In a remarkable example of uncanny group-think,
pianist-keyboardist and RareNoise regular Jamie Saft (Metallic Taste of Blood,
Slobber Pup, Plymouth, The New Standard, Red Hill) joins with longtime
collaborators Trevor Dunn on bass and Balazs Pandi on drums and master
trombonist Roswell Rudd on the astounding, purely improvised Strength and
Power. Recorded live in Saft's home studio near Woodstock, New York, this
intergenerational offering features the 44-year-old pianist, 47-year-old
bassist, 32-year-old Hungarian drummer and 80-year-old avant-garde pioneer
blending organically, telepathically on a set of conversational music running
the gamut of dynamics and emotions.
As Saft explains, "All the music was completely
improvised in the studio. No predetermined compositions at all. No hand
signals, no charts: nothing but trust, deepest intuition, and mutual
respect."
The key to this highly interactive session, says Rudd, was
not chops but rather the participants' highly attuned listening skills.
"The really important thing, especially with collective improvisation, is that
you're playing off of each other. So the music comes as a result of listening
to each other and your response to the other players. I really found myself
delving deeply on this occasion because the other musicians were
not only putting it out there but they were also responding
in depth. When you're lucky enough to be in the company of very proficient
musicians who not only can play but also can listen deeply, this is what I
think I love more than anything else in the performance of music."
The revered trombonist, who came up playing Dixieland or
trad jazz music while attending Yale University in the mid 1950s and later made
his mark in the free jazz world through collaborations with Cecil Taylor,
Archie Shepp, John Tchicai and longtime collaborator Steve Lacy, is a
formidable presence on this RareNoise recording. Whether it's his lyrical
playing on the spacious ballad "Luminescent," his unrestrained
blowing on a surging "The Bedroom," his conversational plunger work
on "Cobalt Is a Divine" and the title track or his early New Orleans
tailgate-styled testifying on "Struttin' for Jah Jah," Rudd's
trombone resounds with history, humor and humanity. Dunn provides thick grooves
and potent contrapuntal lines throughout (particularly when he is paired in a
duet with Rudd on "Dunn's Falls") while Pandi propels the proceedings
with kinetic backbeats and swinging momentum. Saft, performing on his 1966
Steinway Model L piano at his home studio, adds spiky comping, cascading
call-and-response lines and some exploration inside the piano. "This piano
has a unique sound," he says. "It's darker than most modern pianos.
Sometimes I will use paper and pen if they are handy as tools to modify the
acoustic piano, but mostly it's just real time manipulation of the inside of
the piano with these two hands."
"The piano is a strange and opulent instrument,"
adds Saft. "It is a physical object which requires adherence to the basic
laws of physics. The greatest pianists understand how to harness the power of
gravity and understand the internal mechanisms of the instrument and how they
relate to the laws of gravity. I always work to use gravity to my advantage as
an instrumentalist. With proper understanding of the way the piano and the
human body interact, one can constantly push the instrument into new areas
while retaining a deep and rich tone. Whether I'm seated at the piano or
working inside the piano, I'm still always dealing with laws of physics. The
idea is to let gravity do all the work for you. This gives a deep and crisp
tone and maximum technical flexibility."
Saft explains that this collaboration with Rudd was partly
born out of proximity. "Roswell and I live five miles or so from each
other in Kerhonkson, New York. Roswell and Verna Gillis, his brilliant partner,
have recorded a number of times at my studio Potterville International Sound.
This is how we initially met. It was clear very quickly that we needed to make
music together."
Rudd says that the Strength And Power session is a
continuation of "the pursuit of mystery" that he has tirelessly been
on throughout his entire career, from his days as a collegiate Dixielander to
the present. "This river that runs through all of my performing and
recording from the earliest times, it's essentially what we did over at Jamie's
that day. It's a special recording and I look forward to getting back together
with the musicians, Balazs, Trevor and Jamie, and doing more, taking it out and
playing for audiences somewhere. I'd love to play it for a bunch of people with
thirsty ears."
Adds Saft, who has also racked up numerous credits on
various John Zorn projects over the years, "It's a great privilege to make
music with a true legend of improvised music such as Roswell. His compositions
are deep and vast, his sound is unmistakably brilliant, and most of all he's a
truly beautiful human being. The last point is crucial here: when one
improvises with such a beautiful person all is possible. Roswell constantly
strives to impart his love of sounds to humanity. His positivity and shining
vibe make this clear, obvious, and essential."
TRACKS
1. Strength & Power
2. Cobalt is a Divine
3. The Bedroom
4. Luminescent
5. Dunn's Falls
6. Struttin' For Jah Jah
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