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Br?tzmann / Leigh / Lonberg-Holm: Naked Nudes

By Mark Corroto
April 7, 2023
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Brötzmann / Leigh / Lonberg-Holm: Naked Nudes

This new trio of saxophonist

Peter Brötzmann

woodwinds
1941 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Peter Br?tzmann, pedal steel guitarist

Heather Leigh

guitar, steel

" data-original-title="" title="">Heather Leigh, and

" data-original-title="" title="">Fred Lonberg-Holm operating both his cello and electronics, explore the musical equivalent of microgravity. Captured as part of the saxophonist's 80th birthday celebration concerts in August 2021 in his hometown of Wuppertal, Germany, the sounds achieve a perception of levitation. Credit the suspension of gravitational force to Leigh and Lonberg-Holm, both collaborators with Br?tzmann; Leigh and the saxophonist have been working in duo together since 2015 and have produced several recordings including Sparrow Nights (Trost, 2018); Lonberg-Holm and Br?tzmann go back even further to the mid-'90s with the Peter Br?tzmann Chicago Tentet, plus the ADA trio with drummer

Paal Nilssen-Love

drums
b.1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Paal Nilssen-Love, and a duo outing Ouroboros (Astral Spirits, 2018).

Leigh and Lonberg-Holm do not suppress the incendiary sounds of Br?tzmann but they do moderate the great man's animation on the lengthy title track of nearly 30 minutes. Without a doubt Br?tzmann's caustic sound is still very recognizable, though it is suspended within the two stringed instruments. Leigh's pedal steel guitar creates an eerie echoing Western folk sound which is bolstered by Lonberg-Holm's bow work to create an ambient/chamber atmosphere. That is until the cello and electronics morph into a thundering feedback machine which creates ominous clouds upon which Br?tzmann floats untethered above the affair blowing bluesy riffs. Dare we call them sentimental? Two shorter pieces get a bit noisy. "Flower Flaps" has the saxophonist in duets with Lonberg-Holm's pizzicato and Leigh's power chord guitar and "Johnny Anaconda" plays off a call-and-response between Br?tzmann and his compatriots. The three have hit upon a magical combination here.

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Track Listing

Naked Nudes; Flower Flaps; Johnny Anaconda.

Personnel

Peter Br?tzmann

woodwinds

Heather Leigh

guitar, steel

Fred Lonberg-Holm

cello

Album information

Title: Naked Nudes | Year Released: 2023 | Record Label: Trost Records

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