FRACTAL SEXTET

SKY FULL OF HOPE

FRACTAL SEXTET SKY FULL OF HOPE

Personal notes about the tracks written by Jon Durant:

1. Uneven: Stephan starts out with Fripp-ish e-bow lines, over which my whammy bar inflected guitar spells out chords and slippery notes. After the break, Fabio’s piano spells out a melodic theme. At 2:30 my leads re-enter, this time with a little more drive. The title gave me the impetus to play rather unevenly, like a bit of a staggering drunk… the melodic line beginning at 2:47 was my improvised line with Fabio and Stephan doubled afterwards. On the outro, following Yogev’s fabulous drum solo, the descending guitar line is Stephan, and the weird noises are me.

2. Sky Full of Hope: The dark tremolo guitar is Stephan, and the arpeggiated chords are me. First solo is Stephan, and mine is the third (after Fabio’s MiniMoog solo). The melody at the end was part of my improvised solo which Stephan orchestrated.

3. Flight of the Phoenix: Stephan’s fractal guitar is the center of the structure, doubled with piano. The first solo is again Stephan with his e-bow. My fretless solo starts at 3:05. At 6:00 there’s another use of my sliced clouds to create the synth-like rhythmic pulsing under the Fractal guitar and piano section, and then through the mini moog solo.

4. Ladder to the Stars: First sound you hear is my guitar clouds drifting around before the bass line begins and they continue creating atmosphere for the first several minutes. They’re done on fretless guitar. At 2:28 a pulsating synth like sound comes in, that’s actually my clouds sliced up into rhythmic segments in tempo with the track treated with some filtering to make it sound kinda like an old VCS3 synth. The chordal guitar that enters at 3:40 is me as well. The rhythmic guitar pattern is Stephan, doubled by Fabio on Minimoog. At 6:47 my fretless solo begins, Stephan is playing the chords underneath. I love Colin’s melody alongside Stephan’s harmonics at 9:10. At 10:40 I come in with fretted guitar with lots of whammy bar manipulation.

5. My Secret Place: This is where the album began for me. Stephan had this track and asked me to try to do something Robin Trower-ish… so I did, and that’s what all the lead guitar is on this one. I even tried to get that univibe sound as best as I could with modern technology. You’ll also hear some clouds drifting along. Stephan is playing all the rhythmic guitar patterns. Andi’s extraordinary percussion is a sonic highlight for me, as he has lots of metallic instruments he’s created that make so many of the unusual sounds throughout this piece (and the whole album). He also created the end sound design with sounds from outside his window in Zurich. The rhythmic solo at the end is Fabio playing the inside of the piano.

6. Four Hands: Written by Stephan and Fabio together with their four hands on the piano. Stephan plays the rhythmic guitar patterns. On the opening sections, some of my guitar clouds are swirling darkly in the background. Colin switches to Upright bass at 3:10 for Stephan’s e-bow guitar solo, then back to electric for the heavy section. My solo begins at 5:40, fretted with lots of whammy bar and glitchy effects. Lots of dynamics involved as the solo evolves. Then a little leslie effect to finish the solo.

Calling Stephan Thelen’s music an extension of the Swiss Minimalist movement may have once seemed appropriate. However, in the years since his band Sonar and Fractal Guitar projects have come to the fore, that characterization has increasingly become inadequate. Proximity, influence, and linkages exist but Thelen’s copious activities in the last decade show such a deepening of his root concepts coupled with an embrace of the new, the notion is virtually moot.

One of the projects that most validates this point is Fractal Sextet, which began after a suggestion was made (to Thelen and frequent collaborator/ guitarist Jon Durant) that an actual band tackle Thelen’s Fractal Guitar vehicles. For the Sextet, Thelen and Durant chose former Porcupine Tree bassist (and Durant collaborator) Colin Edwin, classical pianist and keyboardist Fabio Anile, former Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin percussionist Andi Pupato, and Israeli-born drum phenom Yogev Gabay. Their resulting eponymous debut proved an exciting leap forward for Thelen’s Fractal concept and elicited high hopes for more from this group.

Now with their second album, Sky Full of Hope, the Fractal Sextet makes good on the promise of that debut, further solidifying their collective identity. No sophomore curse here. This album is enhanced by a comfort level and group assuredness that heightens the chemistry so previously palpable, allowing the players to stretch out even more.

“a beautiful display of musical meditations embedded in a controlled variety of grooves and atmospheres. The subtle variations of creativity distilled and compositional finesse secure this as one of the great albums for the jazz and progressive avant-garde for the year 2024.”

Autopoietican, on the release of Momentarily, 2024

Bandcamp

“Momentarily” dropped April 16th…

Percussionist Andi Pupato (Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin, Andreas Vollenwider, Fractal Sextet) shines throughout with his totally unique hybrid kit comprising both hand drums and conventional drum set. This distinctive collection of timbres emotes the open space of European jazz with considerable Middle Eastern elements that the hand drums reveal alongside Durant’s Fretless guitar. Anchoring the whole process is bassist Colin Edwin (O.R.k., Gaudi, Burnt Belief), with whom Durant has worked extensively over the past 12 years. On “Momentarily” he is playing acoustic basses (upright and fretless acoustic) providing a sonorous low end balancing out the whole picture. His beautifully melodic playing on the opening track “In A Moment” provides especially delightful interaction with Durant and Pupato.
Among the standout tracks on the album is the epic “Rockets on Kyiv.” Originally conceived and recorded on the morning Russia bombed the glass bridge in Kyiv (where Durant, Edwin and Ukrainian singer Inna Kovtun had filmed many scenes in the video for their song “Gannochka”). When Durant steps on the distortion on this one, you can instantly feel the deep emotions he was experiencing that morning. In addition, the one track with fretted guitar (“Bitter Wind”) shows a depth of gratitude towards his Scandanavian musical influences.

The album showcases the best of Durant’s unique skillset, an amalgamation of transcultural, jazz-related styles, that gives way to euphoric, universally relatable grooves and soundscapes. This musical jewel showcases rare mastery through individually compelling tracks and comprehensive arc.

The responsive and fluid interaction of these three collaborators immediately draws listeners in. Created initially as a series of guitar improvisations by Durant, the composer then developed and rearranged the pieces for trio. Grounded musical elements beautifully balance freely improvised aspects, hinting at one of the key ingredients of Durant’s signature, sublime sound. The seamless flow between composition and improvisation leaves the listener in an effortless state of engagement.

Throughout “Momentarily” Durant’s explorative guitar leads the way. His expressive use of fretless guitar on all but one of the tracks “shows he is one of the precious few practitioners on the instrument that elevate it beyond its usual presence as a mere novelty.” (All About Jazz) In addition, his use of guitar synth – in this case playing a modified sample of an Armenian Duduk – adds a breathy counterpoint to his emotionally tinged guitar parts.