From Paris Transatlantic:

From the very first moments of the opening "Xangu" you'll be tempted to delete the adjective "discreet" from this duo's intercommunicative dictionary. The vicious manner in which Evans and Blancarte hurl hooks at each other, reciprocally clinching in a timbral slugfest of epic proportions, is enough to leave you with bruised ears, if not knocked out cold. You can really appreciate what years of serious practice on an instrument bring in terms of strong tone, structural capriciousness and sheer paroxysm. No afterthoughts, no preambles, no reassuring familiarity with anything; this is like taking an ice-cold shower after lengthy exposure to hot sun. Excruciatingly revitalizing, one might say. The persistent tortuousness characterizing the flare-ups Evans elicits from his piccolo trumpet makes us forget altogether the silver-spoon inevitability that considers instrumental transgression as a symbol of original sin (burning hell and brain power are linked in some way, but not everybody's ready to admit it). Blancarte, whose stunning bass I'm discovering here for the first time, is completely involved with and excited by this tête-à-tête, and the blend of his magnificent snarl and his playing partner's squealing cries is a real treat, not to mention an authoritative assault the upper partials, which in certain sections of "Ukonvasara" and "Ishkur" is utterly amazing. Never was a record title more pertinent.

-Massimo Ricci



From Downtown Music Gallery:

Over the last decade, the trumpet has led the way for new developments and experimentation in avant/jazz and new music/improv. More recently, there has been a deluge of fine new trumpet players doing things unheardof before now. Instead of naming names, let's just say that Peter Evans is the young man of the moment for new trumpet heroes. Each of the half dozen discs that he has appeared on with Moppa Elliott, (Mostly Other PeopleÉ), Bruce Eisenbeil, a solo disc on PSI and a group disc on Firehouse 12, have shown Peter making great strides and often blowing minds along the way. So, with each release, there is much anticipation.
Peter's group CD was only released a few months back and it is pretty f**king amazing. Now here we have another fine effort, a duo with a local bassist named Tom Blancarte. I recognize Tom since he does shop in our store, but I didn't know he was a musician until now. Right from the first note of "Xangu," we're off and flying with intense bowed bass and super-quick bent-note fragments. What is amazing is that both players are able to match sounds so closely at such a furious rate. Peter is just too much! He whips a storm of shards and fractured notes while Tom also spins out an assortment of crazed bowed and bent string insanity. It is exhausting to listen to this as the sounds and ideas soar by so quickly. On "Summanus," it sounds as if Peter is blowing up or inflating a large god-like balloon. The air that escapes make a constant flow of breath-taking ideas and sounds that is fascinating to behold. Tom also does a wonderful job of keeping the flow of ideas and sounds swirling, with a stream of notes soaring in and around one another. Just incredible!

-Bruce Lee Gallanter



From the Squid's Ear:

Peter Evans is something of a trumpet wunderkind. His first solo CD was released on Evan Parker's PSI label. He has played with Peter Broetzman, Han Bennink and John Zorn, and is a member of the brilliant, deconstructivist hard-bop band Mostly Other People Do the Killing. He seems to have internalized the various languages of the trumpet's last half century - from extended and minimalist improvisation to purer jazz forms - and is able to recall them with an ease that saves him from sounding merely referential.

His duo with double bassist Tom Blancarte (who cites as influences Black Sabbath and Metallica, Albert Ayler and Anthony Braxton) falls in the tradition of European free improvisation, which is to say no sounds are forbidden and no genre rules applied. (That process being a genre in itself is another matter.) The seven tracks on [sparks] fly in fast circles, jumping registers as quickly as they abandon linearity. What makes this disc stand out - apart from the technique displayed - is how closely the two very different instruments (piccolo trumpet and upright bass) move together. Blancarte seems poised to fly up the neck at any moment to reinforce a clipped statement by Evans, then to drop back down to where he was. Evans is ready not to mimic but to complement as soon as Blancarte grabs his bow. Extended improvisation, at its best, involves elements of surprise and illusion. Evans and Blancarte use just the right sleight of hand.

- Kurt Gottschalk