Tim Berne / Gregg Belisle-Chi - Mars

January 20, 2022

Label: Intakt Records, 2022

Personnel - Tim Berne: alto saxophone; Gregg Belisle-Chi; acoustic guitar.

An exciting sound and impressive improvisatory qualities are offered on Mars, the first duo album by Tim Berne, a jaw-drop alto player and composer, and Gregg Belisle-Chi, an up-and-coming guitarist who, playing acoustic, is reinventing the jazz as we know it. The latter, a confessed admirer of Berne, released a solo album last year - Koi (Relative Pitch Records, 2021) - in which he interpreted pieces by the saxophonist. Here, they present a sophisticated menu with 12 Berne originals, and the result is less abstract than the above mentioned recording as it is easier for the listener to place the two instruments in context and grasp a more defined sense of direction.

“Rose Bowl Charade” opens the album in an alternative folk-jazz atmosphere, having the guitar slathered in acoustic magnificence and the alto toggling between tart and sweet tones. It sounds as much immersive as it is explorative, boasting a number of sustained pedals with pulsating notes floating around their centers.

Tossing off fragments of melody that replicate, match and integrate beautifully, “Purdy” (originally appeared on Berne/Mitchell’s Spiders album) is a highlight that shows a radiant lyrical vein. In turn, “Gastrophobia” remains in perpetual tension, while the duo’s capacity to articulate and create moods through mystery and timbre are in evidence on several titles - “Palm Sweat” is characterized by a fantastic conjoint work; “Frosty” denotes blues connotations (brought further to the fore on “Middle Seat Blues”) in addition to some rock chops and bop innuendos in an ode to tradition; “Not What You Think They Are” goes beyond with extra timbral allure, including droning multiphonics and guitar harmonics; and the short-lived “Giant Squids” is stripped down to its melodic essence.

Belisle-Chi sticks to his acoustic principles in the intro to “Big Belly”, where delightful dissonance and outstanding balance lead to the piece’s central figure. The cerebral “Dark Shadows” sets woozy, searching melodies against the churning flow that serves as a base. The temporary sparse accompaniment (just bass notes) does wonders and Berne rambles free in the middle register, grabbing that dazzling, sometimes inscrutable kind of beat in his phrasing that leaves no one indifferent.

Working with interesting frameworks, Berne and Belisle-Chi show a genuine, instinctual rapport in an album where their fearless inventive spirit and capacity of adaptation are fully on display.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Rose Bawl Charade ► 02 - Purdy ► 09 - Dark Shadows

Gregg Belisle-Chi - Koi: Performing the Music of Tim Berne

July 14, 2021

Label: Relative Pitch Records, 2021

Personnel - Gregg Belisle-Chi: acoustic guitar.

Tackling the compositional intricacies of alto saxophonist Tim Berne on the acoustic guitar is definitely a huge challenge. But that circumstance didn’t intimidate the guitarist/composer Gregg Belisle-Chi, who, catching the excitement of Berne’s language, put his own artistic stamp on ten of his pieces. Due to the nature of his instrument, part of that language is retained and part is remodeled within new harmonic contexts. The album was mixed and mastered by David Torn, another guitarist and expert sound manipulator who knows Berne’s music very well.

With a memorable riff as an inspiration, “Chance” is soaked in brainy harmonic clusters at the same time that employs a combination of tense, spacious and dreamy tones. This piece was culled from Berne/Mitchell duo album Angel Dusk, just like “Reception” and “Starfish Blues”. The former boasts a melody that speaks for itself, while the latter takes the blues to another dimension. Yet, it doesn’t match the exquisiteness of “Middle Seat Blues”, which evolves beautifully until it reaches a grandiose, final climactic chord that is complemented with a trio of tapped harmonics.

Feeling more overtly abstract and ruminative, “Giant Squids” employs logic pointillism, metric complexity and staccato brilliance over the course of its labyrinthine path.

“Huh/Brokelyn”, retrieved from Hardcell’s 2005 album Feign, flows with incredibly affable melodies and chords that explore tone and drama with a sense of mystery, whereas “Huevos”, the opening piece of the 2002 Science Friction album, exudes a subtle sophistication affiliated with both erudite classical musings and contemporary tone poems.

In a coruscating positive form, Belisle-Chi often crosses the line between instinctive delicacy and bemusement. It’s all done architecturally and with honesty.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Chance ► 05 - Huh/Brokelyn ► 06 - Middle Seat Blues

Gregg Belisle-Chi - Book Of Hours

May 2, 2019

Label: ears&eyes Records, 2019

Personnel - Gregg Belisle-Chi: guitar; Dov Manski: Wurlitzer; Matt Aronoff: electric bass; Michael W. Davis: drums.

If you are not familiar with the music of Brooklyn-based guitarist/composer Gregg Belisle-Chi, now it’s the time to explore his third album of originals, Book of Hours, a formidable eight-movement suite consisting in an amalgamation of rock, jazz, and classical elements. Inspired by the history and texts of the Ordinarium parts of the Mass, the music was firstly composed for a nonet but ultimately adjusted to serve the quartet format. The guitarist pairs down with Wurlitzer explorer Dov Manski, bassist Matt Aronoff, and drummer Michael W. Davis.

One thing I really liked in this recording was that the pieces are structured outside the habitual head/solos/head configuration, which make them much more uncertain and, in a way, arcane. Besides the penchant for through-composed technique, Belisle-Chi shows other positive faculties. Amongst other things, he doesn’t need speed or pyrotechnics to show off his talent as a prime guitarist, but rather navigates with precision and a sense of focus. And that’s enough to make music with a personality that is strongly appealing.

Most of the songs vouch for a gritty, smooth introspection. Take, for example, “Aurora”, whose stripped-down musical poignancy creates plenty of room for the communication between the spacious guitar and the mysterious Wurlitzer sounds; or the lo-fi dream-pop of “Dusk” and “Sanctus”, which surrounds us with sweet clouds of breeze and tranquility. There’s also “Zuhr”, a short lyrical reflection that works as an introduction for the highly inventive “Gloria”, my favorite composition and the best model of the quartet’s elasticity. The atonalities in Manski’s chords are key, and his solo narrative spins into a subversively groovy electro-funk whose effect-drenched sounds are simply delightful. With bass and drums stressing pliability and detail, you can indulge yourself into both responsively improvisational dialogue and unanimous accented speeches between guitar and keys, before the band returns to that lethargic mode that had initiated the ride. Not happy with this, they modulate again into an offbeat rocking groove.

Both “Credo” and “Agnus Dei” start with clean and polished tones, changing direction along the way to step into more distorted domains. The former links the cutting-edge precision of Radiohead to the noisy adventurism of Sonic Youth and a bit of Tool’s propulsive stamina, while the latter offers arpeggiated soundscapes and bewildering dramatic chops before an eruptive infectious guitar leads us to the end with its wandering melodicism.

If emotions are at the surface on the formerly described compositions, “Kyrie” goes deeper as it skirts an early atmospheric mood beefed up by the force of anthemic guitar chords. It then segues into a beautiful solo guitar moment followed by a steady 4/4 on-beat pulse that revels in the sublime indie-rock universe. Percussive rattles adorn the concluding circular passage.

To be explored straightaway, this is a stylistically elegant album that oozes beauty both in concept and execution, making us luxuriate in its immersive sonorities.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - Kyrie ► 04 - Gloria ► 05 - Credo