Koi: Performing the music of Tim Berne
Greg Belisle-Chi
RELATIVE PITCH RECORDS (2021)

BY GREG SCHEIDERER

The latest album from guitarist Gregg Belisle-Chi, Koi: Performing the music of Tim Berne, is earning rave reviews from a group that may well be the most qualified to serve up such a judgement: the avant-garde saxophonist and composer himself along with a host of notable guitar players.

Belisle-Chi discovered Berne’s music more than a decade ago while working on a music degree at Cornish College of the Arts and had long hoped to do a collaboration. His challenge was translating Berne’s compositions from sax into guitar, much as pianist Matt Mitchell had done for Berne’s album førage in 2017. Belisle-Chi recalls of the journey,

I remember hearing førage and thinking to myself, ‘Goddam, wouldn’t it be amazing if a guitar player did this, too?’ I didn’t expect that guitarist to be me, but with Tim’s blessing and guidance, we were able to make it happen, and I think it turned out extremely well.

Other artists agree. Bill Frisell, who recorded with Berne in the early ‘80s, is captivated. “For anyone familiar with Tim’s music, this is a fascinating opportunity to check it out from a different angle,” said Frisell, who met Belisle-Chi when both were living in Seattle. “What struck me upon first hearing him, aside from the fact that he played his ass off, was his lack of affectation. There was no mimicry. Instead, there was transparency—letting the music speak. That’s what’s happening with Koi…Gregg and Tim together have raised the bar. This music knocks me out.”

Nels Cline, who recently recorded and toured with Berne, said after hearing the Mitchell album that he figured a guitarist would inevitably take on Tim’s work. “Nothing could’ve prepared me for this jaw-dropping solo acoustic-guitar recording. Masterful and visionary, this has instantly become one of my favorite solo guitar documents.”

Berne describes what he calls a “funhouse-mirror effect” when hearing new interpretations of his compositions: 

These are musicians who have such ability, personality, and imagination. The way Gregg voices the chords is so crystal clear, so much detail comes through. His sound on guitar reveals every inch of the music. A composer couldn’t hope for more, really.

Koi was produced by Berne and David Torn and released on Relative Pitch Records earlier this year.