Review

Free improvisation is a mystery to many people. Reactions range from “that’s not music” to “they’re frauds” to “my five year old could do that” to “wow. ” What many people don’t realize is that despite its free and open nature, it is possible to become very good at free improvisation, particularly when you play with a close group of people over a long period of time. Malcolm Goldstein (violin), John Heward (percussion) and Rainer Wiens (prepared guitar) make up one such group, and wow are they good! Chants cachés is a richly detailed, subtle yet energized disc, and it really shows off the highly developed musicality of three improvisational veterans. Chants cachés might be tough listening for a while if you haven’t listened to much music like this before, but it’s well worth the effort.