bBb - Animal Quotes (2023)

Swedish saxophonist Martin Kuchen practices at least two distinct modes of expression. One is the variously sized Angles ensembles he fronts, which present sometimes exuberant, sometimes heart-rending riff-fuelled anthems to the acclaim of festival crowds across Europe. He also partakes of more arcane pursuits, using his saxophones as tools to examine the very question of what music is. He indulges this latter endeavor in the collective bBb in the company of his compatriot, trombonist Ola Rubin. To say they lean left field does their conception an injustice. It is off the field, through the thickets and deep into the weeds. In this inhospitable habitat saxophone and trombone cavort and converse in a lexicon of squeaks, chirrups, grumbles, whispers, chunters and rustles.
Perhaps the title Animal Quotes is a knowing attempt to pre-empt reviewers' typical gambit of resorting to similes from the natural world for such unconventional sounds. If so, it is doomed to disappointment as the dictionary fails to afford many other appropriate descriptors. Küchen achieves a particularly vocalized saxophone cry which conjures all manner of living creatures. His dialogue with Rubin is one in which the placement and weight of any call and response is key. Does it create tension? Does it surprise? Whether humorously intended or not, it certainly puts a smile on the face, at times through the sheer unlikeliness of the reedy sopranino abutted against the trombone's brassy gasps.
Both men exhibit a determination to extract unorthodox timbres from their instruments. Küchen trades in constricted cries so tactile one can almost feel them being squeezed out of the horn against their will. While Rubin typically matches him blow for blow, he also proposes more conventional pitch and phrasing on occasion, notably on "Insatiable Flight," although Küchen elects to maintain his contrasting position. However the reedman takes a more conciliatory stance on the final "?," where he even suggests a glimmer of a breathy lament. There is a delicacy of exchange here which offers something akin to resolution at the close of a stimulating listen.
Do they succeed on their own terms? For those with an open mind and ears, the answer will be a resounding yes. Fans of Angles though may be wise to focus elsewhere.