BEING & BECOMING - Ars Ludicra

Being & Becoming is one of Peter Evans's creative outlets, the trumpeter who navigates the abstract territories of avant-garde jazz with the ease of someone who has crossed through the most radical free jazz alongside Peter Brotzmann, Okkyung Lee and John Zorn. "Ars Ludicra" is the third studio album, following the excellent "Ars Memoria" from 2023, and was recorded during a long stretch of touring. The quartet is made up of the blazing drums of Michael Shekwoaga Ode, a true war machine of odd time signatures, the tireless double bass of Nick Jozwiak and the eclectic vibraphone of Joel Ross.

Alongside this acoustic setup runs a discreet yet incisive electronic thread, with Evans, Ross and Jozwiak weaving in synths, drones and textures that always surface at the points of greatest tension. What strikes you is the record's oblique power: a measured ferocity, never out of control, built on an extraordinarily complex rhythmic architecture. Iconoclastic rhythm is a genuine obsession for the quartet, who, thanks also to meticulous post-production work, manage to achieve a sonic richness at times comparable to certain rock-in-opposition records.

After the blazing opener "Malibu", the album becomes a jolt of rhythmic sequences riding over frenzied trumpet lines ("Hank's") and structures that build slowly and inexorably toward mental derangement ("Pulsar"), set against the cover of "My Sorrow Is Luminous" by Russian folk-punk singer Yanka Dyagileva, arranged as eerie, almost lyrical avant-jazz. Closing out the short but intense album is "Images", whose flute arrangements by Alice Teyssier offer one last moment of contemplation. The result is a work that is both complex and cerebral, yet also lucid: the kind of record that leaves your ears wanting more.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google

17/12/2025