Pascal Schumacher Quartet

“Bang My Can”

(Enja Records ENJ-95722)

Luxembourg born vibes player and composer Pascal Schumacher is a musician who is gradually building an international reputation. Already popular in Europe, particularly in Belgium and Luxembourg, Schumacher made inroads into the UK scene with a successful appearance at the 2010 London Jazz Festival. Schumacher’s previous album “Here We Gong” is examined as part of our “Luxembourg Comes To London” feature.

Schumacher works in a duo with Belgian pianist Jef Neve as well as leading the regular working quartet that appears on both “Here We Gong” and “Bang My Can”. He has also written for large ensembles and composed music for dance, film and theatre, picking up a number of awards in the process.

Schumacher formed his first quartet in 2002 with the current line up coming together in 2008. Joining Schumacher on vibes and glockenspiel are pianist Franz von Chossy, bassist Christophe Devisscher and the German drummer Jens Duppe who has previously worked with trumpeter Matthias Schriefl. 

“Bang My Can” features an all original programme with all the members of the group bringing compositions to the record. It’s a similar format to “Here We Gong” although the earlier record also featured a radical interpretation of the song “Sing” by Scottish rock group Travis.

Schumacher trained as a classical percussionist and the title of the new album is a thinly veiled homage to the New York based percussion ensemble Bang on a Can and their celebrated “Marathon Concerts”. The influence of minimalist composers such as Steve Reich and John Adams is also present in Schumacher’s work, with Debussy, Satie and Bach also referenced as inspirations. But Schumacher also has a strong pop sensibility as the Travis cover suggests with Radiohead, a band cited by many of the more modish current jazz outfits, also mentioned by Schumacher as an influence. “Bang My Can” is more rhythmically focussed than its immediate predecessor with the influence of the European jazz grooves of E.S.T. immediately apparent. Keith Jarrett is also cited as an influence and for me the vibes/piano pairing of Schumacher and von Chossy also offers reminders of Gary Burton’s partnerships with piano players ( particularly Makoto Ozone, but also Chick Corea and Paul Bley) plus the vigorous exchanges between pianist British pianist Ivo Neame and vibraphonist Jim Hart as part of Neame’s quartet. 

This latest album kicks off with Schumacher’s brief “Inspector”, a gently shimmering piece for solo vibes. It segues almost immediately into “Water Like Stone” which begins with with a minimalist percussive pulse adorned by the ghostly tinkling of Schumacher’s glockenspiel and von Chossy’s scraping of piano strings. As von Chossy reverts to the keyboard an insistent E.S.T. style groove eventually emerges and builds steadily throughout the track. This provides the base for a Schumacher vibes solo but essentially the piece is about rhythm and groove. Schumacher’s music places the vibes in a very contemporary setting. 

The members of Schumacher’s quartet have bought into his vision. Devissher’s “Elmarno” is full of darting short cuts and fiendishly complex interlocking rhythms and motifs. It’s all topped off by Schumacher’s mercurial vibes.

But the group’s music is not all about rhythm and complexity. Schumacher’s ballad “Seven Fountains” reveals how adept they are at mood building as they deliberately keep things simple. It’s a lovely tune with the emphasis on sensitivity and restraint. Schumacher, Devisscher and von Chossy all reveal their lyrical sides, supported by Duppe’s economic but quietly colourful drumming.

The title track fuses interlocking Reichian rhythms with an E.S.T. sense of groove, the perspective of the music constantly shifting and shimmering as the various elements swim in and out of focus.
It’s like the musical equivalent of a Bridget Riley painting-an analogy I’ve used previously to describe the music of New York’s brilliant Claudia Quintet.

Devisscher’s second contribution with the pen, “A Fisherman’s Tale”, differs greatly to his first. This is a ballad that is both minimalistic and impressionistic with von Chossy’s piano bringing a real sense of lyricism and romanticism to the piece. Duppe’s drums are used carefully and sparingly as a colouring device and the eerie, other worldly whine of Schumacher’s vibes suggest that they are being bowed in the style of Claudia’s Matt Moran or the UK’s Jim Hart.

Von Chossy’s sole contribution as a composer is the epic “Metamorphosis”, at seven minutes plus comfortably the longest track on the album. This goes through all the stylistic changes that the title suggests from lush, pastoral interludes to deeply rhythmic groove based passages. It’s knotty and complex yet highly involving, the music always in a state of flux but assuming a distinct anthemic quality at times. Schumacher’s playing is brilliant throughout but it’s the overall quality of the ensemble that really impresses.

Duppe’s writing usually brings something different to the proceedings. This time it’s the tightly focussed energy of the grooving, songlike “Headspin” which begins delicately but soon acquires a poundingly insistent groove and a pop like hook. There are more impressionistic interludes too- Duppe fits a lot into little more than three and a half minutes. Overall the sheer exuberance of this track invites comparisons with the brio of the Neil Cowley Trio or The Bad Plus. 

The romantic lyricism of Schumacher’s “Taubenturm” represents yet another change of mood and is definite nod in the direction of Satie and Debussy. Devisscher’s melancholy bowed bass is heard to good effect but it’s the delicacy of von Chossy’s piano playing that stays in the memory, underpinned by the quiet bustle of Duppe’s drums.

Schumacher’s “No Dance On Volcano Ashes” mixes a dark hued impressionism with more forceful groove based interludes. The first part of the tune features a stunning, earth shuddering solo from Devisscher which contrasts well with the more lyrical qualities of piano and vibes. However the overall feel is powerful and dark.

The closing “Ghostrackmusic”, credited to Duppe, Schumacher and the mysterious Jakobs, is spectrally quiet and almost subliminal. These ghostly, half lit shimmerings act as a reminder of Schumacher’s film soundtrack work. 

All in all I’ve been very impressed with “Bang My Can” which represents a further refinement of Schumacher’s vision as heard on the very good “Here We Gong”. His innovative blend of elements of modern classical composition, jazz and rock makes for a highly distinctive group sound and places the vibes, often seen as something of an archaic instrument, into a thoroughly modern context.

The Schumacher Quartet return to the UK briefly to play London’s Vortex (31/05/2011) and South Hill Park, Bracknell (01.06/2011). Later they play both the Manchester (23rd July) and Brecon (12th August) Jazz Festivals. I hope to catch them at Brecon, their complex but involving music should be well worth witnessing in a live context.

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