Being brings together four idiosyncratic and highly experienced free improvisers and sonic explorers, who have developed a distinct sonic aesthetic and a personal set of extended techniques – British veteran composer devoted to real-time electro-acoustic music Lawrence Casserley playing on his own devised signal-processing instrument, Spanish, London-based guitarist (and educator) Pascal Marzan on a ten-string microtonal guitar in 36-EDO (equal divisions of the octave), Belgian vocal artist (and free music critic) Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg (who has recorded before with Casserley and Marzan), and fellow British veteran violinist Philipp Wachsmann (who, like Casserley, has played in Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble).
Being documents two live sets of this quartet – at The Vortex in London in November 2024 (as part of the Mopomoso concert series dedicated to freely improvised music, founded by late guitarist John Russell) and at St Alban’s Church Hall in Oxford in June 2025. These four improvisers have collaborated on stage in various formats and contexts, but, as Casserley writes in the liner notes, the quartet was a leap of faith into the unknown. Somehow, in a completely unpredictable, magical way, their singular sonic approaches found a common ground and have evolved into a multilayered, vivid sonic entity.
The three extended pieces chronicle phases in the lifespan of this working quartet, shifting between textures, interactions, and soundscapes. The first piece, “Becoming”, established the patient, exploratory, and emphatic sound-oriented dynamics; “Between” is more cinematic and haunting, as if reminiscing about a disturbing nightmare; The last piece, “Beyond”, suggests how far the quartet’s experimental sonic vision can go. It is a poetic, deep listening, vulnerable piece that organically blends the acoustic and the processed sounds, patiently investigating its enigmatic inner logic, shapeshifting sonic identity, and collective sonic possibilities.
Casserley / Marzan / Van Schouwburg / Wachsmann – Being (Bead, 2026)
