AMPLE FOOD

Like Robert Filliou’s 1965 massively small “epic” on something else press, AMPLE FOOD FOR STUPID THOUGHT from which it draws its inspiration, this cd is as short as it is long. Listening to it is like going back to school. The poems it contains are a witty, perverse primer on life. Not since the Lacy/Aebi combo has there been such a positive effort to bring poetry both humorous and profound into the improv/composed (97 % in this case by Christoph Gallio)/jazz/new music idiom all in one package and have it work so well from beginning to end. In 32 minutes & 39 seconds (a truly compact disc) we are fed some 92 short poems, one liners to be exact all in the form of questions, that more than fill our appetites. “what makes a party?” well this does. Tho what kind of party I cannot exactly describe. And what’s to be done with such ear candy? such tiny little “sound/bites” so delectably edible. such delicate voicings by soprano Sylvia Nopper. such sweet picking by guitarist Marino Pilakas. such sensitive breathings by clarinetist Thomas Eckert. And the well placed runs of Gallio on alto & soprano. Plus all the other toppings added by the 5 guest chefs: Peter Scharli on trumpet, Martin Lorenz on vibes, Bernard Barnet on trombone, Dominique Girod on double bass and Ernst Thoma mixing those crazy electronics. All adding such wonderful textures, flavors and colors to the music that supports these fanciful yet every day occurrences? What’s to be done indeed!!!!!

What we have he(a)re are true gourmet treats that even this gourmand can appreciate. My hunger on the one hand seems totally appeased yet I continually crave more of these little snacks to munch on. It is rare these days that one can feel so totally satisfied by such a specialized menu. (contradictions?)

I’m sitting here at a chess table in the newly renovated park across from my tiny uncomfortable overcrowded apartment, thinking 92 pieces to be eaten and I don’t feel the least bit stuffed, just comfortable as one taste runs into the other like a continuous smorgasbord. The wind is strong. It tries to blow my paper away as I struggle to hold it down while I write, headphones on, listening to this cd on an outdated portable player. I can also hear all the sounds around me as they bleed into my ears mingling with the music to form a new form. “isn’t art wonderful?” I muse. Then I think “who am I trying to put the blame on?” Well no one I answer to no one in particular. The strong smell of ammonia mingles with the smells from the pizza shop across the street. I feel like the strongest man on earth for an instance.

“What makes this the land of the free and the home of the brave?” I ask myself. Well places like Ben’s pizza and the fact that their awning says they specilize (their spelling not mine) in everything from calzone to home made italian ices. They even serve hot hero(e)s it says as I listen to this hot heroine feed me a feast of muse-oetry. And like Ben’s it delivers the food right to my door step filling my system with good eats.

All these little entrees (the French meaning not the American)

I’ve always felt that the appetizers at a grand affair were always better than the main course “Why did I get up this morning?” Well to eat. Drink (lots of coffee). See the wife. Friends. Make collages. Write postcards. And listen to this meal and write these notes. To capture these pages as they continually try to blow away in a mid-summer wind. To again sit amazed at this perfect bridge between music and poesie . This uncorrupted synthesis. Banners with blurred language are being blown about. The traffic is as silent as waves. Tennis balls bong off the walls behind me. Rackets crack. Doors slam. The sun is setting somewhere out there in the harbor. Accents and meanings rattle around inside my head, find their way to my mouth and circle the superstructure which is my tongue. A guy on a cell phone keeps talking about his grandmother and driving while he repeats the word NARCOLEPSY a lot. “How are you, and why?” I want to ask him or at least how’s your grandmother?

A beautiful angel in purple with silver hi-heels passes. “Why pretend?” or “what are you afraid of?” or “are smiles sexy?” or “why must everybody like you?” or “is your heart in the right place?” or…. Her shoes squeak and make a slight clapping sound.

The voice in my ears modulates slightly… marriage of inside world and outside. Did grandma have narcolepsy? the bird in my ear seems to ask. A child’s voice seeps in. I am swimming out here. “Yes or no dost thou love thy neighbor?” Well do you? Do I?

We’re all in the same boat anyway… or are we? I’m swimming here. Wobbly horns. Snappling strings. No thick clouds. Remnants of things to come. “Where do you put your ideals?” “Does easy do it?”

I’m on a one way street walking backward.

I have become a fan-at –I-cal fan of these miniatures.

These morsels of life’s investigations.

Released like smoke.

Quickly changing from image to image with little space between.

Many tastes to savor and swallow. GULP.

92 separate gems strung together like one seamless necklace.

Or a string of the best sausages.

“What does it take to lead the rich, full life.?”

This cd.

“What’s to be done?”

Well to consume it all I suppose and then go back for seconds.

steve dalachinsky nyc 7/20/07

In little more than 33 minutes, Swiss reedman and composer Gallio managed to musically transpose 92 questions, those published in Fluxus artist Robert Filliou's book "Ample food for stupid thought" (dating from 1965). This obviously means that the pieces are extremely short - one-liners, like in the written version - but their brevity is exactly what exalts the perfection of the concept. In fact, I don't hesitate in calling this one of the best albums of 2008 - a strong, concise record that must be carefully considered and savoured, and that will be admired by many different specimens of genre lover, including those who are well acquainted with RIO and posthumous derivations. The players sustain the work of a technically impeccable soprano, Sylvia Nopper, who performs a basic role - giving voice to those "stupid thoughts" and rendering them marvellous. The rest of the small (tiny?) chamber ensemble that's Mösiöblö is tightly rehearsed and absolutely surefooted: guitarist Marino Pliakas, clarinettist Thomas Eckert and the leader on saxophone manage to enshrine the pure lyricism of scores that are redemptive of all the hopeless noodling that often I'm forced to listen to, in the name of nondescript freedom. Here the audience can appreciate the fascination of the rule instead: every sound falls precisely where it should, without foppery or affectation - just sheer clarity of intent, setting the music at heights where artistry can't possibly be mystified. Other participants include Peter Schärli, Bernhard Bamert, Dominique Girod, Martin Lorenz, Ernst Thoma. High recommendations are reserved for this surprisingly great CD.

The new CD by Gallio is more close to modern classical music then to jazz. He composed a suite made up of 92 small pieces, not one longer then 60 seconds. Prominent are the vocals of Sylvia Nopper, who sings with classically trained voice. Gallio plays soprano and alto saxes, Marino Pilakas (from Steamboat Switzerland) guitar and Thomas Eckert plays clarinet and bassclarinet. All of them we hear throughout this album, assisted by a few other musicians in some of the pieces. The miniatures are played very sensitive and with taste. The arrangements are crystal clear. Beautiful simple music. Gallio took inspiration from the poetry of Robert Filliou for this work. Each composition is named after a question that Gallio took from the work of Filliou and Sylvia Nopper sings them. The voice of Nopper is okay, however I often had difficulties in understanding what she exactly is singing. But let that be the only minor point for this excellent CD.

CHRISTOPH GALLIO With SYLVIA NOPPER

This is a tribute to Fluxus artist, Robert Filliou, and it is drawn from his work "Ample Food for Stupid Thought". What we find here is 92 very short poems or pieces, most under 1 minute and many under 10 seconds. Ms. Nopper sounds like an opera singer, yet she uses her voice in a variety of ways. With the pieces being so short, she doesn't have time to let her voice overwhelm us. The music has an odd, quaint slightly twisted quality, usually just a few instruments in each piece. Many of these little pieces are short observations of life, just one or two lines to ponder. What this reminds me of at times is Steve Lacy with Irene Aebi singing, I had this on the other day, when an old friend of mine who is a big Art Bears fan came by and heard it and was charmed. You never know! Interesting liner notes from local poet Steve Dalachinsky are another plus. 

«Mösiöblö - Ample Food» ist zu einem ungemein originellen Album geworden: witzig, geistreich, pointiert. Gallio hat humorvolle Fragen des französischen Fluxus-Künstlers Robert Filliou aus dem Buch «Ample Food for Stupid Thought» in 92 musikalischen Miniaturen mit einer durchschnittlichen Länge von 15 Sekunden umgesetzt: Musik, so stark auf die Essenz reduziert, dass man sie von einem musikalischen Hungerkünstler erdacht wähnt, von einem Anton Webern des Jazz. Gemeinsam mit dem Gitarristen Marino Pliakas, dem Klarinettisten Thomas Eckert und der klassischen Sängerin Sylvia Nopper spielt Gallio luftige, zarte, ja charmante Musikgespinste mit einem öfter minimalistischen Zug.

Cibo per tutti. Nel lontano 1965 usciva un libro dell´artista francese, appartenente al movimento Fluxus, Robert Filliou, intitolato Ample Food for Stupid Thought. Dentro vi erano ben novantadue domande, che sono state tradotte in brani per questa incisione. Un lavoro veramente compatto, non nel senso di Compact Disc, ma di lunchezza: trentatrè minuti divisi in novantadue tracks, alcune che durano secondi, altre un paio di minuti, con tutte le possibili domande. Da "Aren´t You Too Old for That?" a "And What of the Girl?" passando per altre dalla sottile ironia, del tipo "When Is Sex Necessary" (Track 2) o "What Is Your Problem?" (track 40). La soprano Sylvia Nopper canta in queste miniature con una voce impostata in modo classico, dando una certa autorevolezza alle assurde domande, accompagnata dal leader Christoph Gallio al sax soprano ed al sax alto, Marino Pliakas alla chitarra elettrica e Thomas Eckert al clarinetto ed al clarinetto basso. Un paio d´ospiti appaiono qua e là, come il trombettista Peter Schärli su "How Big Should Your Harem Be?" o il trombonista Bernhard Bamert su "What Makes This the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave?" Un disco così si ascolta volentieri, sia per l´ironia neanche troppo nascosta, sia per la concisione con cui i musicisti si mettono all´opera, con una volta tanto assoli precisi intorno alla soprano, e per la musica, non dimentichiamola, che si muove tra accademismo e genere creativo, fra minimalismo e aggressività free. 

Dass 1963 der 1.000.000 Geburtstag der Kunst und seither am 17. Januar Art‘s Birthday gefeiert wird, geht auf den Fluxus-Künstler Robert Filliou (17.1.1926-1987) zurück. Von ihm stammt auch Ample Food for Stupid Thought (Something Else Press, 1965), ein Katalog von 92 Fragen, den nun CHRISTOPH GALLIO MöSIöBLö als Ample Food (percaso 27) vertont hat. Auf unter 33 Minuten drängen sich tatsächlich sämtliche 92 Einzeiler, gesungen von der Sopranistin Sylvia Nopper, als Miniaturen von Minutenbruchteilen, transparent und raffiniert intoniert von Marino Pliakas an akustischer Gitarre, Thomas Eckert an Klarinette & Bassklarinette und Gallio selbst an Soprano- & Altosaxophon. Das resultierende Brainfood für Wookiees (wenn ich die Coverart richtig verstehe) wird punktuell noch gewürzt durch Trompete, Posaune, Kontrabass, Vibes und Electronics. Da Nopper nicht in Shyriiwook singt, sondern in, leider extrem vibratoreichem, schröcklich kunstgesanglichem Plain English, wird man permanent ins Grübeln gebracht durch Fragen wie: Aren‘t You Too Old for That? Why Did You Get Up This Morning? What‘s The Big Idea? Why Not Walk Away? How Much Is Too Much?...?...? Warum MöSIöBLö ausgerechnet an How Big Should Your Harem Be? und an Why Is He Dying? minutenlang kleben bleibt, ist dabei nicht das kleinste Rätsel. Ich werde von Pierrot Lunaire- und Machines agricoles- zu Steve-Lacy-Assoziationen geflippert und versuche, mir Noppers Akademiekoloraturen in Irene-Aebi-Naturton vorzustellen. Bilde ich mir nur ein, dass Fillious Fragenkatalog stark nach 1965 klingt, nach What‘s New, Pussycat?, nach Psychiaterwitzen à la Hollywood und Sophistication à la Peter Sellers oder Richard Lester? Unberührt von meinen idiosynkratischen Bedenken ist Ample Food von der irrwitzigen Grundidee her und in Gallios stringenter Vertonung brillant genug, den Anklang zu finden, den es verdient.

Miniaturen hat der Musiker & Labeleigentümer Christoph Gallio als sein gegenwärtiges Lieblingsthema auserkoren. Nach den 80 „HITS / STILLS“, die er mit dem Fotokünstler Beat Streuli als CD / DVD herausbrachte (Platte des Tages in freiStil # 15), steigert der umtriebige Eidgenosse die Stückzahl in „Ample Food“ auf sage und schreibe 92(!) – bei gleichzeitiger Reduktion der Spieldauer auf 33 Minuten. Und das, ohne in der österreichischen Kuriosität des Minimundus „meine kleine Welt“ zu besingen. Ganz im Gegenteil: Das kleinformatige Werk nimmt quasi mosaikhaft die Welt unter die Lupe – unter Bezug auf den französischen Fluxuskünstler Robert Filliou, dessen 1965 publiziertes Buch „Ample Food for Stupid Thought“ und die darin enthaltenen 92 Fragen. Von „Bist Du nicht zu alt dafür?“ und „Wann ist Sex notwendig?“ über „Woher weißt du das“ und „Wie geht’s dir, und warum?“ bis zu „Wer ist hinter dem Vorhang?“ und „Was ist mit dem Mädchen?“ komponierte Gallio winzige Surroundings zu den Einzeiler Fillious, die von dem Betrieb gut angeschriebenen Sopranistin Sylvia Nopper gesungen werden. Originell, kurz, bündig, abwechslungsreich, passt. 

Der französische Künstler Robert Filliou (1926-1987) gilt als einer der Hauptvertreter des Fluxus, einer avantgardistischen Kunstrichtung der 60er- und 70er-Jahre des 20. Jahrhunderts. Seine künstlerische Entwicklung beruht wesentlich auf einer buddhistischen Weltanschauung. Im Zen-Buddhismus wiederum ist ein Koan eine kurze Anekdote oder eine Sentenz bekannt auch als eine Art Frage- und Antwortspiel zwischen Meister und Schüler, das für den Laien oft paradox oder sinnlos erscheint. Robert Filliou publizierte 1965 in seinem Buch Ample Food for Stupid Thought 92 Fragen in dieser Manier. Zwischen Juli 2003 und April 2004 vertonte der Saxophonist Christoph Gallio mit bekannten Schweizer Musikern, darunter Sylvia Nopper, Marino Pliakas, Thomas Eckert und vielen weiteren Gästen, diese humorvollen, existenziellen, absurden, aber auch sehr nachdenklich stimmenden Fragen Fillious. Fragen, die keine Antwort bedürfen. Denn diese ausnotierten Miniaturen von rund 20 Sekunden Läge bezaubern durch ihre auf den Punkt gebrachte Konzentration.