If you tend to imagine the music of a new CD, before listening to it, by what you heard before coming from the musicians involved, “Fierce Silence” is going to astonish you. Few connections to the past works of Whit Dickey and Kirk Knuffke you’ll find in this beautiful recording. There’s more: if you understand the free jazz subgenre as fast and aggressive music, this is miles away from that approach. Why? Well, because the duo formed by the drummer and the cornetist play ballads here exclusively, very slow and meditative ballads, full of blank spaces, respirations and self-wonderings. The absolute contrary of what you know about Dickey with the David S. Ware Quartet and the Matthew Shipp Trio, and about Knuffke with Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom and the Matt Wilson Quartet. But be warned: this isn’t smooth jazz, ambient music to do something else. The immersive quality of the assembled pieces demands your full attention. Only with an active and participative listening you can notice all the nuances and subtle elements. Forget the world for some time and give yourself a treat. (Clean Feed
