Dirk Bruinsma - 2024 - Low Reliefs

(41:46; Cuneiform)






















Dirk Bruinsma (saxophones, bass guitar, electronics, percussion and composition) is a musician and composer who has been active for about 35 years and is best-known for his work with Fred Frith, Barry Guy, Louis Sclavis, Elliott Sharp and Jaap Blonk while he is also active with his group Pumporgan, the composers collective Monotak from Amsterdam and in a duo with video artist/VJ Marit Shalem. The pieces on this album were originally conceived to be performed in other settings, and it is only recently that he has reclaimed the songs and recorded them as a solo artist. Opener "Scala Vertigini" was written in 2015 for the ensemble Modelo62, but he was unhappy with the performance, the five pieces making up "Bassconstructs" (interestingly the parts on the album are not in the correct order) has been performed a few times with different musical groupings, while closer "Frozt" was written for a band that after two live performances saw the COVID crisis cut its life short.  

This never sounds like a solo album but always feel as if it is a band who are working hard together in a setting which is a combination of scored and improvised. I love the heavy picked bass, which is at the heart of this album, as although there is a lot going on around it, it is this which keeps everything grounded. This will probably be classified by many as being experimental or avant-garde, with a few even saying it is RIO, but to my ears this is more like modern abstract classical than anything else. It has a layered complex reality which one can easily imagine being moved into a full orchestra which also includes a harpsichord. There are also times when it is menacing and full of krautrock, but it is always fluctuating and swelling, almost as if it is a living, breathing being, and as it has its own nature one never knows where it is going to go next. Incredibly compelling, this is a very deep and meaningful release which certain merits investigation for those who want their music to have depth and not throwaway plasticity.

Kev Rowland, April 2025

Links:
https://dirkbruinsma.nl/
http://www.cuneiformrecords.com/

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