IMPETUS GROUP - Density Dots CD

Impetus Group is Dirk Serries’ big band formation. The band name naturally refers to the Latin meaning: urgency, driving force, but even more spiritually to the moving language and strength of each musician in the ensemble to realize this free improvisational music. Impetus group is also a tribute to the improvisation scene of the sixties and seventies, more specifically the London scene led by guitarist Derek Bailey with his Company group. The group has a fluctuating line-up, depending on the availability of the musicians, the geographical location and, as described above, the specific musical role required for that version of the orchestra at the time of its realization. The Impetus Group is a full-fledged ensemble with a full orchestral sound, but based on the free improvisation principle. An ensemble in which the democratic creative process is central, every musician is equal, there are no leaders, but a group of like-minded artistic musicians who jointly build group culture. The band has performed live in Belgium and the UK but ‘Density Dots’ is the band’s official debut studio album. Performed, recorded at the excellent live room of the Sunny Side Inc. Studio in Anderlecht (Belgium) on February 26th, 2022, the band consisted of Coljn Webster on alto sax, Dirk Serries on archtop guitar, Martina Verhoeven on piano, Teun Verbruggen on drums and Tom Jackson on clarinet. The album title describes exactly what the music brings to the listener. Intense pointillism in sound - moving rapidly or introspectively from one theme to another, musicians challenging themselves and each other. Music on the edge of everything outward while capturing at other moments in this live studio session the strength of single notes ringing out and creating the space for the next chapter to build. Free music in its purest form. London based saxophonist Colin Webster is known for working from extreme sonic palettes – from minimal to maximal, constantly pushing boundaries. Equipped with a razor-sharp, punk spirit, and ferocious technique, Webster has established himself as a unique voice on the European avant-garde scene, regularly collaborating with many of the key figures in improvised and experimental music. Dirk Serries is hardly your average improvising musician. He is a master of texture, a skill which he’s been able to forge and refine for more than 30 years (as vidnaObmana, Fear Falls Burning, Microphonics). Martina Verhoeven has been working on the development of her own abstract photographic style for more than 15 years now. Now she’s fully dedicated to the piano, establishing herself as an unique and fierceful performer on the keys. Teun Verbruggen first picked up the drums by the age of eight. His search for a personal touch and wanting to explore all possibilities of playing drums, his lack of boundaries and trying to find fresh sounds in collective improvisation made him work with countless bands and musicians. Tom Jackson is a proficient clarinetist active in modern classical music and free improvisation, being part of highly regarded ensembles such as Apartment House, Lontano and orchestras such as the New London Sinfonia, British Sinfonietta and National Chamber Orchestra of Wales