The ad-hoc free improvising trio of Berlin-based German trombonist Matthias Müller and Mexican electroacoustic multi-instrumentalist Emilio Gordoa with young Polish, Poznań-based guitarist Paweł Doskocz, performed at the 5th edition of the Spontaneous Music Festival in the Dragon Club in Poznań in October 2021, where most of Festival’s lineup was ad-hoc groups of free improvising musicians. Müller, Doskocz and Gordoa met each other on stage for the first time, on the last day of the festival, but accompanied the release of Aural Accidentals with a short European tour.

The title of this album – Aural Accidentals – captures faithfully its adventurous, experimental spirit. Gordoa’s enigmatic, electronic percussive sounds and Doskocz’s stubborn, repetitive patterns on the electric guitar set the basis for Müller’s brassy massiveness, and Müller always had a gigantic ability to build long, brass phrases that seem to have no typical beginning or a definite end. But within these dense and mysterious ambient dynamics, there was enough room for unpredictable sonic inventions and collisions as well as methodical exploration of an array of extended techniques which kept a fruitful tension and encouraged risk-taking.

This performance lasted less than thirty minutes but suggested a stream of suggestive and elusive sounds. It ended with the surprisingly gentle sounds of birds singing and a few seconds of silence, leaving the audience contemplating what was this strange yet inspired sonic experiment about.

Eyal Hareuveni

Matthias Müller (trombone), Paweł Doskocz (electric guitar), Emilio Gordoa (snare drum, electronics)