[TR24][OF] Made To Break (Ken Vandermark, Christof Kurzmann, Devin Hoff, Tim Daisy) - Cherchez la femme - 2014 (Avant-Garde Jazz, Free Improvisation)

Conceived in 2011, the electric/acoustic ensemble Made To Break has had the opportunity to tour and evolve as an improvising unit. The result, their third disc recorded in 2013, Cherchez La Femme reveals a truly engaged band. That statement wouldn't be unexpected if we were talking about a rock group or a jazz band for that matter, but Made To Break is a working improvisational group.

Credit, of course, goes to master organizer Ken Vandermark, a saxophonist who has the ability to attract diverse musicians into new and interesting settings. His recent passion for electronics, funk, reggae, and rock composing have created the groups Spaceways Inc., Fire Room, and Powerhouse Sound. Made To Break introduces those sounds into free jazz by intermingling the above ingredients with his conception of modular composition.

His journey into this music has led to this distinctive quartet. Drummer Tim Daisy has been a co-collaborator since the Vandermark 5 days, and can he heard with Vandermark in duo and also with the large Resonance Ensemble with bassist Devin Hoff. The wildcard here is the electronic machinations of Christof Kurzmann. He first worked with Vandermark on the recording El Infierno Musical (Mikroton, 2011). His realtime manipulations via a software program called lloopp elevate his contribution to fellow improvising musician. In other words, unlike a DJ, he doesn't just comment on the proceedings, he participates.

Where the previous Clean Feed discs, Lacerba (2013) Provoke (2013) were made at the ensemble's inception, Cherchez La Femme boosts a fully integrated sound. The three lengthy pieces, all dedicated to women artists from photographers, painters, actor Bette Davis, and the riot grrrl punk band Sleater Kinney, ebb and flow from rocked-out funk to crackling electronic sizzle.

"Sans Serif" opens in duo with Daisy and Vandermark for four minutes before Hoff enters with a pulse that resolves into Kurzmann's electric insect infestation. His sonic disruptions seemingly push the music outside of composition, but a closer listen and his rumble, hum, and static offerings reveal them to be a musical accelerant. He can sample and loop notes by Vandermark, as he does on "Capital Black" creating a mirrored partner or mash-up to the thunder of Hoff's electric bass. The music shapeshifts several times within each track. Daisy's attentive ear is always at the ready for change as he drives the full swing of each piece.

The quartet is equally at home with open form improvisation and down home funk, this makes for ethereal improvisation that you can dance about. (Mark Corroto)

I would never throw the word noise in the mix when talking about Made to Break. I might try “a fairly modern, electro-acoustic jazz quartet with wider sound affinities than a regular one” but noise… never. Cherchez La Femme is the third Made to Break album, the first recorded inside a conventional studio space. It features the same line-up, the same idea and structure. And it’s like nectar from a beautiful flower, not noise… you schmucks!

As I’ve said, not much has changed from Provoke and Lacerba [Clean Feed / 2013] in terms of the overall approach and structure, but the studio environment does its job quite well and we have the most detailed Made to Break record – sound wise. The quality of the recording is astonishing, and that really contributes for many, many crucial details in the quartet sound to be easily noticeable, and the listener is provided for the first time with the complete picture of the quartet. Not that Provoke and Lacerba are bad records or they are badly recorded (they were in my top-10 list for last year) but since hearing Cherchez La Femme I think that Made to Break is an idea fully realized in the studio space, with the complete sound spectrum and all the high-definition details. Because it’s not the Vandermarkian brute riffing force that is the most important thing in this quartet (although that part of his playing on the record is the most inspired in recent years) it is the overall crazy rollercoaster of dynamics they possess. The seamless transfer from hard-hitting to extremely vulnerable, is not an easy task for it to be captured on tape, especially in a live environment. Here is where Cherchez La Femme shines.

This is the most inspired Vandermark record in recent years. A complete picture and rigorously developed aesthetic, a process that started years back with formations like Spaceways Inc, Powerhouse Sound and more recently – The Frame Quartet. Cristof Kurzmann’s “electronic noise textures and post-processing” is the main gem here. It opens up a whole new world of texture and sound, with almost endless possibilities. He can oscillate between bringing contrast with low rumble in the background, or to process the sound of the saxophone out in the open, and he plays this role wisely – a treat that inspires the rest of the quartet. Vandermark seems to be at ease in this surrounding, with his solos and improvisations being very light-footed to go anywhere.

I perceive it as a futuristic urban soundtrack, with the concrete blocks, the smoke, the glass, the quiet – the loud. It’s overwhelmingly gray in one point, but then in the next one – here comes Mr. Vandermark’s saxophone to bring lightness through the fog. Simply put - there is a whole lot of content through the entire trip from point A to point B in every track on this album, and the replay value is insane. (Filip 'Booka' Bukrshliev)