It has been difficult for pianist Adrian Klumpes to step out of the shadow of the tremendous success of Triosk, his seven-year long collaboration with fellow jazz musicians Laurence Pike and Ben Waples, even with a superb solo album on Leaf and collaborations with Machinefabriek and Shoeb Ahmad under his belt. His new group 3ofmillions, enlisting the support of the style-hopping bass guitarist Abel Cross (having existed in both experimental punk group Pure Evil Trio and jazz collectives such as Trio Apoplectica) and the younger generation in Wollongong drummer Finn Ryan, have spent the year 2008 formulating a group dynamic that more trumps than rivals that of Triosk. The live shows of 3ofmillions’ short history have been spectacular, if not achieving the kind of blissful balance that I found so appealing in Klumpes’ previous group. 3ofmillions’ album Immediate begs to be known as its own entity, divorced from any of the members’ current or previous projects.
The bottom line here is that 3ofmillions is ultimately not intended to be comparable to Triosk. The interaction between the musicians is one that is entirely different – Abel Cross’ huge and dirty range of bass tones is a particularly new element. What is most impressive about “Immediateâ€, is that it manages to successfully encompass both the glorious brutality of bass heavy moments such as in “conscriptionâ€, as well as the most delicate of Adrian Klumpes’ playing, while keeping an incredibly tight, intense and conversational interaction between the three instrumentalists. Finn Ryan’ performance should also not be ignored, the sheer power of his free playing reaching a stunning climax in “improvised explosive deviceâ€, a stark counterpoint to the stillness of the bass drones that unify the piece.
In discussing Immediate, 22-minute closer “accepting what is†is undoubtedly an elephant in the room. On the opposite end from the similarly delicate opener “her subtlety in my subconsciousâ€, the freedom, space and restraint of the group’ performance on this piece more than justifies its length. It is here that the most obvious Triosk comparisons would come in – the prominence of Klumpes’ cascading piano, the subtle introduction of mirroring bass and drums – but what ultimately sets it apart is the contextualisation of this improvisation. After the energy-sapping menace and chaos of the majority of the previous 40 minutes, “accepting what is†becomes a significant catharsis that cements the dynamic power and skill of 3ofmillions as improvisers. In Immediate, 3ofmillions speak on their own terms and with their own language.
Marcus Whale
