Support
Looper's Delight
|
Support |
|
|
In a message dated 6/7/02 10:29:32 AM, steve@steve-lawson.co.uk writes: >now, you daft bastard, record a CD and make some money >out of the damn stuff!!! :o) Speaking of CDs Mr. Steve Lawson . . . I've been meaning for a long time to tell you and the rest of the list just how wonderful I think your bass & piano duet CD "Conversations" (with Jez Carr) is . . . and it truly, truly is too. A mini review: >From the beginning of the first track's languid fretless, grooving, melodicism it's a feast of inventive looping. Hey, and it's so lush and "pretty" that my wife doesn't even ask me to "please turn it down" -- which has got to be some kind of a first for a '"looping" CD. Jez Carr's spare, pointalistic pianisms are the perfect compliment for what Steve offers. Which is a combination of lyrical bass that reminds me of the best of a Mark Eagan or an Eberhard Weber, with some almost "Frisellian," skittering loopsterizing weaving in and out from time to time. Steve's use of loops are integral, organic, and essential to the proceedings too. They inject a lot of humor into what might have been something more like a chilly, ECM record without them. Not that ECM is a bad thing. Some of my favorite music is on ECM. But most of you may know what I mean. Examples: after establishing the first track with a loooose and laaaazy fretless groove Steve introduces twittering, backwards (and sped up) chipmunk bass noises in the middle so that it sounds like the duet has been visited (and joined) by a passing band of musical insects on a flyby. The second starts right out with a rhythmic figure of looped bass harmonic "pops and clicks" that reminds me of either Copland's "The Grand Canyon Suite" or the fellow with the coconuts who follows King Arthur around in "Monty Python and The Holy Grail." In the middle of the same track, are some wonderfully "loopy" bass glissandi that sound for all the world like a theremin in a '50s B-horror film (think faux spooky, haunted-house "ghost" sounds). Whacky huh? This not to say that this isn't serious music. It's just that this duo seems to be continually reminding us that they are ALSO having fun and don't take themselves TOO terribly seriously. The 3rd track is a brief (1:12) sensitive piano solo . . . no bass, no loops. Just a short interlude of very pretty piano. But, it also underscores the true spontaneousness of the improvisations going on elsewhere on the disc, for these ARE improvisations in the truest sense. No studio editing "trickery." I could go on (and on) with each track but I think I've given a pretty good "gist" of what this disc is like. There aren't any cut's on this CD that are rollicking, uptempo, or show-offy -- though they definitely "groove" an percolate at times. The overall mood is a pretty consistent one -- of understated and sophisticated interplay -- with superb instrumental chops and communication which often verges on the telepathic -- with large doses of humor and grace. Steve Lawson exhibits a very "organic" and creative use of live looping and real-time tweaking of effects that should be an example to any of us "loopfolk" . . . no matter what instrument we play. I can't say enough to recommend his CD adequately. Just do yourself a favor and get it if you haven't already. Best, Ted Killian