Nick Bartch's Ronin: Holon

Swiss pianist Nik Bärtsch writes, rather defensively, that "an ecstatic groove and an ascetic awareness ... are not mutually exclusive". Perhaps he feels the chilly breath of ECM's free-improv giants on the nape of his neck. The music made by his quintet, Ronin, draws on jazz in its harmonic and timbral density, but at its core is an insistent pulse, with a sound somewhere between Steve Reich and EST. The 15-minute Modul 41_17 demonstrates this well, with repeated piano figures that drill deep into your consciousness. Modul 45 has a jerky catchiness that harks back to Monk. There is nothing earth-shatteringly new here - Man Jumping explored this terrain years ago, while the Portico Quartet are the latest to pick up the gauntlet - but Bärtsch and his crew, including Sha on bass clarinet and alto, play this confection with such elan that it's hard not to be seduced.

John L Walters
Friday March 7, 2008
The Guardian


Nik Bartsch: piano; Sha: bass clarinets, alto saxophone
Bjorn Meyer: bass; Kaspar Rast: drums
Andi Pupato: percussion.

01. Modul 42 06:28
02. Modul 41_17 14:51
03. Modul 39_8 08:00
04. Modul 46 07:16
05. Modul 45 09:41
06. Modul 44 09:23