Chockshut

Chockshut is the evidence that the Koch-Schtz-Studer trio have expanded their lineup, and consequently, their ability to wreak havoc on musical structures everywhere. Adding a guitarist like Stephan Wittwer, for whom heavy metal and free jazz are synonymous terms, or trombonist Andreas Marti, with his penchant for lower-register sheets of sound, or a pianist such as Jacques Demierre, who writes music and plays in the theater, creates a sextet of uncommon possibility. True to form, the ten selections on Chockshut are full of sharp cuts and quick maneuvers to break the music out of any recognizable compositional form. The organic rhythms created by Studer and Wittwer, with his large, chopping chords, are the organic matter that is subject to manipulation, extension, and even deconstruction by the rest, though once in a while these tricky structures get cooled out in favor of a loose, rickety groove. But free improvisation provides something else in this context, too: a battle ground to establish new riffs that are edgy and sharp, or structures, however minimal, that call for an angular harmonic sensibility to be able to progress onto the next idea. The music breaks out, not in, and it doesn't look around, it goes for its own jugular with flux, discord, and humor. Everything that Koch and Schtz have involved themselves with has turned out this way: a musical party for those interested in music and content, not structure or context. ~ Thom Jurek|