Doran - Studer - Wittwer - 1987- Red Twist & Tuned Arrow

Doran - Studer - Wittwer 

1987

Red Twist & Tuned Arrow

01. Canon Cannon 7:21

02. 1374 5:25

03. Quasar 8:33

04. Belluard 5:18

05. Backtalk 3:28

06. Messing 6:44

07. D. T. E. T. 6:08

Christy Doran electric and acoustic guitars

Fredy Studer drums, percussion

Stephan Wittwer electric guitar, synthesizer, sequencer programming

Recorded November 1986, Soundville Recording Studios, Luzern

You will hear Christy Doran on the left and Stephan Wittwer on the right channel

If you think ECM release nothing but new agey chamber jazz then you`re in for a shock if you hear this album.Christy Doran and Stephan Wittwer on guitars with Fredy Studer on drums play wildly and are`nt afraid to let their guitars feedback,highly recommended.

The bulk of this set burns with some jagged, edgy twin-guitar interplay between Doran and Witwer, and were I to make a "best of Doran" sampler spread over, say, 2 CDRs, I'd probably wind up plucking a track off this one, but unfortunately it's an inconsistent album with some sagging energy levels and greyness in the timbres. Wittwer (who I actually saw play live a few times during the FMP festival in Chicago in 1995) is a much noisier and dirtier player than Doran in general, and on subdued pieces his edginess becomes greyness. At the same time, there's nothing weak on this album. It ranges from very good to stunning, but so much of Doran's work is stunning that it's necessary to make these distinctions. Doran's right hand man Fredy Studer uses a more stark, slightly robotic and 80s flavored drumkit style on here than usual for him and it works rather well overall, taking the music away from jazz references and into something idiosyncratic and novel. This is also one of the wilder moments in the ECM catalog. Doran has plenty of better albums, but this a killer disc that won't disappoint either casual or serious fans.

Two tracks from this trio project that didn't appear on this album were released on the essential, mind-blowing Doran/Studer retrospective Half A Lifetime.

Guitarist Christy Doran, who nowadays divides his time between teaching in Switzerland and recording, 

is another in a line of unique guitarists on the ECM roster. For those new to this intriguing musician as I am, this seems as good a place as any to start, though one may also encounter swatches of his art flapping in the wind of the OM collective. For the Red Twist & Tuned Arrow project, he joins improviser extraordinaire Stephan Wittwer and OM founder Fredy Studer on drums and percussion. The product of this chemical reaction is a record of great ingenuity that has worn well. What first impresses about Doran and Wittwer is their delicacy. We find out right away in the Derek Bailey-esque vibes of “Canon Cannon” that both musicians are far less interested in powering their way through material than they are in uncorking a fine vintage of fermented logic. Moving from the synth ground lines here to the perpetuity of “1374,” again we are awash in the microscopy, which is only enhanced by Studer’s evocative colors. Like something out of a sci-fi film, it pulses with alien energy. On that note, “Quasar” might as well be called “Quaver,” for that it does in abundance, moving through a gallery of playing that is nocturnal yet blinding. Doran does much to admire here in the date’s crowning achievement, which is not without its more forthright moments in the oh-so-satisfying grunge of “Belluard.” Along with “D.T.E.T.,” “Backtalk” casts a jazzier, if more abstract, reflection onto the mix. The trio ends smashingly with “Messing,” a quintessential track for Doran, who takes his signature seizures to their greatest height yet. An acoustic breaks from its cage and runs rampant with its freedom cries, leaving the piece’s latter half to fend for itself electronically. Awesome.

Doran grists a pliable sound that never stays in one place or genre for very long. His quick costume changes ensure that we remain on our toes. Perhaps an acquired taste for some, but satisfying and ultimately joyful, with nary a pessimistic puddle to step in.