Charakteristisch sind Sakatas melodische Linien, die sich mit Di Domenicos markanten Klaviermustern und den atmosphärischen Gitarrenfarben von Damianidis verweben – getragen von einem dichten Fundament aus Bass und Schlagzeug. Die zweite LP stammt von der Tour zu Sakatas 80. Geburtstag, aufgezeichnet am 29. Januar 2025 im Club Omilos in Thessaloniki. Neben den Damianidis-Brüdern standen hier gleich zwei Schlagzeuger auf der Bühne: Paal Nilssen-Love und Tatsuhisa Yamamoto. Das Zusammenspiel entfaltet eine enorme Spannbreite – von wuchtigen Verdichtungen bis zu feinen perkussiven Details –, immer wieder angetrieben von Sakatas unerschöpflicher Energie. Gemeinsam ergeben die beiden Mitschnitte ein Panorama von rund 90 Minuten Free Jazz, das zwischen organisch sich entwickelnden Passagen und intensiven Höhepunkten oszilliert und mit “Hyperentasis”, das im deutschen soviel wie “übermäßige Schwellung oder Bauchung” bedeutet, einen pointierten Titel erhält.

“Giovanni Di Domenico, an accomplished composer and prolific collaborator who has released albums with Jim O’Rourke, Eiko Ishibashi and Akira Sakata, among many others, initiated the collaboration with Bennett after the two met at a record fair in Saint-Gilles, Belgium and bonded over a shared inquisitiveness for unconventional sonic combinations. Along with Pak Yan Lau, a Belgian-born sound artist and improviser who has developed her own rich and unique sonic footprint, the trio entered the studio with little, if any, discussion beforehand, jumping right into playing without preconceived structures. The resulting recordings had a depth of sound and emotional resonance surprising even them, with finished pieces emerging from single live takes and minor edits.

Bennett, known for his solo work as well as his collaborations with Christina Vantzou as CV & JAB, gives us here a taste of his bass flute in free flowing form. Unconstricted by concept, joyfully and lazily bouncing off the melodic shimmers of Di Domenico’s Rhodes, Bennett uses his flute’s pitch information to trigger long tones that emerge like rays of light piercing through low hanging clouds – moments of clarity among a clicking world of sonic stimuli. Meanwhile, Lau’s crackling and sometimes dissonant contributions on prepared piano, live hydrophone, and custom ceramic sound objects balance out the triangle, adding a sense of microcosmic intrigue that allows the music to seamlessly ebb and flow between moments of comfort and foggy uncertainty.” (Editions Basilic)

@ Editions Basilic

“Over the last decade, Rome-born, Brussels-based eclectic composer Giovanni Di Domenico has been ranging through a diverse number of fields within experimental music. Now, in the midst of a close series of astounding releases, Di Domenico adds another superb piece to his prolific discography as proof of an ever more enduring state of grace. The first of his works ever to feature voice and language as foregrounding elements, the five truly visionary pieces making up Polvere di rabbia reveal a glimpse of the incredibly profound stream of consciousness flowing through Di Domenico’s automatic writing process, here mostly belonging to the diaries he’s been keeping over the years. Featuring instrumental and vocal contributions by Mathieu Calleja, João Lobo, Pak Yan Lau and Lucia Palladino, Polvere di rabbia was recorded between Brussels and Rotterdam and comes in a 12” LP wisely mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi. The stunning artwork featuring photographs by Madison Dinelle and design by Nicola Chemotti Beutel are complemented with an insert containing the Italian/English transcription of the lyrics.” (Kohlhaas)

@ Kohlhaas