Note: video above is from a performance that took place one week after the one recorded for ‘Lucid/Still.’
In April 2023, Tim Berne introduced an exciting new ensemble that was maverick even for him. Oceans And reunited the alto saxophonist with cellist Hank Roberts but also added the ‘x-factor’ player in Aurora Nealand, who both plays accordion and uses her voice in the service of harmony.
A year later, the Berne/Roberts/Nealand combo – dubbed ‘Oceans And’ – has a new recording out. This time it’s a document of a radio broadcast from October 2023 and set for release April 5, 2024, on Berne’s Screwgun Records imprint. Since the all-improvised music came several months after the studio record was released, this snapshot reveals how the partnership and the ideas flowing from it have evolved over time during which they played in front of live audiences.
It’s a single, 44-minute journey which, like the studio record, isn’t really jazz but something akin to improvised chamber music. There’s no bass or percussion, which lends itself a bit to the feel of a string quartet, even though there’s only one-stringed instrument involved. But these aren’t limitations in the hands of Berne, Roberts and Nealand; they skillfully exploit the opportunities afforded by not having any real precedent, aside from their one studio album. The music breathes and flows, pouring out straight from the creative centers of their brains straight into our ears.
Nealand is first heard via her voice, acting as an additional wind instrument besides Berne’s alto cries and her own accordion. Around the 16-minute mark, the three converge into a symphonic drone that stays well-composed and so dense it sounds like there are five performers, not three. They change the chord progression balletically and discreetly, settling into a murmur that sets up Roberts to make a supple showcase on cello, briefly enjoined by alto sax and Nealand’s wordless vocal.
When Nealand’s accordion takes over, it changes the song’s complexion and Roberts and Berne react to it in novel but entirely fitting ways. Not needing any obvious cues, Nealand gradually relinquishes the harmonic direction to Berne and everyone instinctively falls in line. Berne hits the upper end of his sax’s register, virtually making his instrument an extension of the accordion as it plays similarly high notes. And on that ‘high’ note, the performance draws to a close.
Lucid/Still will be available here on April 5, 2024. Until then, help yourself to Tim Berne/Hank Roberts/Aurora Nealand’s Oceans And if you hadn’t already.
Recommended Tim Berne CD’s on Amazon:
Oceans And
Science Friction – The Sublime And
Hard Cell – Feign
Tim Berne’s Snakeoil – Shadow Man
Tim Berne – The Shell Game
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