In the end, WHAT HAPPENED THERE? is a thrilling, unpredictable journey through the minds of two of the most daring musicians in modern experimental music.
Libra Records
Keiji Haino – Guitar, Voice; Natsuki Tamura – Trumpet, Voice, Toys
Trumpeter Natsuki Tamura and guitarist Keiji Haino, two masters of musical unpredictability, team up for the first time in WHAT HAPPENED THERE? Recorded live at the Shinjuku Pit Inn in Tokyo, the set careens through lyrical beauty, sonic abstraction, tranquil pauses, and crazy energy. Both performers vocalize in Japanese—talking, chanting, quasi-singing, and even some shouting, adding a playful dose of absurdity and humor to an already enthralling and capricious performance.
Though they hadn’t performed together before, Tamura and Haino share key traits. Both move effortlessly through avant-rock, free jazz, and improvisation, excelling at blurring the lines between them. They also draw inspiration from world music, weaving it into their work in unexpected ways. Yet their music is strikingly different, each fiercely individual and unrestrained by convention. As Tamura puts it, “That’s the most important thing when looking for a collaborator.”
My introduction to Tamura’s music came through his solo trumpet 2003 release, KOKOKOKE. I was intrigued after reading critic Jon Davis describe it as “Buddhist chants from an alien planet.” It turned out to be some of the strangest music I’d ever encountered, otherworldly, yet undeniably beautiful and endlessly fascinating. I’d never heard anything quite like it.
I reached out to Tamura to ask about KOKOKOKE. Did he have it all written out? Turns out, he walked into the studio and improvised the entire album on the spot. WHAT HAPPENED THERE? follows a similar story. Tamura admitted, “We didn’t talk about what we would do, right before we played, all we said was, ‘Nice to meet you.’”
Their boundlessly adventurous set is impossible to predict. At times, their exchange is a stark contrast of ideas; at others, they come together in fractured, high-energy bursts or ease into quiet, jazz-tinged reflections. The performance unfolds in a series of short, fully developed episodes. While the transitions may feel abrupt at times, there seems to be a cohesive logic that ties everything together.
Both musicians draw on their vast arsenal of extended techniques, weaving a tapestry of unusual timbres and textures. Haino’s contributions include urgent, almost frantic vocals, while Tamura complements his trumpet playing with vocalizations and an assortment of unconventional percussion, from woks and eggbeaters, to squeaky toys. At one point, Tamura responds to Haino’s disturbed guitar skronk with the squeeze of a rubber ducky. It’s a delightfully absurd gesture, yet Tamura sees it as perfectly in tune with the music. While some might find the music silly, Tamura insists it’s anything but, he believes the seriousness behind it is what gives it depth, and without that, the music would lose its edge.
The music on WHAT HAPPENED THERE? is divided into Part One through Part Four. Each piece typically starts quietly, with Tamura pulling every imaginable sound from his trumpet, while Haino creates similarly expansive textures on guitar.
In the end, WHAT HAPPENED THERE? is a thrilling, unpredictable journey through the minds of two of the most daring musicians in modern experimental music.
