Luca Sisera Roofer: Moscow Files

The Swiss bassist Luca Sisera and his bandmates in Luca Sisera Roofer recorded Moscow Files in the Russian capitol with the added presence of alto saxophonist Alexey Kruglov. As the jacket notes, this music is “absolutely live improvised,” with “no edits, no overdubs, [and] no fixes,” a mode of operation that can end in triumph or disaster depending on the talents and mutual attentiveness of the participants. It’s all very precarious, as the group no doubt realizes, judging by the whimsical cover photo (from a series by Martin Baumgartner called Unsafies) of a person standing atop an open refrigerator door. That person could fall at any moment, but for now stays aloft, just like the music. By turns boldly noisy, quietly intense, or wistfully melodic, these free improvisations sometimes welcome the listener while at other times the music can keep the listener at arm’s length. While I’m particularly fond of We’re REW!, a fairly gentle exercise featuring the entwined saxophones of Kruglov on alto and Michael Jaeger on tenor, there’s always something fascinating going on in this music. The song titles, by the way, are palindromes devised by Kruglov, whose alto sax acts as catalyst and instigator throughout this fascinating and successful encounter. Recommended.
Leo CD LR 811; Maurus Twerenbold (tb) Alexey Kruglov (as) Michael Jaeger (ts) Yves Theiler (p) Luca Sisera (b) Michi Stultz (d); Moscow, Russia, March 2017; Music is UM/ Re: Foo? Roofer!/ S... Use , ask saxes, us!/ We’re REW!/ Ac ultra art - Luca!/ Maurus sur U. Am./ E.t.c. A ton did not act E./ Use caps, slee, free jazz. A leer feels space.au; 40:17. www.leorecords.com