Spontaneously created music by duets in Berlin must be a thing. After taking in the delightfully alien and unforeseen sounds from a trombone and electric guitar, it’s time to do that again. Only this time with drums and piano.
Drummer Jeff Arnal and pianist Dietrich Eichmann made free jazz duet records back in the 2000s before joining up with other musicians to expand the group, as we noted in a review of a stimulating, live quartet record they were both recently involved with.
Such duets are nothing new; Cecil Taylor made a whole bunch of records during the 80s backed by only a drummer and he was perhaps one of the few who could improvise with a drummer for over an hour and hold interest throughout the entire performance. But Jeff Arnal and Dietrich Eichmann show they can do this, too.
Tides of Unrest / Berlin 2023 captures one of their two decades of on-and-off duo encounters, the time and place made plain by the title. There were on their game that spring day in 2023 as there is synergism galore, and it never wavers no matter how many chances either of them take.
Eichmann shows what a fearless pianist he can be during “Turn of Tides,” and Arnal dials up the right counterpoints on drums in real time, never falling back on cliches and going entirely on impulse.
Eichmann meets Arnal more than halfway on “Color Field” by contributing to the rhythm, often by clipping his notes. It ends up becoming very much a part of Arnal’s percussive tapestry and yet, Eichmann is still making melodic substance at the same time.
The “Brush and Hammers” title is apropos since Arnal is using brushes to strike his drums and Eichmann appears to have prepared the hammers of his piano, restricting the resonance of the notes. Eichmann disseminates note clusters as a stream of consciousness for “The Secret of Things” and Arnal is keeping right up with him.
Four more improvisations are available only on the digital versions. These ‘extra’ tracks are no less adventurous. Eichmann explores the low, left end of his prepared piano’s register during “Watching Shadows,” as Arnal keeps an uneasy tranquility. Arnal’s quickened brushwork on “Phantom Cage” is tracked closely by Eichmann perceptive piano phrasings to the point that they operate as a single entity.
Tides of Unrest / Berlin 2023 comes to us from NoBusiness Records. Procure your copy now from Bandcamp.
- Jeff Arnal + Dietrich Eichmann – ‘Tides of Unrest / Berlin 2023’ (2025) - February 26, 2025
- Matthias Muller + Andreas Willers – ‘Matthias Muller Andreas Willers’ (2025) - February 25, 2025
- Takuya Kuroda – ‘EVERYDAY’ (2025) - February 24, 2025
