COMPOSERS: Pascal Schumacher Quartet
LABELS: Enja
PERFORMER: ascal Schumacher (vibes), Franz von Chossy (pno), Christoph Devisscher (bass), Jens Düppe (drums).
CATALOGUE NO: ENJ-95722
The title of Luxembourg-born vibist Pascal Schumacher’s second album is a nod to the influence on him of New York’s Bang On A Can All-Stars, the part-minimalist, part-chamber music group. Like BOAC, Schumacher creates a charged atmosphere by using repeated motifs imprinted on a percussive background.
Being a tuned percussion instrument, the vibraphone is ideal for the job and Schumacher bends it to his will, producing soft glow harmonies, shimmering rhythms and iridescent solo runs. The ensemble playing, delicate and yet so assured, is mesmerising and gives a crystal clarity to complex arrangements.
Writing credits are shared around the band, and while the individual melodies might not always gain purchase, the music’s fizz lingers in the mind long after the programme has finished. Garry Booth