The Sestetto Internazionale, an ensemble devoted to collective improvisation, truly lives up to its name. Founded by Finnish soprano and sopranino saxophonist Harri Sjöström, it includes the Finnish quarter-tone accordionist Veli Kujala; Milanese soprano saxophonist Gianni Mimmo; the Germans Achim Kaufmann and Ignaz Schick on piano/prepared piano and turntables and sampler, respectively; and the English violinist Philipp Wachsmann. Due Mutabili is the record of the group’s live performance at MUG in Munich in March 2022.
An improvising ensemble of six voices playing together independently, as these six do, virtually guarantees a music of dense complexity, and that largely is the case for the two long improvisations captured here. The overlapping compasses of the two saxophones, violin, and accordion make for a saturated upper register in which nuances of timbre and style are dramatized: Sjöström’s hard-edged tone on soprano distinguishes itself clearly from Mimmo’s warmer sound; both saxophones in turn stand out from the bowed strings and the reedy sound of the accordion, particularly during contrapuntal or unison passages. Piano, turntable, electronics, and accordion generally provide an almost tactile textured field against which the saxophones and violin trace well-etched figures; the pleasure here is not only in the variability of color combinations but in the instances when serpentine melodies break out of the collective sound mass.
Zanshou Glance at the Tides features Mimmo again, this time in the company of pianist Yoko Miura for a performance recorded live in Piacenza in November 2022. The album contains three pieces: unaccompanied solos by Miura and Mimmo, respectively, and a final performance for both together. Miura’s composition Afterglow is structured in two parts with a coda. The first part consists of short, chromatic motifs based on semitones that are repeated and varied; the second is an excursion built on patterns of alternating chords reminiscent of Satie’s Gymnopedies. The coda finishes the piece with a short, free flourish. Mimmo’s Turning Page Medley is a well-paced, lilting fantasia containing allusions to music by Monk, Jimmy Rowles, Steve Lacy, and Mingus. As is typical of his unaccompanied performances, Mimmo forges a seamlessly linked chain of melodies unwinding in a coherent and compelling narrative arc. Although the soprano saxophone is a monophonic instrument, Mimmo builds his lines in a way that implies complex and logically implicated harmonies. It’s a beautiful performance, and the highlight of the album. The closing duet, Further Towards the Light, underscores the contrast between the two players’ styles, with Mimmo’s fluent lyricism playing off of Miura’s textural and melodic economy.
On a somewhat melancholy note, Amirani Records comes to a close with Due Mutabili, 75 releases and eighteen years after Mimmo founded it. The label is notable for the consistently high quality of the music it released, which included contemporary art music as well as improvised music within and without the jazz tradition. It certainly will be missed.
https://www.amiranirecords.com/editions/duemutabili
https://www.setoladimaiale.net/catalogue/view/SM4620
Daniel Barbiero
Avant Music News 