András Dés is one of the few percussionists
who have not only absorbed a whole arsenal of
musical styles as a member of various bands, but
have also founded their own ensembles. Living
in Vienna for five years, Dés has now formed a
quartet with two Austrian musicians, Martin Eberle
and Philipp Nykrin, and his old partner in crime,
Márton Fenyvesi, who is now also based in Vienna,
to capture the essence of European jazz: diversity,
openness and the power of listening to each other.
Unimportant Things concludes a trilogy of albums
recorded by András Dés in various line-ups for
BMC Records. The common feature of the three
albums, which are based on very different concepts
and moods, is that they all contain a good dose
of spontaneity, since instead of incorporating free
improvisational passages into his compositions,
the bandleader has decided to link songs by way of
improvisations. The eight compositions thus form a
single musical sequence of about three-quarters of
an hour, in which we proceed from island to island,
from one adventure to the next, like Odysseus on
his way home from Troy to Ithaca – a sequence
which had to be broken down to independent songs
subsequently.
The unusual drum set is joined by trumpet, piano and
electric guitar, and the way these three instruments
are played often differs from what is customary. Martin
Eberle’s trumpet moves way beyond the stereotypes
in rhythmic precision, wild gesticulations, or timbres
imitating human speech, while Philipp Nykrin’s
piano pushes at the limits of playing techniques as a
supplementary percussionist. Márton Fenyvesi offers a
glimpse of how at home he is in the world of traditional
jazz and rock guitar, but in a significant part of the songs
he conjures up dazzling electronic timbres, if necessary
he provides a backdrop, and when needed he comes
to the foreground as a partner to the trumpet, yelling,
wailing, lamenting, and elsewhere he enters into intense
dialogue with the piano. The musical components of this
album are at least as manifold as the playing of the four
musicians. The thinking of András Dés and his fellow
musicians is defined just as much by many different
trends in American and European jazz of the last few
decades, as by earlier and contemporary classical
music, the instinctively complex rhythmic structures
of traditional musical cultures, or even the influence of
various popular music styles, for instance, the elemental
energy of rock music.
Both of Dés’ Austrian bandmates are respected
members of the Austrian jazz scene, but also associated
with the BMC. Martin Eberle has appeared on the stage
of Opus Jazz Club on several occasions, for example
as a member of the Schaerer – Rom – Eberle trio, and
Philipp Nykrin plays on Fabian Rucker’s quintet album
Hypocritical Mass (BMC CD 266). Márton Fenyvesi, who
has also recently moved to Vienna, has not only been
involved in a number of BMC Records projects, including
the internationally acclaimed Debussy NOW! album, but
is also a long-time collaborator of András Dés, having
played on five of the six albums he has recorded so far,
including the two preceding parts of the trilogy.