Leo is rising in the summer with these latest releases…
Soprano saxist Heath Watts forms a duo with bassist Blue Armstrong for a recording in Butte, Montana, with lots of free range and open spaces. Watts experiments with harmonics and tones on “Adhocery” and the subtone “Every Other One Is Every Bit Other” while reaching the 
Grand Tetons on the melodic “Assists.” Armstrong bows like Paul Bunyon on “On the Outside From Within” and shows his pluck during the percussive “Inverted Commas.” The two do some rhythmic conversations with bow, strings and sax pads as on “From One Extreme to Unspecified” making this a workshop in sounds and effects.
Made up of Franziska Baumann with voice and electronics and Christoph Baumann with piano and prepared piano, Interzones feel like a melodic free zone, as Franziska huffs and puffs and sighs on songs such as “Puls 105” and gasps on “Part 1.” Sound effects like “ffft” or “sssss” mix with plunging piano and keyboard lines on “Elektrofunkel” and “Fixed After Your Hand and Purpose.” While vocal percussion and rapid fingers make up “Daily Entropy.” A hint of Brazilian vocals create the most accessible piece, Fast and the Fury,” but for the most part this is a ride made for Mr. Toad.
The clarinet trio of Jurgen Kupke/cl, Michael Thieke/cl-ac and Gebhard Ullmann/bcl is recorded during a 2013 concert at the Theatre School of Dramatic Art. For half the concert, the trio mixes it up with fun bebop as on “Variationen Uber Rauch und Moder” and chirping unison lines o f”Blaues Viertel” with some fluttering reeds during “Seven 9-8.” With Alexey Krugulov making it a quartet with his alto sax, hyou get some modern classical sounds on “News? No News!” and fluttering reeds that cry in ecstacy on “Animalische Stimmen.” Reed rapture.
The team of Mieko Kanno/v, Anne-Liis Poll/voc-perc, Anto Pett/p, Aaron Shorr/p and Alistair MacDonald/elec deliver a free form concert at the university of Edinburgh in August,2013. Pieces include a sequence on “Laughing Gas” that resembles Jim Bacchus on “Delicious” while noodles and strings tie together and unravel with piano on “Atmospheres.” Tensile strings from violin and piano pluck around on “Zephyrs” and rustle like racoons on “Ether.” Sounds bounce off the walls from instruments and voice on this one; what would John Knox say?
Vocalist Tamara Lukasheva teams with cellist deeLinde and Marie-Theres Hartel on the viola for a dozen pieces of left of center interpretations. Old world sounds of Eastern Europe come to the fore on “Berdovichko” and the title track, while a mix of jazz and rock with slashing strings on “Bewichtige Gewirrung” and “Vogel Fly” include chunky chords and Lukasheva’s elastic voice. The strings dance with joy on “Das Leben Eines Kleinen Wesens” and get metallic on “Ungstellaus” with a folksy feel on the traditional “Marisja.” Avant garde sounds from the shtetl.
Leo Records