Supersilent

Beyond the musical stature of the group in question, the Supersilent concert in Rome is an event not to be missed. Indeed, the capital is the only Italian city that has so far managed to lure the ensemble away from Nordic lands (their tour has Switzerland as its southernmost stop). La Casa del Jazz (in collaboration with Around Jazz) can boast no fewer than three concerts, spread over two days, by the Scandinavian outfit for its "Altre facce, altri suoni" festival, focused on groups on the fringes of jazz who enjoy little visibility in the mainstream market. The three performances are a curious choice, one that inevitably raises questions. One explanation could be "quantitative": the indoor hall at La Casa del Jazz isn't very large, and the organizers, aware of the Italian exclusive, may have decided to give the public several chances to catch this event. Unfortunately, Supersilent aren't famous enough to truly justify the choice of three dates: the performance this review is based on (the second one, i.e. the first of the second day) barely draws about fifty spectators, while only around twenty people are waiting to get into the second show. Still, the music is what matters, and the perfect acoustics of La Casa del Jazz do full justice to the ensemble's sounds, all distinctly audible, from the most telluric percussion to the faintest electronic "disturbances."

One thing can certainly be said of Supersilent: they are a band. It's rare to find such strong cohesion in a concert rooted in avant-garde improvisation. Supersilent never rehearse, they only meet on stage, yet (bolstered by six albums plus a live DVD) their style is well defined and the four of them seem to have been playing together forever. The distinctive feature of their musical approach is the complicity that binds them: they're all intensely attentive to what the others are doing, exchanging smiles and nods of agreement, instantly forming duets through glances alone, only stepping into a piece when they're convinced it's necessary, otherwise enjoying, eyes closed and nodding along, the sonic frescoes produced by the others. The members of Supersilent clearly have deep respect and attentiveness for each other's contributions, feeding their music with genuine enthusiasm and genuine curiosity.

The concert starts suddenly: they've barely walked in, greeting the audience, and before they can even sit down the drummer is already pounding away at everything in front of him. He's immediately joined by the keyboardist (stern and almost anachronistic, barricaded behind four keyboards, including a MiniMoog), the trumpeter/drummer and the guitarist/keyboardist. The audience's attention is total, and it couldn't be otherwise: although their style is consolidated and recognizable, their music is perpetually shifting. Within the same piece they manage to move naturally from ambient to furious tribal rhythms (the parts played by both drummers are outstanding), and on to passages that are totally unhinged, almost comic, before closing with epic instrumental crescendos in which the trumpeter, unable to hold back, launches into deeply inspired vocal parts too (with a voice that, incidentally, is surprising in its power and clarity). Once a piece has started to take shape, it becomes almost impossible to tell who's playing what: effected trumpet loops, bass parts played on the Moog, guitar used mainly as a synth, and countless other electronic tricks that allow the group (alongside their technical skill) to move from moments of absolute stillness to impressive, almost orchestral walls of sound. In short, there's no point trying to analyze their music — better to just let yourself be carried away by their sonic magma.

Supersilent's music isn't jazz, isn't rock, isn't electronic, isn't ethnic, and yet it's all of these things together and much more; above all, it's something created on the spot, something alive. In very few other concerts can you so strongly sense the creative process at work, magically shaping music out of nothing, and you almost get the impression that the audience itself becomes part of it, immersed in a limbo outside of time and space.

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