The Necks
Sex

There is a recurring word in the reviews of the Australian trio The Necks' albums: "unique". It's true. They make a new kind of Jazz. Different from anyone else.

Chris Abrahams (keyboards), Tony Buck (drums), Lloyd Swanton (bass) were born in the early '60s. Precisely when John Coltrane was playing Ole, which is compared to them for its ability to innovate, and 10 years before the rise of the Keith Jarrett trio. In short: they belong to a new generation of Jazz musicians. And they know how to distill the most knowledgeable use of the essential elements of Jazz from the past: the special relationship with time, colloquially known as "Swing"; improvisation; the phrasing of the individual performer, even within a group; and, finally, that element that differentiates Jazz from other genres of music, namely that special quality we call "style". These references I owe to the book: Joachim Ernst Berendt, The New Jazz Book, Vallardi.

Their uniqueness seems to me due to several factors: they create a single piece lasting about an hour; the sound is acoustic and powerful; the use of electronics is just accentuated; the "carpet" of music, which calls back to the hypnotic repetition of minimalism on which the harmonies and improvisations rest, is simply sublime; they do not resort to Free dissonances to prove themselves "different". "Sex" is from 1989: 15 years before "Drive By". Yet the two records are very close to each other, confirming their style and artistic coherence. To listen to them, one must "give oneself time". Even better when it becomes dark and the first lights of the night begin to turn on. I try to write what happens. The beginning is a cascade of piano notes bouncing on Tony’s drumming carpet, which immediately begins to weave his plot. The rhythm will always remain the same, with continuous variations, but with the same design: I think it takes incredible strength to keep this time intact and without a mistake for a full hour... 4 or 5 acoustic piano notes in a melodic tone... the idea is good, others might continue along that trail, but Chris leaves them there, perhaps to make us wish they would return again... Lloyd's double bass becomes a violin, but above all evokes doors that open in fairy tale castles... variations of Tony's carpet, precise as the biological balance of life. A hint of speed increase, perhaps just an impression, like in dreams where everything has different dimensions... stones rolling over each other in the water of a cave... bells, but maybe not, maybe it was a dream because they've already disappeared... sharp beats of the stick in a muffled-acute tone, again just for a moment... moving forward with slowness, always the same and always different... 20 minutes have passed. The wonder is that I'm a third of the way through the journey. I feel like smiling like Noodles in the opium den at the end of Sergio Leone's film "Once Upon a Time in America". But the Necks' expansion of consciousness is of a completely different kind: they create a bridge between the musical space they are creating and my brain waves.
Halfway through the record, images begin to form in the mind, different each time, all revealing other parts of reality, never dramatic. It’s all so "synchronized": dynamics, rhythm, variations, heartbeats, breathing, bodily movements... 34th minute: Tony adds a bass drum beat... now the environment is still changing... faster, because by now we are inside with them, and we can all go together where we have never been... I feel in the heart of this sculpture, like when the marble reveals the shape it had inside.. and indeed the stones of the cave begin to roll again... here now there is a beat that I would like to memorize for the rest of my life... 44th minute: interplay of dramatic tension... dreamlike improvisation and the three begin to tell their stories... 51st minute begins the transition to the closure... rhythm again slower, yet always pressing. Tony is still there, where he started, after having gone everywhere without ever lacking to "assist" his companions... closing on drum-bass interplay with few piano notes. The end.

One exits the dream and returns to reality. But with that half-dreamy tone that makes one perceive the beauty of life better. Thank you, Necks: you are "unique". I wholeheartedly invite you to listen to them.

Paolo Ferrario/alias Amalteo

My album on The Necks is here:
http://www.segnalo.it/TRACCE/MUSICA/The%20necks/necks.htm