Paula Sanchez/Katharina Weber — …and discovering fishes that have their own light
When the liner notes of the album you’re about to review are written by primo avant-garde musician, Fred Frith you know you’re onto a good thing. In fact, it is Frith along with the Swiss free music scene that is largely responsible for the coming together of the seemingly unlikely pairing of Argentinian cellist Paula Sanchez and 'piano icon’ (the words of Frith) Katharina Weber. Both developed a close relationship with the Henry Cow alumni at the University of Basel - Sanchez a student on Frith’s improvisation master’s program, Weber a fellow teacher - and in amongst this the two female artists independently found a common ground centred on improvisation, sound and performative art. It is from these beginnings that Sanchez and Weber proceeded to take live experimentation to a new level, and it this art that features on …and discovering fishes that have their own light.
She may be the younger, less experienced of the duo, but Sanchez found herself attached to the world of the avant-garde from the off - working as part of Argentina’s Ob-caenum collective, combining experimental music with performance, while studying cello at the National University and then jumping continents to complete not one but two master’s degrees. Continuing her education at the Contemporary Arts Practice at the Bern University of the Arts, Sanchez and Weber’s budding friendship – and artistic relationship - blossomed as they began playing together in various guises, often with Frith and with Weber at a wholly different place in her musical journey. A classical musician by trade, through the years she had progressively moved to the world of jazz and avant-gardism, eventually releasing her critically acclaimed piano improvisation debut Woven Time in 2009, with its follow-up In Marta’s Garden over a decade later in 2022.
Ultimately, the pairing of Weber and Sanchez just made sense, and we are now privileged to bear witness to this chemistry on the latest release from Switzerland’s Cubus Records - a live performance recorded last year at Bern's »zoom in« festival. “I was lucky enough to attend this concert, and my memory of it was of holding my breath, on the edge of my seat, enthralled and astonished by qualities in the playing,” recalls Frith. “Listening now my attention has subtly shifted, because of the deep details that passed me by in that big resonant space.”
…and discovering fishes that have their own light is nominally one long composition piece, but it neatly (albeit unofficially) divides into four component parts, centred on Weber’s Piano and Sanchez’s cello and in which the two instruments ebb and flow, bashing heads and flowing in sync. ‘Part’ one sees the keys in equal part thunderous, rippling and subtle while the cello is both creaking and furious. The second ‘part’ lowers the intensity altogether. This component is all about voice, the cello and piano playing understudy, something that continues into part three, where the sonic integrity of everyday objects takes centre stage. The finale is a summing up – as cello, piano and warbling voice crescendo and die away. This is an exceptional improvisational performance by two musicians who at the peak of their art. Wonderful.