Label: True Sound Recordings, 2019
Personnel - Jason Kao Hwang: violin, viola; Karl Berger: piano, vibraphone.
Chinese American violinist Jason Kao Hwang teams up with Munich-born pianist Karl Berger for an avant-jazz duo session whose refined tones make it a totally absorbable experience. These cultivated explorers had played together before and none of them are strange to the duo configuration - the pianist had recorded in this format with Dave Holland, Lee Konitz, Ed Blackwell, and Ivo Perelman, while the violinist did the same with Dominic Duval and Ayman Fanous. Conjure was recorded at the pianist’s home studio in Woodstock and features eight improvised pieces that show their constantly openness to the moment.
The opener, “Prophecy”, confirms that their voices make sense together. Berger launches the journey with a low-toned piano pedal, angular musings, and some caustic chordal movements. For its part, Hwang’s melodic narrative is as dramatic as it should be, and we can almost sense the tears suggested by his violin cries. The atmosphere here is enigmatic with an inclination for wistfulness.
“Silhouettes” comes wrapped in a dreamlike aura associated with a reiterated path diligently followed by the vibraphone. Hwang is free to wander, whistling and shrieking on the violin as he seeks to provide not just notable sounds but also emotional meaning in the combination of sounds.
I point out the final cut, “Arise”, as one of the most interesting pieces on the album. It unfolds patiently, developing ominous vibes that oppose rough violin creaks and scratches to occasional sustained pedal tones, sharp tone clusters, and sometimes investigative arpeggiated textures on the piano. While the atmosphere is kept stable here, “Beyond Reach”, featuring Berger on both piano and vibraphone, relies on a more mutable panorama where pace, texture, and groove adjust in unpredictable ways.
Hwang plays the viola on three pieces: “Vanishing Roots”, in which he draws intricate phrases and patterns by plucking the strings of the instrument; “Faith”, whose introspectively dark bowed sounds play a great deal on the controlled yet occasionally febrile vein adopted; and the exotic ritual “Water Finds Water”, which, clocking in at 13 minutes, is the longest tune of the set. The vibraphone work could have been inspired either by African or Asian music.
Berger and Hwang think alike, and Conjure is a reflection of their spontaneous creativity.
Grade B
Favorite Tracks:
01 - Prophecy ► 05 - Faith ► 08 - Arise