Todd Clouser - Live, Loft, Köln (2021)

On September 24th, 2019, Minneapolis to Mexico City transplant Todd Clouser, Belgian pianist Bram Weijters, French bassist Sebastien Boisseau, and Brussels based drummer Teun Verbruggen met in Köln, Germany. With a short conversation and a shorter soundcheck rehearsal, the four musicians took on compositions from Clouser at the iconic LOFT venue in Cologne.

In jazz’s great spirit, whether the music qualifies as jazz or not, the risk turned reward as the four musicians re-imagined tunes from Clouser’s A Love Electric to Cinema and Magnet Animals projects. Boisseau’s animated creativity throughout the set and Verbruggen’s Pollock-style drumming give an energy and inquisitive spirit to the performance. Weijters’ piano playing stands out particularly on an epic, somber and gorgeous “Wake The Boy” intro, the set’s final number.

Clouser’s music runs across so many genres and approaches it is often difficult to process, though this live set perhaps offers a chance to understand where it all comes from. Stripped to it’s compositional skeleton, and being interpreted in real-time void of plan or production, the urgency and emotion of Clouser’s work surfaces. Odd time groove and spoken word, flourishes of experimentation, somber melody with an Americana slant all work here as the four musicians play with an eye towards possibility and promise.