The Necks consist of Chris Abrahams on piano, Lloyd Swanton on bass and Tony Buck on drums. That sounds like one of the most conventional line-ups in jazz. What happens when they play is much harder to categorise.
Their live performances are built through long-form improvisation. The musicians do not begin by performing a predetermined composition. A small figure may appear, repeat and slowly attract other sounds. Rhythm can settle into something almost hypnotic, then change so gradually that it becomes difficult to identify the exact moment when one musical state became another.
What I find remarkable is the trust required.
In a conventional arrangement, structure tells each musician where everyone should be. Here the structure has to be discovered while the music is already happening.
That changes repetition too. A repeated piano figure is never simply looping because bass and percussion continually alter the context around it. The same notes can slowly acquire another meaning without changing themselves.
A sequencer can repeat something indefinitely.
Three musicians listening closely can make repetition behave like evolution.
