To follow up on their first album Nature in its inscrutability strikes back (Umlaut Records 2015), the unclassifiable European trio سم [ISM] is releasing two new recordings captured during a studio session in Tokyo in November 2018. The first part titled Metaphor was released on CD in the spring of 2019 while the second installment - the LP Japanese Flower - will be available in June 2021.
In this dense and adventurous diptych, the rhythm section of the group أحمد [Ahmed] exposes and propels music populated by sound fictions that pulverise the listening habits of the jazz trio format. Sometimes polyphonic, meditative, pulsed and repetitive, abstract or hypnotic, the music of سم [ISM] is crude, direct, labyrinthine, always rooted in an immediate sound mattere — as consisting of abrupt breaks and renewed continuities. Like the floral compositions of the Ikebana artist Junichi Kakizaki, this music can be listened to « like a flower » and step by step unveils a secret unity where the work of improvisation intensifies each of its moments.
[ISM] is a name written in ink. A dash through European creative music. A round trip, Berlin – Oxford, via Paris. اسم [ISM] is Pat, Joel and Antonin in a dotted silence without name. Acoustically, the trio creates abstract forms close of written contemporary music with sounds reminding us of ancient traditional jazz trios. The groove wich appears in this music is dense, extreme but always quiet. Music in a continuous flow of high voltage charges. In Arabic, اسم [ISM] is a way to connect between different cultural and imaginary worlds. اسم [ISM] is an Arabic word, which means The Name.
1. Dahlia
2. Tomato
3. Tomato EXCERPT
all music by Pat Thomas, Joel Grip and Antonin Gerbal
recorded 23 november 2018 at Knuttel House Tokyo by Taku Unami
remixed and mastered by Taku Unami
floral art on cover and liner notes by Junichi Kakizaki
photo by Joji Okamoto
design by Takashi Nagata
produced by Antonin Gerbal and Joel Grip
