Improvised Experimental Music
Free Jazz aesthetics
Wednesday Oct 4th, 19:30
Colin Webster: alto sax
Andrew Lisle: drums
Dirk Serries: electric guitar
Kodian Trio
Kodian Trio have only been together since 2015. The trio of Colin Webster on alto sax, Andrew Lisle on drums, and Dirk Serries on electric guitar has been touring extensively ever since their inception. The shared experiences of the road, studio, travel, evinces a group sound which is constantly shifting, solidifying, and disappearing completely - true to the essence of free improvisation. Kodian Trio's 3rd studio album - and their second for Trost Records, was recorded in one intense live session at the White Noise studio in The Netherlands during a day-off on a European tour. On this album the trio shows the core strength as a unit gained from their live experiences, and a band in top shape. Yet within the turmoil there is also a sense of joy, and most importantly a perfect dialogue.
KODIAN TRIO is not a power trio per se but a band that combines free jazz aesthetics with modern experimentation.
https://www.youtube.com/live/jeQjuP0uT_Q?si=2c-8kNjMfJFt-ijv
You welcome
Gerard Daval
IN: ALL FOR THE ARTISTS
KODIAN TRIO live at SCHEUNE Dresden 2022
KODIAN TRIO at Het Bos 2018 photo by Jef Vandebroek
KODIAN TRIO
“Kodian Trio … blasts through, mashing free improv clicks and clatters
with free jazz-inspired hoots and hollers, all wrapped up in a waistcoat of gimlet-eyed punk attitude.” – Paul Margree, We Need No Swords Some are building directly on the foundations of pioneers while others are always on the lookout for fresh, contemporary sounds, or try to combine them.
with free jazz-inspired hoots and hollers, all wrapped up in a waistcoat of gimlet-eyed punk attitude.” – Paul Margree, We Need No Swords Some are building directly on the foundations of pioneers while others are always on the lookout for fresh, contemporary sounds, or try to combine them.
But they’re all united by a similar curiosity, a search for finding their own voices, and a never-ending reinvention of themselves.
Improvising power unit KODIAN TRIO rose from the ashes of a scorching concert at London’s Café Oto in 2015. Already eight years later and armed with three major studio albums and multiple live appearances later, the trio have become major contenders on the fertile and outwardlooking European scene. The trio is a working band in a constant explorative phase, from the first modest steps to the confident live reputation they have created. KODIAN TRIO is a unique one with 3 strong musicians constantly challenging themselves to move further and beyond.
This is free music that actually lives up to its ambitions and frequently uses its maximum potential for individual and collective freedom, while at the same time maintaining a coherence that only becomes apparent with repeated and/or intense listening. It requires an effort, but the rewards are an insight into a unique musical language.
“the three confidently navigate their way through real-time improvisations scalding to the touch. Yes, blistering episodes surface—dissonant squeals from Dikeman, prickly shards from Serries, and volatile flourishes by Lisle—but so too do fleeting moments of calm as the trio brings a unified sensibility to the undertaking. With the exception of the surprisingly restrained fifteen-minute closer “III,” I catches the trio breathing communal fire: imagine forty-six minutes of bristling, molten improv and you’re in the right ballpark. I offers compelling exercises in musical democracy.” Textura – Canada “Kodian Trio biedt de luisteraar geen hapklare brokken muziek, maar levert met ‘I’ een ruwe, wringende en stompende plaat af die om veelvoudige beluistering vraagt alvorens het muzikaal gebodene volledig op waarde kan worden geschat. Hoeveel de muzikanten soms ook tegen elkaar in lijken te musiceren, steeds blijft – soms op onnavolgbare wijze – de controle behouden. In de ontoegankelijke, bij tijd en wijle abstracte muziek ligt een flinke dosis inventivieit en subtiliteit verscholen van drie uitblinkende vrije impro-musici.” Opduvel – The Netherlands
“These musicians are far too talented to simply go hell for leather or indulge in macho noise grandstanding. Instead, their noise-making has an intricacy and control while still sounding spontaneous and raw. Webster tends to avoid the obvious low end raunch of the baritone, using its sheer physicality to lend force to high register squalls and breath effects. His introduction of the alto sax halfway through the third side is an unexpected delight, as he embarks on a bright, Eastern European tinged solo over some of Lisles’s most energetic and inventive drumming. The long drones and deconstructed funk of the final side bring further evidence of this trio’s resourcefulness and imagination.” The Quietus – UK
London based saxophonist Colin Webster is known for working from extreme sonic palettes – from minimal to maximal, constantly pushing boundaries. Equipped with a razor-sharp, punk spirit, and ferocious technique, Webster has established himself as a unique voice on the European avant-garde scene, regularly collaborating with many of the key figures in improvised and experimental music.
Also based in London, Andrew Lisle’s quick and highly textural playing is making him highly in-demand in the fertile improvisation community. In turns both propulsive and abstract, Lisle has works with many leading voices on the UK and European improvised music scene, including Kit Downes, John Edwards, Ab Baars, Rodrigo Amado and John Dikeman.
Improvising power unit KODIAN TRIO rose from the ashes of a scorching concert at London’s Café Oto in 2015. Already eight years later and armed with three major studio albums and multiple live appearances later, the trio have become major contenders on the fertile and outwardlooking European scene. The trio is a working band in a constant explorative phase, from the first modest steps to the confident live reputation they have created. KODIAN TRIO is a unique one with 3 strong musicians constantly challenging themselves to move further and beyond.
This is free music that actually lives up to its ambitions and frequently uses its maximum potential for individual and collective freedom, while at the same time maintaining a coherence that only becomes apparent with repeated and/or intense listening. It requires an effort, but the rewards are an insight into a unique musical language.
“the three confidently navigate their way through real-time improvisations scalding to the touch. Yes, blistering episodes surface—dissonant squeals from Dikeman, prickly shards from Serries, and volatile flourishes by Lisle—but so too do fleeting moments of calm as the trio brings a unified sensibility to the undertaking. With the exception of the surprisingly restrained fifteen-minute closer “III,” I catches the trio breathing communal fire: imagine forty-six minutes of bristling, molten improv and you’re in the right ballpark. I offers compelling exercises in musical democracy.” Textura – Canada “Kodian Trio biedt de luisteraar geen hapklare brokken muziek, maar levert met ‘I’ een ruwe, wringende en stompende plaat af die om veelvoudige beluistering vraagt alvorens het muzikaal gebodene volledig op waarde kan worden geschat. Hoeveel de muzikanten soms ook tegen elkaar in lijken te musiceren, steeds blijft – soms op onnavolgbare wijze – de controle behouden. In de ontoegankelijke, bij tijd en wijle abstracte muziek ligt een flinke dosis inventivieit en subtiliteit verscholen van drie uitblinkende vrije impro-musici.” Opduvel – The Netherlands
“These musicians are far too talented to simply go hell for leather or indulge in macho noise grandstanding. Instead, their noise-making has an intricacy and control while still sounding spontaneous and raw. Webster tends to avoid the obvious low end raunch of the baritone, using its sheer physicality to lend force to high register squalls and breath effects. His introduction of the alto sax halfway through the third side is an unexpected delight, as he embarks on a bright, Eastern European tinged solo over some of Lisles’s most energetic and inventive drumming. The long drones and deconstructed funk of the final side bring further evidence of this trio’s resourcefulness and imagination.” The Quietus – UK
London based saxophonist Colin Webster is known for working from extreme sonic palettes – from minimal to maximal, constantly pushing boundaries. Equipped with a razor-sharp, punk spirit, and ferocious technique, Webster has established himself as a unique voice on the European avant-garde scene, regularly collaborating with many of the key figures in improvised and experimental music.
Also based in London, Andrew Lisle’s quick and highly textural playing is making him highly in-demand in the fertile improvisation community. In turns both propulsive and abstract, Lisle has works with many leading voices on the UK and European improvised music scene, including Kit Downes, John Edwards, Ab Baars, Rodrigo Amado and John Dikeman.
Dirk Serries – curator of the A New Wave of Jazz label – is hardly your average improvising musician. Even though the man has a fondness for the classic free jazz of the sixties and seventies and the current updates, his own talents lie elsewhere. As a master of texture, a skill which he’s been able to forge and refine for more than 30 years (as vidnaObmana, Fear Falls
Burning, Microphonics, with collaborative projects and, more recently, under his own name), he has always been involved in the more abstract, or sound-oriented wing of experimental music. Serries is now less reliant on his trademark effects and loops. A new ‘naked’ language that veers from gentle strumming to scribbling, pointillism, and occasional outbursts of disjointed howls.
Burning, Microphonics, with collaborative projects and, more recently, under his own name), he has always been involved in the more abstract, or sound-oriented wing of experimental music. Serries is now less reliant on his trademark effects and loops. A new ‘naked’ language that veers from gentle strumming to scribbling, pointillism, and occasional outbursts of disjointed howls.
Pulling from his great experience in the worlds of ambient and industrial music, as well as from masters like Derek Bailey, Serries’ approach is improvisation that relies purely on his relationship with his electric guitar, prepared or not.
Illustration Gerard Daval (AI), photos Ensemble Gamut! and Della Donne Consort
Aino Peltomaa – voice, harp, percussion, electronics
Ilkka Heinonen – jouhikko (the bowed lyre), viola da gamba, G-violone, vocals, electronics
Juho Myllylä – blockflutes, vocals, electronics
