Violin Voice Live Norway Landmark Bergen Jan 12th 2010 – C Spencer Yeh
Alright, buckle up. This isn’t your grandma’s jazz album. Nope. It’s more like that one time you accidentally ate something way too spicy and couldn’t decide if it was genius or just messed up. C Spencer Yeh drops Violin Voice Live on us, recorded live in Bergen back in 2010, under the DroneDisco label. Free improvisation? Oh, they ain’t kidding.
First off, let’s talk about "Violin." Yeah, no clever title here—just straight-up telling you what’s coming at ya. And holy crap, does this track hit hard. Imagine someone took a violin, dipped it in chaos sauce, and then lit it on fire. The screeches are wild, unpredictable, almost violent. But weirdly, there's beauty in the mess. You can hear every scratch of the bow like it’s screaming its soul out. It sticks with you because it feels alive—it breathes, stumbles, fights back. Like life itself but louder.
Then there’s "Voice," which is basically Yeh losing his damn mind into a microphone. Or maybe finding it? Who knows. He yelps, growls, whispers, and wails as if he’s trying to summon some ancient spirit from the fjords of Norway. It’s raw, unhinged, and honestly kinda unsettling—but I mean that as a compliment. There’s zero polish, zero pretense, just pure guttural expression. If “free improvisation” had a face, this would be it.
The artwork by The Wyvern? Meh, not gonna lie—it’s cool but doesn’t slap as hard as the music. Feels like an afterthought compared to the sonic assault inside.
Here’s the kicker: listening to this album makes me wonder how much coffee C Spencer Yeh drank before walking onstage. Was he nervous? Excited? Angry? Whatever it was, it worked. This thing is a beast—a chaotic, messy, beautiful beast.
So yeah, give it a spin if you’re tired of music that plays nice. Just don’t blame me when it haunts your dreams.
