A live recording by
the Vienna Art Orchestra
is always an event. A band this well rehearsed performing in the controlled environs of the studio, where multiple takes and overdubs are standard practice in order to realize "perfection," are, sadly, standardized "business" practices. But on the road,
show just how well rehearsed they are in all the unusual ways. Certainly they play
Mathias Rueegg
's compositions and charts with precision and feeling, but more than that, they take them in, each member realizing the composition as a part of a musical whole that carries within it the entire history of
jazz
, but also the playfulness of the
sports music
of
Erik Satie
and the European circuses that instill wonder as well as laughter in the hearts of viewers. And
is a circus in the same way that
the Duke Ellington Orchestra
was a circus: a survival unit built for the road and any circumstance it might encounter. There are obvious parallels here:
Hannes Kottek
's
Cat Anderson
feel in his solos, smattering notes like jelly on bread;
Herbert Joos
, emulating the playful tender spirit of
Cootie Williams
; and
Roman Schwaller
's empathetic
Johnny Hodges
read. But
Rueegg
is not merely imitating
Ellington
's verve and spirit, he is extending it to move through the end of the 20th century and encompass all that
has brought to the fore since
's passing in the '70s. The other part, as a composer, is a composer in a league of his own; one listen to the brassy stomp of
"Sights From South Carolina"
with
Wolfgang Pusching
's saxophone solos carrying on in the whirlwind takes the breath away.
Lauren Newton
's careening croon in
"Lady Delay"
matches the timbral balance of the orchestra pitch for pitch in an off-meter dance to the death. And then there's the perversity factor on
"French Alphorn"
Joos
playing the ancient alp instrument that is longer than a pair of stacked refrigerators. It's a grandfather to the trumpet with a limited range that resonates only in overtone settings. With
Harry Sokal
's soprano sax playing foil, the Alphorn playing it's deep, muted
and attempting to squeal through notes it can't reach, it sounds like
the Dorsey Brothers
trying to get it on with
"C-Jam Blues."
But the most notable thing abut
is its stage presence:
knows how to create drama and surprise and his musicians are more than up to the challenge, clearly delighting themselves in the process.
A Notion in Perpetual Motion
is as close to a "perfect" live recording of
the VAO
as you are likely to find. ~ Thom Jurek