NZ Jazz: Mike Nock - Beginning and End of Knowing

Mike Nock: Beginning and End of Knowing (Fourth Way Records)

Nock (piano) Laurence Pike (drums/sampler) 2015

I started this series last September with Nock's Vicissitudes, so it seems rather appropriate to feature another from Mike one year on....plus it was his birthday a couple of days ago. While I did give Beginning and End of Knowing a listen when I first picked it up last year, it is well overdue for some quality time (in fact, Vicissitudes bumped it from opening the series, solely because it was his most recent album). As with last months selection, we have another slightly ominous title – yet fitting for this stage in my life. A follow-up to the duo's 2012 recording, Kindred, Beginning and End of Knowing features 12 wonderfully recorded free improvisations, none of which extend beyond six minutes, keeping things nice and concise. The album art and booklet nods in the direction of ECM and, as the duo recorded the album in Norway at the same studio and piano as on Ondas, it seems appropriate (and once again makes me wonder why Ondas was his sole outing for ECM).

Mike's playing here (or anywhere really) is not about hip licks and chops, but in this case, more focussed on texture and colour. Even on pieces in which single-line playing is featured those lines still seem to serve as mean of creating different textures and colors. Pike doesn't play much in the way of “ding ding ga ding”/“spang spang ah lang” (or the phonetic swing of your choosing), but he still generates a sense of forward motion and while the groove may reveal itself in an unexpected way, it's there. His playing is pretty understated but it really suits the feeling of the album. And across the album there is a nice balance between piano and drums. 

The title track sets the tone of album superbly. At times the piano is dramatic (without being overly so) while the drums remain constantly on the move. The bass drum popped out at me on “Cloudless”, while the sense of space and openness in Mike's voicings and approach contain quality that I can't really describe - “realization” comes to mind. “Akerslva” seems dark a first but a playfulness emerges and a hint of the blues is present throughout the tinkles and splashes. “1000 Colours” features more line playing by Nock than on the preceding tracks. Space is aptly filled by Pike, who plays with a subtle groove that really works. You could be mistaken in thinking that the opening of “The Mirror” is composed, such is the clarity. That clarity remains as a left hand ostinato takes hold and directs the piece. Mike's playing is melodic with a tenderness at times. “Hydrangea” features a Pike groove of relaxed propulsion while rich piano chords sit on top, and as the piece progress the piano and percussion become increasingly interlocked. The electronics are more obvious on “Glittering Age” than on some of the other tracks but they slot in seamlessly nevertheless. The piano repeats, varies and develops phrases throughout and Pike's use of the samples at the end of Mike's lines is very effective. Again, Pike's groove is unexpected yet highly effective (and the electronics fit into that groove well too) - he's a creative player. “Zerospeak” is more up-tempo than most of the album with its single line piano runs over the top of rumbling toms. Mike's lines had me thinking of some of his late 70s works such as “Casablanca” & “Break Time” or even later on with “Ozboppin'” (and I did take those tracks for a spin too), but here the feel is a bit different.. perhaps more introspective and rhythmically softer. Mike's single line melody over the drums and samples on “Ocean Back to Sky” (particularly during the opening of the piece) is a lesson in economy. He extracts a lot from a little and that is something that appeals to me more and more. The stacatto percussion and the wide spread between the two hands at the piano on “Prospero” grabbed my attention. It brings a welcome textural addition to the album. “Southerly” features some more contrasts – the fluttering cymbals paired with bass drum pulses, with strong, slow moving chordal melodies over the faster moving drums. I dig the way Mike's chordal phrases early on have a breathing quality to them. The album rounds out with “In Closing,” another improvisation with composition-like clarity.

While overall the album is quite introspective, there is still plenty of variety in terms of feel, mood and colour. There is a meditative quality that draws me in (and in that sense it reminded my of Evan Parker's As the Wind and the work of Hayden Chisholm). This could be the ideal music to calm the mind during the busy time in which we live. The album's strength lies in the collective approach to the duo - very much a case of “everybody solos and nobody solos.” The dialogue between the two is warm, unhurried, not afraid of space, and projects clarity and an openness (the only word I could think of) that really hits the spot. Beginning and End of Knowing served as the perfect welcome home. Tu meke!