Roger Kleier : "Klangenbang"

(Rift)

Born in 1958, Roger Kleier is a composer, guitarist, and improviser who began playing electric guitar at age thirteen after discovering Captain Beefheart and Jimi Hendrix on the radio airwaves of Los Angeles. He studied composition at North Texas State University and the University of Southern California, and has developed an unique style that draws equally from improvisation, contemporary classical music, and the American guitar traditions of blues, jazz, and rock. Much of his compositional work involves the development of a broader vocabulary for the electric guitar through the use of extended techniques and creating new works with digital technology.
Roger has performed and/or recorded with Annie Gosfield, Marc Ribot’s Shrek, Elliott Sharp, Fred Frith, Joan Jeanrenaud, Davey Williams, Ikue Mori, Carl Stone, Phil Niblock, Alan Licht, Samm Bennett, Tom Cora, David Moss, Kato Hideki, Chris Cutler, David Krakauer, Chris Brown, Sim Cain, Jim Pugliese and many others.


Yes, a number of these compositions have a NY–underground feel, that combination of jazzy technicality and No Wave or rock–inspired intensity. But others, like Only the Dust Moans are unusual: that one is an ambient piece constructed of overlapping guitar tones and chimings, with minimal keyboards supplied by Annie Gosfield. Kato Hideki's bass guesting on Crabmeat Shag makes a highlight here, as do Christine Bard's strong drumming and Kleier's intricate guitar breaks. Take a Picture––It'll Last Longer is the final track, a sprawling fourteen minute piece that's the only truly solo performance on the CD. Recorded live, it moves from a fairly harsh opening to calmer plucking and scraping sounds, then through strumming into nicely interwoven feedback tones, and odd, ultra–vibratoed notes. An impressive work to conclude an intriguing CD.

Mason Jones

HERE