TIMELESS PULSE / Quintet
Thomas Buckner (voice); George Marsh (percussion); Pauline Oliveros (accordion); David Wessel (live-electronics); Jennifer Wilsey (percussion)
"Timeless Pulse sometimes recalls the soundscapes of Gunter Muller, Butch Morris, David Shea and AMM, and is thus recommended to fans of them and harmonious (yes, that¹s right, with harmony) free-improv."- Mark Keresman
Formed in 1993 in a residency at the Deep Listening Institute, the musicians of Timeless Pulse - whose members come from jazz, classical and electronic - make music together through listening and responding in the moment. The five compositions on this recording from 2005 are warm, compassionate tapestries of soft, rolling sounds performed by accordion, cymbals, drums, gongs, bells, chimes, sampled sounds, and voice.
TRACK LIST
21 (21:03)
Healing Piece (10:01)
Shapes (5:38)
Just Play (22:53)
Light (9:48)
REVIEWS
Pauline Oliveros, Deep Listening institute. Ltd
Timeless Pulse have been active since 1993, always carrying their "deep listening" flag high and well visible. Consisting of Thomas Buckner, George Marsh, Pauline Oliveros, David Wessel and Jennifer Wilsey, they recorded the five tracks of "Quintet" by assembling an array of instruments that includes accordion, cymbals, drums, gongs, bells, chimes, samples and voice. The musicians' aim is to "make music together through listening and responding in the moment" (not an obvious statement if you think about certain guitarists playing gazillions of scales learnt at Berklee or GIT without realizing that a rhythm section exists). It's also nice to find a personal quote by each of the contributors on the cover, trying to give some kind of interpretation to the phenomena that reciprocal respect and perceptiveness engender in performance. This is, purely and simply, sonic invention largely based on a harmonic content; if Buckner's often theatrical vocalism and Oliveros' mercurial accordion are the most prominent and recognizable figures, they'd probably weigh a tad less in the music's economy without the clever percussive work of Marsh and Wilsey, able to generate backgrounds, comments, highlights and deviations with a purpose which is never ego-driven, but completely functional for the pieces to toddle, walk and grow up. A special nod should ideally go to Wessel's heedful electronics, the key to that state of suspension typical of the best "vintage" improvisation, which collocates every participant in a capsule from where remote no man's lands can be seen in advance. There are people who would probably try to fit this stuff in the "space music" shelf after a superficial listen, but approaching "Quintet" is much more rewarding, if certainly not easy. Many highs, almost no lows.
Tobias Fischer, Tokafi
In the movie “Fight Club”, Edward Norton’s character confesses to the main reason why he enjoys support groups so much: “People really listen to you instead of just waiting for their turn to speak”. That is exactly the way the Timeless Pulse Quintet approaches improvisation.
In the quotes which accompany the artwork of this elegant digipack, all of the musicians involved stress the supremacy of paying close attention to the movement of the group over egoistical powerplay. Percussionist Jennifer Wilsey formulates it in the form of two questions: “Who is sounding? Who is listening?” In the case of this ensemble, everybody is. Very gently, these five pieces flow on a collective rhythm, a soft breath that never ceases and yet doesn’t hyperventilate even in the crescendos. Every soft inflation and deflation of of the accordion’s lungs, every caress of the drums, each carefully uttered syllable and electronic impulse comes with precision, exact articulation and utmost attention: How will it affect the overall picture? How does it relate to what has been played? In which direction will it take the music?
Sometimes, this means that minutes lie between one sounding of the gong and the next, merely awaiting the right moment to make itself heard again. On another occasion, the spooky ghost voices emmanating from David Wessel’s computer disappear as quickly as they arrived, a memorable hush on the canvas. Thomas Buckner, who goes from scats to wordless speech, from cantable melodies to inhuman gurglings, may serve as a prominent identifying focal point. But even his voice, the most immediately recognisable musical instrument, is just a minute cogwheel in this dreamy machinery.
“Timeless Pulse-Quintet” is a labour of love. These musicians are not merely paying lipservice, they truly adhere to their beliefs because they mutually trust and respect each other without thinking twice. Now it’s your turn to listen.
