Eve Risser and Jelena Kuljic light up magical Moers Festival, Germany

Already, it had justified this plaudit with several astounding sets in its new, specially converted concert hall, maintaining a 44-year reputation at the vanguard of improvised music, whether this be jazz, rock, electronic or folk-rooted. Following a few teething problems at last year’s opening of the new venue, practical matters were further refined in 2015, including an expansion of the sprawling festival encampment, long an important element of this alternative scene, since 1971.

Saturday’s pinnacle arrived right at the start, as the French pianist Eve Risser led her White Desert Orchestra (above) for only the second time, evoking the Grand Canyon in a suite-like sequence that ranged from introverted tonal-colouring to violent ensemble attacks. The set was already intense, but then the Swedish singer Sofia Jernberg came on to guest, displaying her radical range of inhuman sounds (or perhaps hyper-human), and suddenly a handful of audience members stood up, echoing her voice, growing in number, at first looking like rogue lunatics, then revealing themselves as a community improv choir, roaming around and eventually coalescing around the stage. It was a mystical surprise, but perfectly aligned with the organic growth of the composition.

NYC’s Pulverize The Sound were dominant in another way, welding intricate riff constructions with an ice-pick stutter from trumpeter Peter Evans (above), as he darted over the top of rumbling electric bass and machine gun drums. When Evans abruptly placed his horn in its case and vacated the stage, it looked like he was heading off for a medical emergency, but this turned out to be their rock’n’roll set-end, leaving a compulsive loop in place as they departed. It took two stagehands to discover how to turn off the amplifier, time enough for the crowd to start singing along to the feedback repetition. An unholy development to top off a monstrous set.

Another of the many peaks was provided on the last day by reedsman Frank Gratkowski’s Z-Country Paradise (below), this German’s foray into avant rock-funk, fronted by the Serbian vocalist Jelena Kuljic, who loaded the set with a charismatic punk-Brecht sung-spoken spouting of diseased poetry settings. Meanwhile, Kalle Kalima and Oliver Potraz were headbanging as their entangled riffs locked into a skewed release, Gratkowski applying free-pealing emissions to the groove.

Let’s not forget the morning sessions, where a variety of improvising permutations led to some of the weekend’s most striking discoveries, not least a set that included Risser’s flute and bassoon players in a chamber-toned evocation. In another combination, Jernberg returned to add her unsettling low and high extremes in a grouping that made it hard to decipher whether sounds were being emitted by trumpet, alto saxophone, vocal or electronic means. Risser herself played again, in a combo that partnered her with oud player Ziad Rajab, who had already impressed during his own commanding set on the main stage. Their 30-minute improvisation travelled through many lands, from Risser’s eerily prepared piano judders to Rajab’s eventual serene vocal entrance, Gratkowski even managing to insert a raw free jazz solo into the largely meditative journey.

– Martin Longley

– Photos courtesy Moers Festival