The bassoon can be an extraordinarily expressive instrument, although it is seldom thought of in the context of rock music. And while it might be difficult to envision a bassoon fitting in with mainstream rock styles, the fringe category of avant-prog is a different story altogether, and this is the world of music where Belgian double-reedist -- he also plays oboe and English horn -- Michel Berckmans has been making important contributions for well over three decades. Berckmans studied bassoon at the Conservatoire Royal de Musique de Bruxelles but left the conservatory to join Univers Zero, first appearing in the band's lineup in late 1975. In August of 1977 he participated in the recording sessions for the band's eponymous debut album, also subsequently referred to as "1313" on the basis of the album's catalog number (and re-released in 2008 by Cuneiform, remastered and with a lengthy bonus track, under the title Univers Zero). The album was a sinister and dark exercise in instrumental chamber rock, and was followed in 1979 by Univers Zero's even darker and more malevolent second album, Heresie. Although UZ's composers were drummer Daniel Denis and guitarist Roger Trigaux, Berckmans' throaty bassoon, playing the group's somber and sometimes even horror-inducing music along with other chamber rock instrumentation including violin, harmonium, and spinet, was integral to the band's otherworldly midnight vibe.

In these early days of Univers Zero, the band was invited by the British avant rock group Henry Cow to join a collective of likeminded ensembles, including Sweden's Samla Mammas Manna and Italy's Stormy Six, under the banner of Rock in Opposition. These groups had diverse sounds and varying degrees of political activism, but were united by their uncompromising and challenging approaches to rock music and resultant lack of commercial acceptance. Since early 1974, bassoonist Lindsay Cooper had been performing and recording with Henry Cow, and with Berckmans in Univers Zero, the relatively small cadre of RIO bands now featured two quite prominent bassoonists. Berckmans' style might be viewed as somewhat more traditionalist and neo-classical than the often more improvisational Cooper (who also had eight albums of her own as a leader), but if there could be said to be an "RIO sound" extending even into the 21st century, the bassoons of Michel Berckmans in Univers Zero and Lindsay Cooper in Henry Cow could easily be viewed as important contributors to that sound.

Univers Zero would undergo many lineup changes (and one very long hiatus) over the years, and Berckmans would depart prior to the recording of the more electrified Uzed in 1983, but not before appearing on what remains one of the group's most highly regarded albums, Ceux du Dehors, recorded in June 1980 at Etienne Conod's Sunrise Studios in Switzerland and released the following year. Berckmans plays a darkly beautiful oboe solo on Denis' "Dense" opus and contributes nearly jaunty bassoon to Andy Kirk's "Combat" -- although jaunty in the sense of an army marching off to meet its doom.

Meanwhile, during his tenure with UZ, Berckmans also contributed his unique sonic flavorings to albums by two additional RIO bands, 1979's Musique Pour l'Odyssée by the French ensemble Art Zoyd, and fellow Belgians Aksak Maboul's Un Peu de l'Âme des Bandits, released in 1980. Berckmans also proved his adaptability to music with a near total absence of rock elements as a member of the Belgian neo-classical chamber ensemble Julverne, playing on the group's second album, A Neuf, which also arrived during 1980. (During the remainder of the decade Berckmans also appeared on two additional Julverne albums, 1983's Emballade and 1986's Ne Parlons Pas de Malheur.)

Outside the comparatively nightmarish world of Univers Zero, in the early '80s Berckmans toured and recorded with another RIO-related group, Von Zamla, in a sextet incarnation notably including keyboardist Lars Hollmer and guitarist Eino Haapala from the Swedish RIO band (and Samlas offshoot) Zamla Mammaz Manna and bassist Wolfgang Salomon from the German quartet Munju. In 1984, he appeared on Von Zamla's fabulous No Make Up! (to date not reissued on CD) and Munju's Le Perfectionniste. This period included extensive European tours by Von Zamla, of particular note two German dates documented on the Cuneiform CD 1983. Von Zamla would disband in 1984 and the following year Hollmer would form the first incarnation of his Looping Home Orchestra with Sven Aarflot on bassoon, although by the close of the decade Hollmer, Salomon, and Berckmans would collaborate once again, this time on a project called M.O.D. (Music Over Distance). However, from the mid-'80s to the late '90s Univers Zero -- which in their post-Ceux du Dehors incarnation had not included Berckmans anyway -- had entered a lengthy hiatus, and although Hollmer and Berckmans had begun an on-again, off-again musical relationship starting with Von Zamla, during this same period the relationship was mainly off again, given the many other projects with which the Swedish accordionist/keyboardist was involved. Berckmans remained active in theater and in classical music, and appeared on occasional recordings, including Julverne's fifth album, Retour du Captain Nemo, released in 1992.

In 1997 Berckmans contributed bassoon and oboe to Lars Hollmer's Swedish Grammy-winning Andetag album, and as the '90s drew to a close found himself back in the orbit of Daniel Denis, who had re-formed Univers Zero. Berckmans, so essential to the early group's sound, became a central bandmember again as a revitalized UZ began touring and recording at the turn of the new millennium, appearing on The Hard Quest (1999), Rhythmix (2002), Implosion (2004), and Live (2006), all released on Cuneiform. Berckmans could also be heard on the sixth and arguably finest CD by Julverne, Pavillon des Passiones Humaines, released in 2000. And in 1999 Hollmer formed a new band placing Berckmans on bassoon, oboe, and English horn in chamber rock settings lighter but no less substantial than Univers Zero; in 2000 the group (also including Wolfgang Salomon on bass) toured Russia and recorded the CD Utsikter, which was released in October of that year. During May 2001 Hollmer's band -- with the same name as the album itself -- appeared in Serbia at the Ring Ring Festival in Belgrade and also in Novo Sad, and another concert by the group was held in October near Hollmer's hometown of Uppsala in Sweden.

In April 2005 two of Berckmans' major collaborations intersected under the auspices of the Gouveia Art Rock Festival in Portugal, which featured a set by Univers Zero as well as a performance by Hollmer accompanied by Berckmans, and both Berckmans and Hollmer joined Quebec avant rock group Miriodor on-stage during that band's festival concert -- all of this was documented on the DVD portion of Hollmer's final retrospective With Floury Hand (Sketches) [Med Mjölad Hand (Skisser)], a two-disc set released by Cuneiform in 2012. ("Uppsala" on Miriodor's Parade + Live at NEARfest includes bassoon parts by Montreal classical bassoonist Lise Millet that might be heard as a direct homage to Berckmans and Looping Home Orchestra bassoonist Sven Aarflot.) Berckmans appeared on Lars Hollmer's Viandra, released in Japan in 2007 and internationally by Cuneiform early in 2008, the year in which Hollmer died on Christmas Day after a battle with cancer. Berckmans continues to perform and record with Univers Zero, whose latest CD, Clivages, was released (yes, by Cuneiform) in January 2010. In September of that year he made a rare stateside appearance with the band on the final night of the Sonic Circuits Festival, on a double bill (with Miriodor opening) held at La Maison Française on the grounds of the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. ~ Dave Lynch, Rovi