Cycles

Albenrezension

April 2009 was a busy month for Antwerp double bassist Joris Vanvinckenroye. Not only did he spearhead the recording of Songs from Mirage, the third full-length CD by his principal creative outlet, the neoclassical chamber rock outfit Aranis, but he also kept his fingers busy under his solo moniker BASta! (exclamation point included and fully warranted), recording this occasionally astounding 45-minute album of multi-tracked bass. Cycles is 100 percent Vanvinckenroye and his double bass — there are no other instruments present (or at least that is the claim, as hard as that might be to believe at times) — although this is not the sound of unaccompanied bass solos. Rather, Vanvinckenroye plays what would appear to be a handful of bass parts at the very least, and oftentimes what sounds like a bass-filled ensemble of nearly orchestral proportions, in multi-layered compositions that surely encompass both the highest and lowest notes the instrument is capable of producing. Unsurprisingly, the bassist is enamored of pulse-driven music, as he is when composing for Aranis, and in many ways Cycles sounds like Aranis if that ensemble’s violins, flute, accordion, piano, and guitar had been replaced by basses. The result is certainly earthier, and if you think Aranis’ chamber instrumentation and Euro-folkish elements humanize that group’s occasional minimalist tendencies, well, Vanvinckenroye takes things a step further here — with their woody textures and grain, his basses are engaged in a deeply organic dance as they lay down a strong foundation of repeated, loop-like phrases while also answering one another in counterpoint, chugging through the middle ground with relentless drive, and singing wildly in the high registers.

And that’s only on the first track, “Codis.” Scattered across the disc as a whole, Vanvinckenroye uses the bass as a percussive instrument, his arco playing is rich with overtones and recorded with crystal clarity yet depth by Pieter Thys (who certainly deserves much credit for the amazing sonics heard here), and his pizzicato technique in the deepest range provides a true kick to the sternum. On album highlight “SRP,” a 7/8 rhythmic foundation is joined by buzzing, fluid basses recalling Percy Jones’ electric fretless before shimmering celestial strings — those are basses? — enter to astonishing effect. Vanvinckenroye and Thys conjure up a rough and grainy tone particularly in the middle register — some might even be reminded of Tom Cora’s cello — given added punch by the bassist’s sometimes clipped phrasing, even when he is bowing. And yet Vanvinckenroye’s layered arrangements and melding of classical, rock, folk, and world music styles also recall another “traditional yet contemporary” artist — Sicilian cellist Giovanni Sollima. The tendency to compare Cycles to the work of cellists rather than other bassists should indicate Vanvinckenroye’s facility with what in some hands — aside from the bevy of jazz-based creative improvisers, that is — can be a heavy and cumbersome instrument. Not so here, even as Vanvinckenroye never loses sight of the fact that double basses have arguably found their most engaging roles in rhythm sections. And rhythm is key throughout Cycles, even when the bassist mimics the sound of a creaky door hinge in a haunted house during “Delayed” (although he strays from the rhythm in a standout improvisational interlude during the title track — ironically perhaps the most uncharacteristic music on the disc). Cycles is a fabulous showcase for the talents of Joris Vanvinckenroye, and one might hope he would bring these skills more to the fore in Aranis, his primary gig at the time of this recording.