Saccata Quartet - Septendecim (2024) [Hi-Res]

Comprised of Wilco's Glenn Kotche and Nels Cline, On Filmore's Darin Gray and master percussionist Chris Corsano, Saccata Quartet rethink the logic free jazz on their debut album, splitting frenetic rhythms with bleak ambience, unsettling noise and virtuosic, manic fretwork. It doesn't feel completely accurate to call 'Septendecim' a jazz album. The framework comes from free improv, sure, but Kotche, Cline, Gray and Corsano don't sound limited by labels, making a noise that seems to froth into various forms rather than follow a direct route. The fierce 17-minute opener 'Uh Oh' is a perfect example, slithering from bowed drones and gasping, fanged noise until Corsano's rapid-fire rhythms pull the sound into some kind of order. At first, it's almost dark ambient by way of Supersilent, helped out by Gray's ominous bass plucks, but the pace picks up, reaching a feverish crescendo of torched, lightning-fast riffs, fractured electronics and machine-strength drums. Thankfully, Saccata Quartet hang back a little on 'Hmm', using scraped strings and sparse percussion to create a terrifying early Kluster-style atmosphere, but they pick up the tempo again on 'Umm', screaming like a jungle full of frightened fauna while Corsano works his magic.

Tracklist:
1.01 - Saccata Quartet, Nels Cline, Glenn Kotche, Darin Gray, Chris Corsano - Uh Oh (17:05)
1.02 - Saccata Quartet, Nels Cline, Glenn Kotche, Darin Gray, Chris Corsano - Hmm (6:06)
1.03 - Saccata Quartet, Nels Cline, Glenn Kotche, Darin Gray, Chris Corsano - Umm (7:56)
1.04 - Saccata Quartet, Nels Cline, Glenn Kotche, Darin Gray, Chris Corsano - Oh OK (3:43)