"There are only a few musicians who still
play, let alone concentrate on analogue synthesizer. Although it was
much more popular in the mid-seventies when it first became
commercially available, so few have continued to specialize in its
playing. Thomas Lehn continues to explore sounds with this synth and
works in several bands like Konk Pack and a trio with John Butcher &
Matt Shipp. For as long as I’ve known of & heard British vocalist,
Phil Minton, I have been a fan of his extreme vocal antics and
directing of his Feral Choir. The other vocalist here, Ute
Wassermann, is someone that I don’t know very well, although she has
also worked with Furt and fORCH, who have releases on Evan Parker’s
PSI label, as well as singing for the composer Chaya Czernowin.
Percussionist, Martin Blume, has also gotten around and worked with
Philipp Wachsmann, Jim Denley and Luc Houtkamp.
This seems to the second disc from Speakeasy, the first one came out
in 2009. This disc was recorded at Festival Konfrontation in
Nickelsdorf, Austria in July of 2016. As someone who truly
appreciates those wacky, occasionally extreme vocals, this CD makes
me smile. I recognize Mr. Minton’s often hilarious cartoon
character-like voice, yet this is just a part of his extended
palette. Both vocalists, the synth and percussion sound marvelous
together, carefully weaving their sounds tightly around one another.
I like that much of this is on the quieter side, giving the quartet
time to slowly unfold and improvise carefully together, the
interaction is often subtle yet varied so we to listen closely to
hear everything that is going on. It is often fascinating and rarely
too dense or over-the-top. This is one the better improv discs I’ve
heard recently although it does take some patience and close
listening to hear all that is going on here above and below the
surface." -
Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG
"Speak
Easy - @ Konfrontationen (Confront Records, 2019) ****
Speak Easy
is the quartet of British vocal artist Phil Minton with German vocal
artist-sound poet Ute Wassermann, who adds bird whistles to her
vocals, percussionist Martin Blume, and Vienna-based Thomas Lehn on
analogue EMS synthesizer. This free-improvising quartet has been
active since 2008 and released its debut album, Backchats (Creative
Sources, 2009), a live recording from Bochum, Germany from March
2008, followed by a DVD, The Loft Concert (PanRec, 2009),
documenting a performance from a day later. The sophomore album is
another live recording, captured at the Austrian Konfrontationen
festival in Nickelsdorf on July 2016.
The audience of the
Konfrontationen festival is the perfect one for this kind of
eccentric quartet, familiar with all its musicians and eager to be
startled and amazed by more and more eccentricities. And Speak Easy
(a nickname for secret, intimate bars who sold drinks during the
prohibition ban on alcohol in the United States, 1920-1933) provides
exactly this recipe - 52 minutes of “Speechless”, a wild, funny,
intense piece, one that never ceases to offer weird sonic inventions
and strange yet emphatic dynamics. No doubt, Minton, Wassermann,
Blume and Lehn found their very own way of speaking - urgent, easy,
touching, intoxicating, sometimes with subtle, explosive noises, but
always ready to share their most intimate secrets and teach their
new languages to the curious, adventurous listeners."
Eyal Hareuveni, Free Jazz blog
Allabout jazz 4 1/2 stars:
"Recorded in July 2016, at Festival Konfrontationen in Nickelsdorf,
Austria, this album consists of a single track lasting fifty-two
minutes, which probably represented the entire Speak Easy set at the
festival. Speak Easy comprises vocalists Ute Wassermann and Phil Minton, with Thomas Lehn on analogue synthesizer and Martin Blume on drums and percussion. The quartet previously released Backchats (Creative Sources, 2009), the same year its DVD The Loft Concert was issued (see YouTube below.)
As Wasserman and Minton both collaborate with other voice performers—she with Jaap Blonk on Wasserman, Blonk & Vorfeld (Kontrans, 2019) and with Duncan Harrison and Dylan Nyoukis on Dissecting an Utterance
(Spricht Editions, 2019); he with his Feral Concord and the larger
Feral Choir, and also with Nyoukis as a duo and in the trio Skatgobs—it
is a pleasure to hear the two together in what is tantamount to a summit
meeting of improvising voice performers. In particular, it is good to
hear them together in front of an audience, as they both blossom when
performing live in concert. Typically, both Wasserman and Minton live up
to the description "voice performers" rather than "singers"; they both
sing rather well at times, but they do far more than that with their
vocal chords, feeding off one another and creating what sounds like a
large cast of characters—human and otherwise—throughout the performance.
Although the two vocalists could probably have given a duo
performance, great credit is due to Lehn and Blume for supplying a
sympathetic, supportive soundscape in which the vocalists can relax and
be creative without being unduly mindful of fitting in with that
background. In the event, all four elements fit together beautifully,
sounding as if they were designed for each other. The group performance
flows easily without any awkward stop-start moments or clashes between
the intentions of one member and the others. Altogether, this is an
object lesson in how four people ought to improvise together, whatever
their means of making music."
John Eyles, allaboutjazz