Vox 3 is Tim Daisy’s trio with Fred Lonberg–Holm on cello and James Falzone
on clarinet. They’ve been playing together since 2008, when their eponymous
debut
was released, and I believe this is now their ninth recording together –
most of which have been under the name Vox Arcana. I reached out to Tim to
ask what prompted the name change, and he told me that he changed the name
when he started adding other musicians to the group: Macie Stewart on
Roman Poems (2019) and Gabby Fluke-Mogul on
A New Hotel (2023). He also hinted that the future might see even larger
configurations. But the trio remains the core.
Tim Daisy describes Vox 3 as his ‘experimental music trio’. I think
‘experimental’ might be overstating it a little: compared to most things on
this blog, I would say Vox 3 falls on the more accessible side of
avant-garde jazz. This isn’t a criticism, just an honest acknowledgement
that what you get here is not massively ‘out there’. I would instead
describe Vox 3 as a storytelling trio. They have a unique language that
wouldn’t feel out of place if you were sitting around a fire, listening to
folk tales of danger and sorrow. It makes the music quite accessible, in
spite of the freely improvised elements, and reminds me a little of the
early Ornette Coleman, whose free jazz was so deeply rooted in the blues.
Similarly here, the melodies are simple, but it is the highly textural use
of percussion that turns these folk tunes into miniature stories.
The record starts with Escriptura, a free jazz romp, with Fred Lonberg-Holm
walking the cello(!) whilst James Falzone growls away over the top. James is
an extraordinary clarinettist who really shows off what the clarinet is
capable of: his abstract lines and vibrant array of timbres make him a
formidable presence. After a drum break, James and Fred swap over, James now
accompanying Fred’s fierce improvisation. I wish we could have heard a bit
more of this powerful, passionate playing on the record – you only need to
listen to Fred’s recordings with Peter Brötzmann to hear what he can do –
but there are only occasional hints of this throughout.
Most of the album is much more mellow in tone, especially tunes like A
Simple Theme, where the cello is played arco and the clarinet much more
melodic. In fact, the rest of the album is generally more like this. I think
sometimes the narrative-driven compositions mean the individual tracks end
up with too much variety, whereas I think the record could be more
interesting if each track had a stronger individual identity. Nonetheless, I
did enjoy the way the improvised elements were integrated in almost as if
they were scenes in a drama, especially on The Real Sky, which I think shows
all three musicians at their best and manages to hold together melody and
experimentation in an interesting way.
There are enjoyable moments throughout, and you will certainly find yourself
drawn into the stories they are weaving. But I think this album only hints
at the potential of Vox 3, and the stories they have left to tell.
October Bells is available from Sonic Action Records on
Bandcamp.