"sense of hearing - bpa005"
Players: CAROL GENETTI/DAMON SMITH + FRED LONGBERG-HOLM
Reviewed by: Michael Anton Parker

In some circles Genetti is the reigning queen of free improv voice in America, and this is her best release so far. When you think about the flurry of innovation in current improv that's based on air passing through the human oral cavity, but attenuated by metal tubing, it's puzzling why more folks don't just pursue the most direct and flexible option in this game, the naked voice. Listening to Genetti's abstract, language-free, maneuvers among all manner of sonorants and obstruents on this program of duos with bassist Damon Smith, I'm struck by how much untapped potential there is in vocal music, and I wish I'd need more than two hands to count the Genettis, Blonks, Mintons, and Makigamis of the world. The impression is especially forceful thanks to the incredible recording quality of this disc, another triumph for Genetti's Chicago comrade Bob Falesch--it feels like I'm hearing it live sitting only a few feet away from the musicians! The tiniest details burst out of the speaker, and this is the kind of music that pivots on such details--the faint shards that fall off Smith's bowed notes; the split-second buzz of string against wood; the swooping fricatives that escape between Genetti's sweet squalls. Although it's pretty restrained relative to the history of free improvisation, the music here is not lowercase improv; it's alternately elegaic and frenetic music constantly taking off in new directions, and Smith in particular exemplifies the classic Euro-improv aesthetic of sounding at the boundary of momentum, the region where phrases hold together by the thinnest threads, where the failures bleed into new moments so quickly they aren't noticed, and the successes slam you in the face. Both Genetti and Smith have virtuosic control of a huge range of unconventional sounds; there are parts where Smith's bass sounds like some unidentifiable southeast Asian stringed instrument in a fit of ecstatic pitch leaps, and parts where Genetti digs into the sound world of small animals and insects. A highlight can be found in the startling passage in "fragility itself" where Smith continuously generates several distinct sounds from his bass simultaneously, creating a massive texture of burbling, groaning, grinding, and wheezing. This is the first disc of Smith's work I can specifically recall listening to, and it's so wonderful I'm excited about further investigating his fair-sized discography, which includes work with luminaries like Wolfgang Fuchs, Frank Gratkowski, Serge Bagdassarian, and Boris Baltshun, much of it released on his own label for personal documentation, Balance Point Acoustics. With the dozens of great improv bassists out there, noone could be blamed if they happened to overlook Damon Smith's brilliant work, but improv vocalists of Genetti's caliber are so rare that this release is absolutely essential for anyone with an interest in avant-garde settings for humanity's first instrument. The second part of the disc is 27 minutes of live trio recordings of Genetti, Smith, and Fred Lonberg-Holm. By now most folks know how potent Lonberg-Holm is in just about any improv situation, and this session is mind-blowing and essential for fans of America's leading cello improvisor. For a disc of music for double bass and female voice, it's fitting that the booklet includes a beautiful short poem by a master of both instruments, Joelle Leandre, which refers to three things abundantly present in this music: "intensity, fragility, and love".