Reviewed by Chad Langford for Riveting Riffs Magazine

Forty-one years after the release of ICP001, the Instant Composers Pool Orchestra, the brainchild of Dutch free improv masters Misha Mengelberg and Han Bennink, is still going strong.  Founded in 1967, this band of merry improvisers has evolved through many incarnations, and through it all, they have always managed to keep their eyes on the prize.  They do so through the use of improvised and pre-composed ideas and forms to uncover the never-before-heard moments of musical excitement, in concert and on record.  The release earlier this autumn of ICP046, Live At The Bimhuis, is the latest chapter in their unfolding story, and it is an exciting and occasionally confounding one.

The CD opens with Thelonious Monk’s “Jacky-ing,” in a muscular arrangement by the resident mastermind and pianist of the group, Misha Mengelberg.  The tune spells out what the Instant Composer’s Pool Orchestra is all about, exciting improvisations and arrangements, which occasionally reach out of your speakers and grab you by the neck.  After playing the melody (the first half beautifully understated, the second half featuring insistent, slippery harmonizations in the orchestra), the overblowing tenor sax leaps into the foreground and unleashes multiple rhythmic blasts, which eventually spiraling up into Mengelberg’s highest register. The sax is played over furious percussion and a stretched-out version of the second theme.  Eventually, the music dissolves into chatter amongst the players, as they use short fragments of the original melody.  The violinist (Mary Oliver) is left exposed as she drops into a moment of silence.  The respite is quickly denied by Han Bennink who starts a conversation with several slaps at his drums and a shout.  The horns restate the main theme and they eventually build into the final out chorus.

The second tune, “Met,” is a beautiful outing for the string instruments.  The viola (Oliver), cello (Tristan Honsinger), and double bass (Ernst Glerum) rhapsodize, harmonize, and scream at each other, as they get into some lovely, quiet tangles. 

“Op Naar De Mooche,” features the horns and percussion in a dizzying masterpiece of improvised polyphony.  One thing that the ICP Orchestra does very well is to allow each musician to find their own little place, for a newly spun thread, within a dense, high-velocity texture. This accomplishment does not come easily, and a lesser group might have a messier and overbearing result. The piece comes to a quiet and seemingly reluctant ending, with gorgeous, shifting colors and harmonies, skittering through the ensemble.

 “Jaloers?  Ik?” (Jealous?  Me?) begins with a lazy clarinets and strings melody which yields to impatient piano chords from Misha that quicken the pace.  After a brief transition, the ensemble settles into a Stravinskyish dance-like section.  This piece is the more fascinating for its thinner texture which consists of fewer notes and more space. The players take turns elaborating on or making changes to the texture. 

“Reef,” is a charming little postcard for piano and trumpet which moves right into “Misha, Pass The Monkey,” an experiment which possesses slow-moving, descending figures from the clarinets. Beautiful interjections from the piano and drums contribute to, “Misha, Pass The Monkey,” being an evocative composition and my favorite track on the album. The tune features an up tempo section led by the clarinets, which in turn spontaneously combust leaving the cello hanging out alone.

The group ends with, “Change of Season,” a beautiful, darkly atmospheric tune featuring the violin and trumpet.

The members of the ICP Orchestra have previously cited elements such as, counterpoint and juxtaposition as being their favorite improvisational devices. Imitation and copying the heroes were listed as their least favorite improvisational devices. Their musical philosophies are encapsulated by the terms, swing, groove, tension and beauty. Each of the players understands how their part contributes to the unfolding musical narrative in various forms, such as, static, forward moving, dense, sparse, and gestural or in a strict rhythm.

ICP046, Live At The Bimhuis is a demonstration of free improvisation at the highest level.