First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

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Quincux

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“This is an ingenious and beguiling CD. It opens with the familiar strains of Roberta Flack singing Ewan McColl’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, soon joined by Kai Fagaschinski’s clarinet and Christof Kurzmann producing an appropriately churchy organ-like sound, improvising along with the track. After about two minutes, Roberta Flack fades away, leaving the duo to continue improvising, retaining the strong mood Flack created. Although they continue for more than ten minutes, the source material seems to linger in the air, its dominant atmosphere all pervasive; one hears the improvisation as a continuation of Flack. Oh, the power of pop music!

As a clarinettist, Fagaschinski strongly favours long, sustained notes with a hint of vibrato, which contribute to an air of melancholy. Kurzmann occasionally introduces high frequency sine wave whines as contrast, but mainly employs drones that complement the clarinet well. There is not much variation or development, but there doesn’t need to be; one could happily listen to these modulating drones for hours. For the closing track, a reprise of the opener, Flack gradually fades back in alongside the duo’s improvisations, giving the album a pleasing symmetry and bringing it to a satisfying conclusion.” -John Eyles, All About Jazz