Tuesday, April 15, 2025

Tim Berne's Snakeoil: You've Been Watching Me

With Tim Berne, there's pretty much a constant that there is no constancy in his prolific catalog of work dating back now close to a half-century.  The alto saxophonist and composer is so fascinating because he continually pushes his music in new directions through varied ensembles, instrumentation, and sonic approaches to his pieces.  While he often has groups gathered under a banner, such as Snakeoil, even these can be very different from recording to recording.

With this project, Berne was signed to ECM, the German label that made its name largely because of its long-running association with Keith Jarrett and for whom Berne's wife worked as its American label chief, and this meant more opportunity for a broader audience, especially as he had not released a studio album in eight years when the self-titled Snakeoil album was released in 2012.  This was then followed the next year by Shadow Man, and then, in 2015, with You've Been Watching Me.


Recorded at the end of 2014, the album features Berne's usual pastiche of pieces offering complex themes, remarkable dynamics, often abrupt time-shifting and incredible playing requiring musicians who can listen to and work off each other.  Piano is not an instrument heard on that many of the composer's records, though the incredible Craig Taborn memorably made a huge impact on Science Friction and the astounding The Sublime And in the early 2000s.

Here, Matt Mitchell plays the instrument and introduces electronics to great effect, adding significant color and shading.  For the rhythm section, Ches Smith uses all the resources of his drum kit, as well as vibraphone, tympani and other percussive elements and works very well with Mitchell.  There is no bass guitar, by Oscar Noriega, bass clarinet and the impressive guitar work of Ryan Ferreira, often function to develop that section of the ensemble.  Moreover, Noriega provides a remarkable counterpoint in sound to Berne's alto when they play in unison and offers impressive solos.  Berne is always a fascinating player projecting innovation and intensity buttressed by awesome ensemble support and You've Been Watching Me is another compelling and deeply immersive listening experience by a great composer and musician who should garner more attention and support for his diverse and significant body of work over the decades.

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