Peter Brötzmann/Jason Adasiewicz @ LPR 9/5/12

Wow, really special.  Jason Adasiewicz was a monster on the vibes and Brötzmann was as amazing as ever on the alto, tenor and clarinet.  I mean amazing.  No one plays like that.  Jason was pretty wild on the vibes, using the mallots with major intensity. He was pretty cool when he was scraping the sides with a bow and also intense.  He also held the bow horizontally in both hands and played the keys with it.  His hands were moving very rapidly and at first I though he was playing the keys with his hands and wondered how much pain he was in.  It still looks like his monster style takes a lot out of him, he was dripping with sweat.

This was their 2nd gig together.  They invited Josh Abrams and Chad Taylor up for the last piece and I left elated.

Brötzmann/ Adasiewicz Duo

“A more accommodating rapport emerged in the second set, featuring Mr. Brötzmann with the versatile young vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz. Beginning in anxious clangor — alto saxophone blare, wood mallets jack-hammered sideways along the metal bars — their duologue gradually softened and ripened, occasionally flirting with outright beauty. Mr. Adasiewicz was the agent of that flirtation, but his approach was hardly typical. At one point he created a glowing drone from the vibraphone with two violin bows, clutching them like ski poles. Mr. Brötzmann responded with a stretch of unusually songlike playing, one long tone after another, before resuming his eruptive norm.”

“Brötzmann, the guest of honor at this year’s Vision Festival, played in three separate ensembles, each breathtaking on its own terms. My favorite was this unexpectedly accommodating duo with Adasiewicz, a vibraphonist of exacting tonal effect. A genuine conversation, it covered the full dynamic spectrum, from expectant hush to meteor-hits-the-building.” -Nate Chinen

http://www.peterbroetzmann.com/
http://jasonadasiewicz.com/