ABSTRACT
the first time I saw Charbel Haber was in the Torino Express Bar in 2003. Cynthia Zaven introduced me to him: “Let's meet up soon,” we said. Two years later I watched him performing—at Irtijal 2005, at the Goethe Institute. the German legend Peter Brötzmann was to perform that night, and quite a lot of people had gathered. Charbel Haber and Discipline on two laptops, accompanied by the singer Mayaline Hage (from Lumi), opened the event.
While Discipline produces deep atmospheric drones, Haber is responsible for the higher pitches: I hear sounds resembling fax machines, old Internet modems, and other cracking and rustling noises. Mayaline Hage talks or flusters into her microphone; often she just sits in silence. to my ears this does not sound too refined. the drones: I can neither hear dynamic build-ups or atmospheric changes. Later, during Peter Brötzmann's energetic concert, I observe Haber and Discipline talking and making jokes at the door of the institute. They are the only two people who are not listening to the concert. Is it more important to network with late-arriving guests at the door? Is an old German saxophone player, a pioneer in the genre of free jazz, not a must to see? 5 (Fieldnotes, 2005)
