Are you looking for a group that combines a conceptual approach with invigorating creativity and explosive spontaneity? Look no further: active since 2011, Too Noisy Fish has already carved out a special place for itself in Belgian jazz. The fact that the musicians – pianist Peter Vandenberghe, bassist Kristof Roseeuw and drummer Teun Verbruggen – have also formed the rhythm section of the Flat Earth Society since 1999 (!) has a lot to do with it. They have been refining the art of interaction for years and have become experts in the field. In their hands, the music turns into clay, which they shape according to their needs or desires.
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Since its creation, the group has had fun with some recurring ideas and contradictions. Strong contrasts and fiery dynamics are often at the origin. Vandenberghe’s compositions often feature diametrically opposed ideas, including music that can be both direct and complex, delicate and refined, hyperactive and powerful. The execution is rigorous and has a good dose of humor and absurdity, while tending to go beyond postmodern irony. It’s like a mirror of life, in all its unpredictability and shimmer, its joys and frustrations, but where things are in their proper perspective.
Fight Eat Sleep (2013), recorded by Oz Fritz (Tom Waits, John Cale), became a confirmation of the trio’s abilities. Deeply unbridled and curious, the group never stops constructing and deconstructing, with a passionate love for the genre and unreasonable abandon, shaking up everything in its path. The 11 tracks on this thunderous album are full of brazen expressionism, lugubrious film soundtracks and tireless energy. The album was voted “Album Of The Year 2013” by The New York City Jazz Record.
Fast Easy Sick (2011), the first album, stands out immediately, because the trio combines the intensity of rock & roll with the audacity of the avant-garde, drawing on the immense history of jazz while seeking inspiration from its confines.
After Nightwatch (2016), a project with acclaimed author Dimitri Verhulst and videographers Trisha De Cuyper and Jan Lapeire, the group returns to Oz Fritz for the recording of their 3rd album: Furious Empathic Silence: the next step in their creative and existential quest. Drawing inspiration from 20th century composers (Ives, Ravel, Messiaen), jazz icons (Miles, Monk, Cecil Taylor), hiphop and other influences, the trio once again sets out to create music that will surely ask questions (who knows rightly?) and perhaps provide answers. Or not. Either way, the journey promises once again to be shimmering, daring and full of surprises.
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