“(The Necks) are sometimes categorised as a jazz trio – which is fine as long as this is immediately qualified by adding that they’ve completely re-conceived the idea of the jazz trio.”…
Tag Archive for: Review
“To the often spiky disciplines of minimalism, systems music and free improvisation, this remarkable trio bring a satisfying sense of long-form development… Ascetic in outline, but suffused with a warm humanity, their pieces are studded with minor epiphanies on the way to a larger sense of emotional fulfilment.”…
“A magic act masquerading as a piano trio, this Australian group delivers long-form improvisations that shift with such patient beauty that it casts a bit of a trance. You’ll seldom spend an hour that passes so quickly — and rewardingly.”…
“No other performing unit can reach into a remotely similar sonic area… almost as if their music is disembodied from conventional human touch, arriving from some unknown abstract source.”…
“I love the space you all capture to carry us through time.”…
“The Necks are less a band than they are some gateway to another universe. I’ve seen them probably half a dozen times and each time they leave me feeling slightly exhausted and disorientated. Maybe a bit like Yuri Gagarin felt on touchdown. I’ve tried writing about them before and failed miserably, so I won’t attempt it again, other than to say they were f**king wonderful.”…
“On this night, one of the first in the new Roulette, ghost sounds engaged in a call and response, channelled by the band through the three innocent instruments (piano, bass, and drums) that acted as their mediums.”
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“Critics either have a field day, or a hard time categorising their music….Perhaps the ultimate accolade is that no other band has attempted to emulate their sound – where would they even know to begin?”…
“The music developing from here in ever widening ripples, shuttling complexities, generating a trance-like energy that had me on the edge of my seat and all my nerves tingling. The Necks held us, for that 45 or 50 minutes, as they journeyed out on their wayward, crisscrossing tracks, finding their way back finally to the point of departure. What a privilege to be there in those moments when something new and unrepeatable is being created.”…
“Anyone of a mind to study the mysterious methods of the cult Australian all-improv trio The Necks would need to adopt a football manager’s approach – poring over hours of video to work out how pianist Chris Abrahams, bassist Lloyd Swanton, and drummer Tony Buck keep on unpredictably passing the ball and finding each other in space. Their unpremeditated art has a remarkably inclusive appeal.”…