专辑简介

by François Couture

In Paul Rutherford's solo discography, Neuph creates its own category. Recorded in the studio in 1978, this album features the man playing trombone and euphonium (something he doesn't do often) equally, and overdubbed up to four times (something he would never repeat). Whether you see it as accretive group improvisation with oneself or layer-by-layer instant composition, you do get multiple Rutherfords for the price of one -- without the narcissist aura one might expect. Improvisers had rarely experimented with multi-tracking before the computer age. The music is obviously more dense than usual, without going overboard. Actually, Rutherford managed to put together strong pieces featuring multi-level dialogues and exploring textures and concepts that go beyond his "traditional" solo work. Therefore, Neuph is more than a curiosity, but a very interesting development of his art. The original SFA LP opened with "Yep 321" for two euphoniums, which put even the Rutherford connoisseur into immediately alien territory. Emanem's CD reissue slips in a live trombone solo from 1980 before the LP material, which makes things a bit less brutal. "Realign 4" for four trombones is four times as dizzying as The Gentle Harm of the Bourgeoisie, but "Phase 2/2" (featuring two trombones and two euphoniums) is better, the artist sounding like a whole improvising brass quartet instead of just four incarnations of himself. On "Three Levels," one of Rutherford's three trombone tracks is played back at double speed, giving the impression that a trumpeter has joined him. Despite all the mirroring and studio trickery, the strangest sounds are to be heard in "Chefor," a simple euphonium solo that makes you wonder why he has not used that instrument more often. Emanem's reissue concludes with an extra live trombone solo from 1980, a gorgeous 17-minute piece recorded at the Pisa 1980 Improvisers Symposium.