abstract meditation. Vinny Golia is like the weather in England: If you don't care for whatever woodwind he is playing at the moment, stick around, because he will soon shift to another of his couple dozen options. No worries, though, since the weather is always good: Golia combines modernist intellectuality with deep-reaching still-pointednesss and brain-cleansing turbulence as few others can. He plays here in duo with bassist Bertram Turetsky, music professor at UC San Diego and a master of many vocabularies. Their most recent album is 11 Reasons to Begin (Music & Arts). The bill is balanced with the Southland's most penetrating and versatile composed/improvised-music ensemble, bassist Steuart Liebig's Quartetto Stig. Liebig provides frameworks within which trumpeter John Fumo, violinist Jeff Gauthier and drummer Dan Morris can help him examine the sharp edges of consciousness where ideas are broken like diamonds to find the flaws and surprises within. Their new album, Pienso Oculto (Nine Winds), finds Liebig plucking his electric with maximum authority. You must experience these guys regularly.

(Greg Burk, L.A. Weekly; 7 November 1997)

 

With a nod to Anthony Braxton and Henry Threadgill, Steuart Liebig's Quartetto Stig (Stig Quartet?) hits a stunning home run all the way around on Pienso Oculto, clearly an early contender for 1998's top ten list. Liebig's arrangements for his quartet of trumpet, contrabass guitar, drum and violin make his group sound like a far larger unit, as the leader twists and turns quirky arrangements, off-beat rhythms and odd syncopation, while continually alternating combinations of instruments. The eclectic results impress, not only with range and diversity but also with instrumental virtuosity.

The front line violin and trumpet come and go, as all four players alternate melody and solo lines in endless combinations. For example, the odd-metered opener, "Addlepate," features smear-filled trumpet and violin cutting through fragments of melody, sudden starts and stops, and relentlessly intrusive drums. Here, as throughout, John Fumo proves his mettle on his half-squeezed trumpet, sounding at times like a relaxed Bobby Bradford, at times like a free MIles, and elsewhere like a smooth Olu Dara.

The extended "Overcoming Goingunder," at more than twenty-two minutes, is overwhelmingly joyful. Starting with slow, almost mournful sounds, it, like the other pieces, travels everywhere, with group improvisation, weaving lines, and a raucous guitar and drums effort two-thirds through. Contrast that with "Ithaka," with its chamber sound, march-like lines, and neat harmonies between John Fumo's trumpet and Jeff Gauthier's violin.

These fellows keep you guessing, throwing in something new each time you think they've reached their limit. Adventurous sounds abound, and composition and improvisation merge, hatching endless permutations. Anyone looking for a new twist should try this one out.

(Steven A. Loewy, Cadence; February 1998)

 

Top 10 Jazz Albums of 1997

1. Pat Metheny and Charlie Haden, Beyond the Missouri Sky (Verve): 2. Kurt Elling, The Messenger (Blue Note): 3. Sonny Simmons, American Jungle (Warner Bros.): 4. Henry Threadgill & Make a Move, Where's Your Cup? (Columbia): 5. Bill Holman Band, Brilliant Corners (JVC): 6. Anthony Wilson, Anthony Wilson (MAMA): 7. Horace Tapscott, Thoughts of Dar Es Salaam (Arabesque): 8. Quartetto Stig, Pienso Oculto (Nine Winds), Quirky and tangential tunes from the mysterious Steuart Liebig, whose music demands repeated listens. 9. Charles Mingus, Passions of a Man (Rhino): 10. Julian Priester and Sam Rivers, Hints of Light and Shadow (Postcards)

(Kirk Silsbee, Los Angeles New Times)

 

"Many elements go into the makeup of a work of music. Among them are the underlying concepts, the actual

written notes, and the musicians who interpret both the concepts and the written material."

- - Steuart Liebig (from the liner notes of Pienso Oculto)

This wildly interpretive work which ranges from spare, isolated phrases to complex, near cacophonous montages of texturing, acted on my subconscious, drawing forth vague musical memories of Miles Davis' "Sketches of Spain," Poulenc, Frank Zappa and his mentor, Edgar Varese. I was fortunate to hear portions of this work performed live at The Alligator Lounge in W. L.A. the other night (which, by the way, I recommend the reader checks out; their New Music Mondays is worth going to on a regular basis, especially if your tastes tilt toward the outer edges of the experimental/ fringe music).

Steuart Liebig, a talented six-string bassist, who is part of a rotating group of players that is continually evolving as a loosely cohesive "house band" for the New Music Mondays shows; turns out to be equally talented as a composer.

In this CD, the third from Quartetto Stig, Liebig brings his understanding of the essential conflict in modern music: the dynamic tension between the voices of the instruments (in this case electric violin played by Jeff Gauthier; trumpet, flugelhorn and cornet played by John Fumo; drums played by Dan Morris; and contrabassguitars played by Steuart Liebig) to create an opus that is both textural and haunting.

It is to the credit of Vinny Golia (founder of 9 Winds Records), Nels Cline and G.E. Stinson (of New Music Monday), and the Alligator Lounge that works of this caliber can be heard live at a reasonable price and on a regular basis here in Los Angeles. I strongly recommend that you purchase this CD. I only wish that I could purchase the whole of the 9 Winds catalog (it's quite sizable).

(Steve 'Raindog' Armstrong, 181.4 Degrees from the Norm! Issue 3, Year 3: November 15th, 1997)

 

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??????: ????????? - - ??????? ?? ??????????: ?????? ?????(Steuart Liebig), ????????????? ?????????? ???-??????; ???? ????? (JeffGauthier), ???????????? ??????????????; ???? ???? (John Fumo), ????? ???????; ??? ?????? (Dan Morris), ???????.

??????: ??????. ??? ??? ?????????? ????? - - ????????? ?????????????? ??????? ??????. ??, ??? ??? ????, ?? ????? ???????? ????????,???? ?????? ??? ?????????? ? ?? ?? ????? (B.B.King) ???? ?? ?????? ????????? ? ???????????? ??????? ???????? (Ornette Coleman) ? ???? ???????--???????--???????.?????? ???? ?? ?????? ?????, ????? ?? ??? ???-?? ?? 60-? ???, ???????????? ?????????? ???????? ? ??????????????? ??????????? ?????, ???????????????????????? ??????. ???? ??? ? ?? ????? ?????????, ???????????? ?????????:?????????? ???? ????, ?? ???????????? ???? ?? ?????????????? ? ????????????????, ??? ?????, ??? ????? ????? ??????????? ? ?????? ??????? ??????????????.

????????? ? ???????????: ? ??????? ???????? ?????? ??????????????????????? ??????, ?? ?????? ???????? ?? ?????????? ? ?????? ?????????? ???? ?? ??????????. ????? ????????, ???? ? ???????? ?????? ????????,????????? ????? ????????? ????????????? ????????????, ????? ???????????????????????? ? ????? ???????? ?????? ????? ? ??????????? ????? ????????????? ???????? ????? ?????????, ????????? ???? ????? ???????? ? ???????????????????... ??, ?? ??????? ????????? ??, ??? ????? ?????? ????????? ? ??????,???? ??? ??? ???. ???? ???????????? ? ???????? ? ?????????? ??????, ??,??? ???????, ??? ?????????? ??????: ? ????????? ???????? ??? ?????? ???????? ??, ??? ?? ????????? ?????? ???? ?-?-? ???? ???????? ? ??????????? ???????????.???????, ??? ?????? ?????...

?????? ??????: ???? ?????? ??? (????, ? ?? ????????),?????? - - ?? ?????????.

??????? ??????

[Jazz - - a piece thin, despite of its external ?????????? ???????????????. The first impression of it never happens correct but when you will force yourself and will listen attentively without handicapes ?????-other in ????? the same fragment, start to understand, that it and is music, ???????????????????????????? " for a head ". Other parts of a body, more or ???????????????????? at listening tradition, ????, a blues, a jazz-rock, etc., here only stir. The word of honour, a difference at perception of it ?????? a sedentary tense situation behind a table and ???????? in an armchair ???????????????????, that it can appear item ???????????? for many ???????????????. To classify free style - - business absolutely ungrateful, on that in fact it and free, without the certain point of readout, therefore ?????????????? to characterize a album.

The first: musicians - - a quartet from California: ?????? ????? (Steuart Liebig), six-string ?????????? a bass-guitar; Dzhef Gaultier (JeffGauthier), a five-string electroviolin; John Fumo (John Fumo), a pipe ???????; It is given ?????? (Dan Morris), shock.

The second: music. All without exception of the play - - compositions ?????????????? ??????? ??????. That is a jazz, cannot cause doubts, though Lui Armstrong and Bi Bi King's fans (B.B.King) hardly will find ????????? with admirers ??????? ???????? (Ornette Coleman) and trio ???????--???????--???????. Simply jazz from a narrow genre what it was somewhere till 60th years, ???????????? the broadest style and form-building musical stream, ???????????????????????? to music. Though it and is not so correct, I shall take advantage ?????????:?????????? this disk, not being guided even approximately in ????????????????, all is equal, that right after to Tchaikovsky and ?????? to listen ??????????????.

Particularly about compositions: in an album strongly enough ??????????????????????? has begun, it quite chamber on mood and rough ?????????? it are not characteristic. Cleanly jazz though and deprived precise harmony, fragments are suddenly replaced ????????????? neutral, almost ???????????????????????? and through the short period of chaos and becoming again ????????????? the basic channel slow, replacing each other not precise and ???????????????????... ??, has already sweated to describe that it is necessary to listen and understand simply, your it or not. If to come back to analogy in the previous paragraph, that, it seems to me, it is successful enough: with a known stretch this music ???????? that, has as though executed before trio ?-?-? of thing ???????? in own arrangement. However, it only words...

Absolutely briefly: if love ??? (a jazz, instead of a potato), buy - - will not regret.

 

2

???-jazz - - a piece thin, despite of its external ?????????? ???????????????. The first impression of it never happens correct but when you will force yourself and will listen attentively without handicapes ?????-other in ????? the same fragment, start to understand, that it and is music, ???????????????????????????? " for a head ". Other parts of a body, more or ???????????????????? at listening tradition, ????, a blues, a jazz-rock, etc., here only stir. The word of honour, a difference at perception of it ?????? a sedentary tense situation behind a table and ???????? in an armchair ???????????????????, that it can appear item ???????????? for many ???????????????. To classify free style - - business absolutely ungrateful, on that in fact it and free, without the certain point of readout, therefore ?????????????? to characterize a album.

The first: musicians - - a quartet from California: ?????? ????? (Steuart Liebig), six-string ?????????? a bass-guitar; Dzhef Gaultier (JeffGauthier), a five-string electroviolin; John Fumo (John Fumo), a pipe ???????; It is given ?????? (Dan Morris), shock.

The second: music. All without exception of the play - - compositions ?????????????? ??????? ??????. That is a jazz, cannot cause doubts, though Lui Armstrong and Bi Bi King's fans (B.B.King) hardly will find ????????? with admirers ??????? ???????? (Ornette Coleman) and trio ???????--???????--???????. Simply jazz from a narrow genre what it was somewhere till 60th years, ???????????? the broadest style and form-building musical stream, ???????????????????????? to music. Though it and is not so correct, I shall take advantage ?????????:?????????? this disk, not being guided even approximately in ????????????????, all is equal, that right after to Tchaikovsky and ?????? to listen ??????????????.

Particularly about compositions: in an album strongly enough ??????????????????????? has begun, it quite chamber on mood and rough ?????????? it are not characteristic. Cleanly jazz though and deprived precise harmony, fragments are suddenly replaced ????????????? neutral, almost ???????????????????????? and through the short period of chaos and becoming again ????????????? the basic channel slow, replacing each other not precise and ???????????????????... ??, has already sweated to describe that it is necessary to listen and understand simply, your it or not. If to come back to analogy in the previous paragraph, that, it seems to me, it is successful enough: with a known stretch this music ???????? that, has as though executed before trio ?-?-? of thing ???????? in own arrangement. However, it only words...

Absolutely briefly: if love ??? (a jazz, instead of a potato), buy - - will not regret.

Evgenie LONG]

 

 

 

If you want to read my notes on this album, click here.