Rabble Without A Cause
Wednesday February 15th, 2012 with Bernard Stepien
American saxophonist Patrick Breiner

For those (very few) who forgot to drop by the IMOO series last Sunday at the UMI cafe, tonight there will be a catchup session on RWAC. The IMOO series organized by Craig Pedersen, Linsey Wellman and Renée Yoxon is based on a simple principle, network all kinds of musicians that play improvised music. First of all they highlighted the fact that there are a number of local musicians that are actively playing improvised music but also they catch travelling musicians into their orbit. This was the case last Sunday of American saxophonist Patrick Breiner who played a first set solo and a second set joined by Craig Pedersen and Scott Warren in a rare convergence session. Breiner's approach to improvisation is based mostly but not exclusively on minimalism à la Steve Reich or Evan Parker. He calls it attention splitting - playing several lines simultaneously in order to create the illusion of several instrumentalists. His repetitive lines are systematically disturbed with minute sound or texture changes creating the impression of constantly changing moods. However, this is not the only music he plays. The '30s are equally important to him and he can trick you into a Ben Webster snapshot anytime you want. One additional interesting thing about these travelling musicians, they bring their CDs providing a rare opportunity to escape from the orbit of major labels. I couldn't resist. Thus, we will enjoy a solo CD, Stumpfest that corresponds to what he performed at IMOO last Sunday. I just realized that there is something old and new in these travelling musicians. The old part is that these musicians are like medieval troubadours. They bring live music wherever they go. who would had thought that such a thing is still useful today. However, they achieve this mostly using the most advanced computer technology, the internet, facebook and twitter to guide them through the maze of suburban TV addicted populations. But somehow, this all works...