Mike Nock: Hear & Know / Kindred

Mike Nock is always capable of surprising and this has long been his hallmark.  A restless innovator and improviser who never settles on his laurels, Nock is surpassing himself yet again.  ‘Hear and Know’ was recorded in 2011 following his aptly named and deeply satisfying ‘Accumulation of Subtleties’ album.

On ‘Hear & Know’ he is again accompanied by brothers Ben Waples (Bass) & James Waples (drums).  There is an unmistakable synergy between these three and so adding Karl Laskowski (tenor sax) and Ken Allars (trumpet) had its risks.  While there is a different dynamic and altered textural qualities, the magic of intimacy is maintained.   It carries over much of the subtle interplay of the earlier album but creates a different range of moods as well.

I was always impressed by the subtle and profound sub-divisions of mood in the ancient Japanese Haiku.  The almost untranslatable ‘wabi-sabi’ are the moods invoked when we can almost touch something profound, sense it and appreciate the mood, but know that it will be forever illusive.  A further subdivision is ‘yugen’, which is the sense of mystery which underpins profound moments.  To define them more accurately is to lose the moment.    Mike Nock has achieved this for me compositionally and through his recording.   The moods are profound invoking deep and somehow unnamable emotions.

I felt this most strongly on the beautifully named and wonderfully crafted ‘The Sibylline Fragrance’ and later while listening to ‘After Satie’.   In the former piece there was an obvious reference to memory and our sense of smell, which is closely aligned with that.  Beyond that was something else, a sense of the history of this music.  Touching briefly on the past but rooted firmly in the now.   When music achieves this it is especially satisfying.   I have seen the trio performing and I have seen Ken Allars with the wonderful Jazzgroove  Mothership Orchestra.  Karl Laskowski was not previously known to me.   All of these musicians must feel pleased with this album.

‘Kindred’ is the more recent album and one with a pared back line up.  Featuring just Mike Nock on piano and drummer Lorenz Pike, this album seems denser in texture and more introspective.  Lorenz Pike is an interesting drummer and well-chosen; he is obviously colourist in tendency and that is the only choice for this music.  Once again Mike Nock has made a virtue out of contrast.  First impressions are often deceptive though and there is a degree of space and subtlety if we listen.  The stories unfolding are at times free and open but there is always an underlying thread.  The titles also fascinate me as they refer (as with the previous album) to a mixture of things past (references to the classical world), nature untamed and various private worlds.  I am a strong believer that improvised music benefits from narratives, not to define, but to augment the journey.

Mike has created subtle narratives out of the whole, which sit in the consciousness like Haiku.  There is something special about these two albums and I am certain that only Mike Nock could tell these particular stories.

What: Mike Nock – ‘Hear & Know’ and ‘Kindred’ albums FWM Records or visit http://www.mikenock.com

Where: You be able to hear Mike Nock in Auckland on Tuesday 23rd July 2013 at the CJC (Creative Jazz Club).