"Frush"
Luc Houtkamp - tenor saxophone, clarinet
Sebi Tramontana - trombone
Steve Beresford - piano, objects
Martin Blume - drums, percussion

1. Frap 11’55

2. Flusk 3’54

3. Fidther 12’07

4. Fream 10’21

5. Frush 3’44

6. Fracchen 8’25

7. Frizzling 5’10

Total time: 54'16

Recorded in concert at LOFT Cologne on November 17, 2023

Recorded by Stefan Deistler, mixed and mastered by Luc Houtkamp

Photos by Jef Vandebroek, cover painting by Sebi Tramontana

"The improvising trio comprising Netherlands tenor saxophonist and clarinetist Luc Houtkamp, British pianist and player of electronics and objects Steve Beresford, and German drummer and percussionist Martin Blume is well established, having recorded their first trio album Live in Prague 2017 (the pow ensemble, 2017) in November 2017 at the Alternativa Festival in Czechia, followed by Shed 1 (FMR, 2020), recorded in concert at LOFT in Cologne, Germany, in October 2018. On each of those albums, all of the music was credited jointly to all three players, often an indication that the music was freely improvised.

Now we have another album, Frust, recorded in concert at LOFT, Cologne, in November 2023. They are now a quartet, the trio having been joined by Sicilian trombonist Sebi Tramontana, who is also a long-standing member of the Italian Instabile Orchestra. His membership of the orchestra dates back to the early nineties, meaning he was a well-established member when the orchestra recorded the excellent The Owner of the River Bank (Enja 2003), live in concert with Cecil Taylor in September 2000. On the evidence of Frush, Tramontana fits in with the other three as if he has been a member for years.

As on the trio albums, the music on Frush is jointly credited to all four players. The album comprises seven tracks ranging from 3' 44" to 12' 07," and totaling 54' 10." As for the album title, each track title begins with F and seems to be a made-up nonsense word. The music is free improv at its best, without any player dominating the soundscape at the expense of the others or falling back on predictable clichés as filler. Instead, all four players sound as if they are listening and reacting to the others. Reacting does not necessarily mean that they play something similar. Sometimes the best way to react is to remain silent and give others space in which to play. The YouTube clip below demonstrates how each of the four balances their playing with that of the others to produce music which carries the unmistakable hallmark of each one as well as that of the quartet as a whole. In a nutshell, this is a textbook example of free improv at its best. Highly recommended."
AllAboutJazz 2024,  John Eyles

"The pan-European free improvising quartet of Dutch tenor sax player-clarinetist Luc Houtkamp, British pianist Steve Beresford (who adds objects to his arsenal) and German drummer-percussionist Martin Blume and Italian, Munich-based trombonist Sebi Tramontana is an extension of the trio of Houtkamp, Beresford and Blume that have been playing for many years and recorded two albums (Live in Prague 2017, released by Houtkamp’s label, the pow ensemble, 2017, and Shed 1, FMR, 2020). Tramontana joined the trio for the first time in a performance in Munich in November 2021.

Frush was recorded live at the LOFT club in Cologne (where Shed 1 was recorded) in November 2023. Tramontana did the cover drawing. The album’s title and the seven pieces are nonsensical words that begin with the letter F and correspond faithfully with the subversive and eccentric spirit of this democratic quartet of highly experienced, idiosyncratic improvisers. Often this quartet sounds like a hyperactive, four-headed beast, surprisingly charecterized with deep listening. The pieces suggest an inventive and intuitive stream of thoughts, devoid of clichés, unpredictable and uncompromising but gifted with endless resourcefulness.

Furthermore, this quartet blurs the distinctions between the European schools of free improvisation. It blends seamlessly and masterfully jazz, imaginary folk music, free music and ideas coming from contemporary music, poetic sound-oriented gestures with irony and humor, chaotic and ecstatic energy and refined, gentle playfulness, and experimentation with a focus on loose narratives and structures. The immense, accumulated experience of Houtkamp, Beresford, Tramontana and Blume playing free improvised music (more than 150 years) is radiated beautifully to the attentive audience and feeds on the trust of the enthusiastic audience."

Eyal Hareuveni, 2024
https://salt-peanuts.eu/record/houtkamp-tramontana-beresford-blume/

"Frush is a project of four unsung heroes of the second generation of European free jazz - Luc Houtkamp, Sebi Tramontana, Steve Beresford and Martin Blume. Nevertheless, this categorization in no way means that they deserve to be “unsung“ - on the contrary! Houtkamp is a Dutch saxophonist (tenor, soprano) and clarinettist who has been playing with Sven-Åke Johansson from 1973 - 75 and later with the great improvisers from the Benelux countries such as Ernst Reijseger, Han Bennink, Misha Mengelberg and Fred Van Howe. Tramontana, an Italian trombonist, was initially best known on the Italian scene, later working with Paul Rutherford and Barry Guy, among others, and becoming a member of the Italian Instabile Orchestra. In the new millennium, he has been a regular at festivals such as Victoriaville (with Mario Schiano, Evan Parker, Paul Lovens and Barry Guy), he has connections to the Chicago scene around Ken Vandermark, he was a member of Mats Gustafsson’s Nu Ensemble and has played a lot with Joëlle Léandre and Paul Lovens anyway. The British pianist and multi-instrumentalist Steve Beresford is the age president of the quartet and probably the best known of the musicians. He was already part of Derek Bailey’s Company projects in the 1970s. Actually, he has played with everyone who is famous in the UK in the field of avant-garde music. Finally, the band is completed by the German drummer Martin Blume. He too can boast a significant list of collaborations: Among others with Peter Brötzmann, Lol Coxhill, Peter Kowald, Werner Lüdi, or Jay Oliver. Together with Ken Vandermark, Matthias Muche and Thomas Lehn, he forms the free jazz quartet Soundbridges.

From this somewhat lengthy introduction, you can already deduce that you can expect first-class free jazz of the European kind on Frush. The seven pieces can be divided into four longer improvisations and three shorter miniatures. What strikes you from the very beginning ist he excellent timing of the musicians. Everyone jumps into the improvisation when it suits him, but then leaves it again immediately. So somehow everyone is always involved, but then again not - there is a lot of air during the playing, but still an enormous dynamic. Very dense, energetic passages alternate with quiet moments in a matter of seconds. The dense passages sound as if a toddler is rummaging through his overflowing toy box full of exuberance (which is meant in an absolutely positive way here), while the quieter ones - mainly due to Tramontana’s mutes and Beresford’s preparations - seem almost eerie. Houtkamp’s saxophone hovers above it all, giving the impression that he is biting into the melody and shaking it back and forth like a predator does it with a large piece of meat. Blume provides a very solid background for the music, his playing is most reminiscent of that of Paul Lovens (another compliment). His contributions are lightning-fast, varied and full of surprises, both tonally and structurally. The icing on the cake are quotes, which are sprinkled throughout the pieces (e.g. Dixieland phrases in “Flusk”, classical film music at the beginning of “Fidther”, later in the piece there are modern jazz piano passages; “Fracchen“ starts with a cool jazz line). In general, the album offers a cornucopia of different sounds and little melodies.

In a nutshell, Frush offers outstanding free jazz of the old school played by masters of their trade. Anyone who likes John Butcher/Phil Durrant/Paul Lovens/Radu Malfatti/John Russell: News From The Shed, Quintet Moderne’s WellSprings or the good old Schlippenbach Trio’s Winterreisewill be well served here.

Frush is available as a CD and as a download. you can listen to the complete album and buy it here: