The Necks
Aquatic

In Italy, the Jazz trio The Necks is still relatively unknown. Neither the printed Jazz dictionaries nor encyclopedias mention them, and even in the magazine Musica Jazz, I found no references: fortunately, the internet is a much richer source of information. It may seem strange: they have been creating and playing for over 15 years now, making a radically new kind of jazz, exploring new frontiers much like their predecessors, who searched for “the impossible note, the one that doesn’t exist, that isn’t on earth” (Steve Lacy on Thelonius Monk), their music always leaves a mark. Yet they haven’t crossed that invisible line between moving instruments around for a small audience at night and fame. I repeat: at least in Italy.

It might also depend on the fact that they live in an extraordinary land, both ancestral and modern at the same time: Australia. They must be very famous there, as they continue with their challenging and unusual musical project: in almost thirty years, they have produced only 34 tracks totaling 20 hours. Indeed, their music resembles that landscape: they know how to create a psychic and visual space that is beautiful and engaging to traverse with their guidance. Yes: it is a hypnotic journey they know how to construct. Like in the film Picnic at Hanging Rock by Peter Weir (1975). They remain in a shadowy zone. And, so I try, thanks to DeBaser and the curiosity of debaserians, to fill the gap and shed light here and there.

In “Aquatic” (1999) Chris Abrahams is on Piano and Hammond organ, Lloyd Swanton on acoustic and electric Double bass, Tony Buck on drums and percussion. This time there is also Stevie Wishart on the “Hurdy-Gurdy” (I have no idea what it is: someone will tell me). The tracks are two: one 27 minutes long, and the other 25. An exception to their standard of a single musical sculpture of about an hour. The listening experience leaves one vigilantly dazed by the beauty of the rhythm (Tony Buck is an exceptional drummer), the harmonies of the piano chords, the hypnotic repetition, all happening in what isn't just minimalist iteration.

The first movement already provides great satisfaction for the musical mind. Refined sounds that feed the imagination, piano chimes of strong energy, a truly unique drumming-beat, faintly hinted environmental noises as stimulators of psychic well-being. As if to say: “You are in another space, but you can be well here. It’s just different”.

But the second movement is incredibly beautiful (I’ll try to choose at least one moment for the sample that represents it). A “Swing” that is undoubtedly jazzy but ventures into highly cultured Ambient Music. It starts immediately at high speed, with Swanton's violin-like double bass, urged by the formidable Tony Buck, a real rascal of a drummer. Then Abrahams' piano begins to push forward. More and more: trills, beats, with the bass containing. Here come the strings again. Faster and faster, imperceptibly fast. It makes you want to close your eyes. There: in the dark, you see the space traversed by the piano notes supported by that flying carpet that is the drums, baroquely adorned by the double bass. Now the rhythm becomes a bit less frantic. And the interplay begins among them. Yes: the jazz interplay invented by the Bill Evans trio is resurrected, renewed in another dimension! The three improvise within a cosmic dream enabled by the (slight) electronic processing of the sounds. The conclusion is of great peace: yes, it is nice being here. And where are we? Well, look at that: still in Drive By. Their music is an architecture: we are always at home! Or rather: we always return home. As the deceptive cadence teaches.

Jazz… Ambient… Minimalism… Electronic. The Necks are all of this but go beyond it. For The Necks, the term “Post-Jazz” is limiting. They know how to create a state of enchantment within the temporal space of an hour.

About this album, AltriSuoni says: “This is the first fascinating expressive peak of The Necks, a product that could easily stand alongside the fourth-world masterpieces of Jon Hassell and Brian Eno”

DeBaser is great because musical recommendations don’t go through a critical filter, but through the pleasure of listening: they are filtered by our “Emotion Function” rather than that of “Thought”.

So, dear reader, forgive me if I seemed vague. But I just wanted to invite you to get to know them.