Latest solo work from Ingar Zach is strumento di etimo incerto (ASPEN EDITIES Aspen015). Eighth solo album from this talented Norwegian percussionist who co-founded the Sofa Music label, and we’ve mostly heard him solo or duo in improvising context, though he sometimes may surface on the Hubro label in melodic groups, and has done enough work for other Ensembles to be credited as a composer too.
His opening “big gun” is the 20+ minute piece ‘cicchitaredu’, where he displays all the cavernous properties of his lovely big drum the ‘gran cassa’, on which speakers and other objects may be laid and vibrate away as they see fit. Impressively, Zach manages to concoct an entire mini-orchestra from his set-up, and delivers something like a school band rehearsing a Steve Reich composition. This is followed by the six short chapters of ‘le finestre’, each segment apparently emphasising a different aspect or technique. Distortion is less in evidence this time around, but we’re still getting the very blurred edges which are intended as the hallmark of this release, or “music of an uncertain nature” as he would have it. You can certainly hear the plan falling apart in this ‘finestre’ suite, but in a very controlled way, without any real sense of danger of chaos. Part IV is the most interesting bit, as it switches away from those annoying brushes and allows us a glimpse into a futuristic city, all clean lines and noiseless space flight. Really not sure how he’s delivering these electronic pulses from just his percussion and drums, but if you were there I’d expect you’d have purple skin by now.
There’s also ‘Davoli’, where you can sense Zach is already bored of experimenting with textures and pulses, and turns in a barely-there minimo sketch of low hums, on a sheet of imaginary plexiglass which gradually grow into a scrying mirror for budding oracles. I welcome the “uncertainty” which Zach proposes, but he doesn’t make it seem particularly exciting; no risk, no consequences, just a slightly out-of-focus view of the next few feet ahead. (March 2023)