The Thunks is the Austrian free improvising supergroup featuring pianist-composer Elisabeth Harnik, known for her collaborations with sax heroes Ken Vandermark (DEK Trio) and Dave Rempis (Earsctratcher), as well as her work with double master Joëlle Léandre and drummer Zlatko Kaučič; drummer-composer Martin Brandlmayr (who is also a sound artist and electronics musician, of Radian and Polwechsel), and drummer Didi Kern (who also plays in the DEK Trio and the noise-rock Bulbul). The debut album of the trio was recorded live by the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) at the 2024 edition of the Konfrontationen Festival in Nickelsdorf, Austria.

These highly experienced and resourceful improvisers have established their idiosyncratic voices, and this unique trio allows them to offer their unique approaches. Harnik alternates between playing the piano keys and playing inside the piano, often with objects, to explore other resonant timbres. Brandlmayr and Kern are by no means a rhythm section; they focus more on exploring unpredictable, fragmented pulse and expanding their sonic palettes with extended percussive techniques and objects.

The 43-minute set offers a captivating demonstration of the art of the moment. Harnik, Brandlmayr, and Kern wisely construct, shape, and deconstruct loose textures, finding fleeting resonant, percussive sounds, and unpredictable pulses without losing the stimulating tension, the playful joy of making music together, or the sensibility of form. Often, this trio sounds like a small, well-coordinated yet anti-authoritarian swarm of imaginative improvisers choreographing complex and intense dances that refuse to settle into familiar patterns.

Eyal Hareuveni

Elisabeth Harnik (piano), Martin Brandlmayr (drums), Didi Kern (drums)