On the surface, it would seem that a violin and trap drums
improvisation
duet couldn't possibly work. The sheer force of the percussion dynamics and its multiple-voiced attack would almost insure that a violinist couldn't compete. But then,
Mat Maneri
is no ordinary violinist. Foregoing his "normal"
microtonal
approach to
,
Maneri
goes all out with drummer
Randy Peterson
on this explosive collection of
duels. What is most striking about the 11 pieces here -- none of which need be written about separately, as the disc feels like on continuous gig -- is the sheer consonance between the two principals. Given that in an electrified
improv
setting like this one, each player is invited by the sheer proximity of being there to challenge the other, to walk further out on an invisible ledge and to discover things.
and
Peterson
go many steps past it -- but they go together. They discover through the dynamic shifts, tonal colors, and varying modes of attacking empty space that there is no there, there. In their approach, there is no separation between voicings; they sing each other into existence and out again as vibration into the space, almost as if one were applying makeup to adorn emptiness. This can only be done if one sees or hears the connection between all things in the area one inhabits. Therefore, through fiery
free jazz
logistics and
new music
's improvisatory methodologies,
not only hear, but also they forcefully create the connections between all sounds in the studio and their resultant tonal variances. They don't play call and response so much as respond and respond some more. The stimulus is the gig itself, and the shattering of silence with a modified version of itself is the language. This is an absolutely dead-on set of very live, enthralling music that speaks not to cutting contests or even cooperative free blowing, but a true communal language for the creation of new musical territories. ~ Thom Jurek