The Necks — Open
A longer piece than the previous effort, Open’s single track clocks in at just over 68 minutes which affords the group ample time to develop motifs and textures, peaks and troughs. The opening twenty minutes are dominated by percussion and piano. Ostensibly an improvisation between the drums and chimes the ivories are only revealed once one side concedes to the other, at one time the drums then the chimes which then continue to play along with the simple repeating piano melody. This a more relaxed Necks, driven less by the rhythm section and more by a desire to explore the potential within the space between melody and pure texture. There are several occasions when Abrahams serene piano playing is set against one other element, say cymbals or the least intrusive of electronics. It’s like the band are metaphorically taking their instruments outside in distinction to the claustrophobic atmosphere of Mindset where the band seemed to the piling in on each other, competing for every inch of auditory space. Think the first side of Miles’ In a Silent Way with Joe Zawinul’s pastoral organ evoking slow afternoons in central park. Think Harold Budd’s meditation on the Arizona desert on By the Dawn’s Early Light. At the midpoint the band allow something approaching a crescendo to impose itself. The drums roll while the chimes and bass build only to slide back into the sensitive groove from which it came. It’s not all sunshine though. There are passages during the second half where melody takes a back seat and the drone and atonal improvisation moves the foreground. But just as you fear the dark clouds at settling in for the long run the melody resolves itself, the space returns and the groove continues.
The last twenty minutes follow a very similar pattern to the first although there is now more use of reverb. The effect is something like a departure, as if the preceding moments of interplay had functioned to lead the group through some unknown quandary or existential aporia. The music thus completes its cycle more open than it began, with space all round and the interplay between the three players at its most natural and free. It’s a lovely record that cannot but serve to fill the space of wherever it is played in subtle hues of jazz, ambience and intelligence.