Search - Peter Brötzmann, William Parker, Michael Wertmüller :: Nothung

Fun-Timers LOve IT!!!

Tony Mostrum | Los Angeles CA. USA | 11/23/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"NOTHUNG
Peter Broetzmann / William Parker / Michael Wertmueller
(in Tone Music CD-5)Now, you know saxophonists; of all of the current, contemporary players in the world of - let's call it genuine, non-plushy jazz - who is the first you'd use the word FEROCIOUS to describe? There, you see? You and I both know it - Peter Brotzmann, the dangerous Teuton with the Kaiser Wilhelm handlebar moustache, DER MANN who since the late '60's has consistently pushed 'free' playing even farther into the Albert Ayler realms of extended squawk and shriek than Ayler himself, prompting one shocked critic (decades ago) to claim he "wouldn't want to run into HIM in the Black Forest alone."
Well, that's journalistic hooey, of course, but not unprovoked, and this live trio recording from last year (on the new L.A.-based label, inTone) demonstrates that Broetz' awesomely huge and powerful sound hasn't mellowed one iota, opening with stentorian tenor announcements before quickly running off into choppy, abstract lines of molecular intricacy (variations? WHAT variations?) and quavering metallic wails that subside and howl like a sea-monster shrieking for air. Bracing and invigorating, and the kids love it! Hear Nothung Part Two, in which PB's clarinet (propelled by Wertmueller's splashing cymbals and frenetic, chopped-up rhythms) pops, squawks and quacks in unending fluttery complaint, like the angriest duck that was ever born. Truly, jazz was never better...TONY MOSTROM
JULY 21, '02"