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Meicht and Dougherty return as a duo for Everyone is Happy. Here they play tiny micro-managed improvisations (Axum-Moxos/ Wiesbaden/ Cleopatra/ Daru-Onjo/Almagest-Hyginus/ Rabbah/ Vandals & Sarmatiar/Thrasamund-Euphemius / View [s**'d (lightly)]). 60:43. December 17 & 18, 2005, NYC, NY) that are clearly quite disciplined but at the same time curiously ephemeral. Meicht's small vocal musings recall Herb Robertson, and he elsewhere seems to be exploring some kind of post-Bill Dixon trumpet language. And the hushed, almost inaudible strokes and coos (on "Daru/Onjo," for example) bespeak the influence of electroacoustic music. It certainly might be part of this duo's point--to leave no trace, no footprint. You can hear this in the delicate woodblock or rim clacking on "Rabbah/Vandals & Sarmatiar." Throughout, their patience and long silences make the notes count (though the 33-minute closer is a bit too diffuse). I appreciate the solemn, sober qualities of this music but its self-abnegation is a bit too complete.

Feigner is an extremely interesting recording of a talented trio Brendan Dougherty, Aaron Meicht, Matt Mitchell whose improvisations (Laughter Only Feigned Reproach. 47:50. June 2004, Philadelphia. PA) are filled with focus and good communication, with a wide range of techniques and an impressive group ethos. What's more fascinating about it is that the original recording was radically remixed by the trio 13 months afterwards, and the resulting (reassembled, electronicized, post-produced) music is fascinating. Horns are morphed into pulsing static or high-pitched keening cries, drums into roughly slammed car doors or weighty metal objects dragged across the floor. Insistent close-miked clacking contrasts with vast reverberant tectonic plates of sound, shifting slowly underneath it all. This kind of thing might not phase inveterate fans of electroacoustic improvisation, but it's sure to surprise those who know the players from different contexts. Good stuff.

Embedded in the shared experimental free improvisation Šthe shores of attentive listening bathed by intimate interplay- this trio proposes a series of horizontal encounters between the colourist timbres of found sound objects and conventional instruments in their prepared or conventional appearance. [Sharing the Dry]

Percussion/trumpet duo negotiates real time acoustic free improvisation. Although the influences point to linguistic traditions, the sonic plane occupied by the instruments suggests electronic adventures. A pervading calm envelops all the tracks maybe due to the overall lukewarm impression in terms of dynamics. [Everyone is Happy]

Subtle like a poem, there is more meaning in what is not said than in the uttered, the almost impossible sparseness of the interaction and emptiness of the canvas screaming at us in whispers. Belonging to a previous moment in time, the aesthetics refer to the nude simplicity, its sophistry framed by a hard to find coherence. [Loud Like Hemlocks]

A trio work featuring a double acoustic/electronic linguistic approach inside a careful interactive frame that stems from a balance between shared forays into the realm of noise, acoustic free improvisation and a strong influence of concrete aesthetics, prone to the creation of various sound planes. [Feigner]

Featuring an outlook closer to electronics, this CD presents a more textural approach to sound, with horizontal, slowly unfolding long structures and materials from the realm of electronic glitch, oscillator cycles and concrete found objects in complex, shifting envelops. [Laughter only feigned reproach.]

AB Duo comprises drummer Brendan Dougherty and trumpeter Aaron Meicht, who are also part of the electronic trio Feigner reviewed elsewhere in this issue. The motivity of Everyone is Happy is proportional to its reclusive appearance, the music offering nocturnal qualities that never transcend the limit of licentiousness. Meicht tends to break silence with gentle intracutaneous fragments and introverted spirals whose range is usually limited to predetermined melodic areas, "melody" in this case not to be intended as a lyrical expression, rather as a sheer succession of notes. On his side, Dougherty is even more restrained, moving small gestural bursts and succinct hints around ample spaces and intense taciturnities, often leaving us completely alone and naked in front of unexpected whiffles of nothingness. The final - and longest - track is a 32-minute live improvisation showing AB's total dynamic control: gleams of instrumental prowess define a discoloured poetic that whispers at our untold desires with the same conviction of a silent persuader. Difficult yet substantial matter, certainly worthy of repeated visits with concentration working at full steam.

Feigner is the trio of Brendan Dougherty, Aaron Meicht and Matt Mitchell, who all play electronics. The anatomy of this album is quite complex, yet the overall sense is basically one of straightforwardness, although after a couple of listening sessions I still had to figure out what attracted me the most in its sonic genetics. We hear anarchic alternances, dichotomies and strict correlations, starting with noisy outbursts nourishing a growing sense of displacement to evolve into sections that may be calmer but still show an extraordinary variety of facets. Undistinguishable sonic snippets, at times similar to munchkin vocal emissions but more often travelling the lands of distorted spatiality, constitute a fruitful environment for a rational technology of buzzes, harsh caresses and - in general - unconventional electronica. The evolutionary network developed by this trio is unpredictable in its multidimensional nature, as patterns and schemes are completely thrashed in favour of a lumpy molecular structure which seems to represent the metaphor of a deficient organization. Of course that's not the case; the logical destination of this long trip is a state of semi-relaxation, the most tranquil part of this suite being its conclusion, a quasi-static conformation of slowly unfolding, ghoulish composite waves. And it's not over yet, I'll be listening again and again, probably still without a clue about any material and/or verbal definition. [Laughter only feigned reproach.]

Kaktus is a collective trio that concentrates on texture and space rather than on conventional virtuosity. Pianist Mitchell favors sudden unexpected gestures in open space, even as he occasionally flirts with melody and harmony. This suits the pointillistic style of percussionist Halle and the soft, vocal-like playing of Meicht. There's very little about this band that references Jazz playing at all. Instead, these instant compositions are marked by sudden moments of drama set amidst an extremely sparse narrative. A trumpet trill here, some prepared piano there, and a bowed cymbal all help to segue to the next moment. "Puissant" more or less lives up to its name, and is more powerful and forceful than many of the other selections here. Halle's robust rolling toms inspire some more discursive playing by Meicht. But Mitchell still prefers to work around the edges, even when the music grows more energetic. The most effective track is "Eschatological Tensions", where the trio most seamlessly integrates their new music influences into the improvising. The concluding track is compelling as well. I appreciate the restraint and relative focus of this unit--and the pairing of prepared piano and earthy trumpet is often quite pleasant. [Sharing the Dry]

The building blocks of this music are different: the [Feigner] trio construct their improvisation around the kinds of quiet hisses and high-pitched whines given off by electronic equipment. It's patiently assembled music, never dense and rarely rapid-moving but full of detail and flavor. The integration of the acoustic instruments and the electronics is particularly well achieved. [It is a] satisfying performance. The ten minutes at the end are particularly fine: an acoustic improvisation whose outlines gradually blur into rustling electronics-enhanced percussion.

As the morning bugle calls the troops to order and the drums sound the cadence, The Meicht Group opens its trio session [Loud Like Hemlocks] of sparkling interaction on Loud Like Hemlocks. From that point of departure, they venture into all forms of creative expression, using quiet subtleties or explicit blasts of sound language to form an intricate basis of communication. Aaron Meicht typically takes a stark approach on trumpet. He jabs and punches, as would a prizefighter, extending and retreating into moody realms to establish the serious essence of the recording. Seth Meicht rolls out a linear wave on his tenor or alto, building the intensity and volume with each succeeding crest. Dougherty astutely comprehends this dialogue and responds with flavors that enhance and further the communicative effort. The trio unites in a flurry of activity as Aaron Meicht takes his stutter sound to an accelerated level to match that of Seth Meicht. The result is a bracing form of improvisation with ebb and flow characteristics that seep into deep crevices of the psyche. The program consists of eight movements that feature the individual or collective talents of these players. Any of the three is likely to start the action, encouraging the others to answer the call with a complimentary brand of free speech. Dougherty builds layers of quiet strokes into a complex array of percussive sound, opening the door for the Meichts to develop their improvisations around this stimulus. While one of them takes the forefront with assertive pronouncements, the other embellishes this output to complete the creative picture. The music has an equal amount of subdued and aroused moments, allowing the session to promote a variety of temperaments. It is an alluring excursion that successfully winds down alternating innovative trails with comparable results.

The trio [The Meicht Group] interact on a highly sophisticated level, with the Meicht brothers smoothly alternating and complementing each other superbly. While the improvisations become at times abrasive, The Meicht Group always retains some purpose and structure. [Loud Like Hemlocks]

[Listen to the] controlled chaos of The Meicht Group's third release, an out-there conflagration of improvised cacophony and premeditated orneriness. [They are a] wonderfully inventive jazz/experimental trio. The Meicht brothers (trumpeter Aaron and reedist Seth) and percussionist Brendan Dougherty lay down eight challenging tracks  that explore the dynamics of their two horns, one drum kit, no bass configuration. This is a band of contradictions--free jazz with forethought--whose Loud Like Hemlocks blends long periods of quiet, contemplative texturing with bursts of frenetic abandon.

[Aaron Meicht] is a powerful voice.