sounding out returns to the lakes

 
 

sounding out is feeling a little rusty. don’t worry, cobwebs are not gathering on the keys, and my sax gets plenty of practice. but i have not been listening to the call of the wild as much. so it is such a pleasure to revisit places of greatness. those two caves are amongst my favourite spaces to resonate. both have a very unique and different atmosphere. a few seconds in rydal cave, and the constant dripping takes you into a different world. however, today has many distractions and people come in and out througout the session.

some nice encounters and cool conversations, but i am used to a more intimate connection to the space itself. normally, i only play to birds, and possibly maybe the spirit of the rock… or to quote some of my musical influences, ‘i talk to the wind’ and ‘the trees are all agreed’. the intention is not to create a spectacle for visitors, however, it’s nice to make someone’s day, and the smile of wonder as kids wave goodbye is kinda cool.

i may not be totally in the zone, but very excited to play this place. and i hope you can hear it…

 
 
 

 

wind in the reeds
alto saxophone, 13 april 2024
rydal cave

 

 

shapes in the shadows
alto saxophone, 13 april 2024
rydal cave

 

 
 
 

 
 

in contrast, cathedral cave is all stillness and suspension. but here too, groups of people visit the site until late. by then, it gets cold and tired, and the saxophone feels it. i still manage to get a good stretch out of this session. some abstract passages offer a nice relief but most of my playing is quite harmonic this time. i feel i’d like it to be more adventurous, but i do not choose what the space inspires. still, i think that the symmetrical shapes which have been my main focus give an interesting colour to my melodies. it is good to realise that what i have been practicing is gradually feeding into my playing, without having to think about it. you dig?

 
 
 

 

taking steps
alto saxophone, 14 april 2024
cathedral cave

 

 

peaceful at the top
alto saxophone, 14 april 2024
cathedral cave

 

 

down the cloughs and the hollows
alto saxophone, 14 april 2024
cathedral cave

 

 

slow drift
alto saxophone, 14 april 2024
cathedral cave

 

 

the ragged edge
alto saxophone, 14 april 2024
cathedral cave

 

 

mirrors
alto saxophone, 14 april 2024
cathedral cave

 

 

avalanche
alto saxophone, 14 april 2024
cathedral cave

 
 
 

l’après monde

those that know me may have noticed i have been in full hermit mode. this may be to compensate for what i should have done during lockdowns. instead of using the period for stillness, with no gig in view, i occupied the time to produce and publish a large amount of work. i mastered and prepared the entire live archive for my band inclusion principle, created another bandcamp site for my own work and prepared albums for release, compiled all my solo electroacoustic performances for the series résonance, created albums from various field recordings, etc. this can be found on my bandcamp page.

during that time, i also produced three albums and released two of them: a wonderful duo with gus garside published by 377, and Inclusion Principle’s fourth. this is the third composition which has not yet been heard.

‘l’après monde’ started with henry recording piano and trombone at his home in the south of france. we have played as a duo for several years. henry is a wonderful pianist who took up the trombone around the same time as i switched to saxophone. we were part of an amazing network of improvisers and have played acoustic improvisation and gigged during many of my visits in the area. here, we use a very different approach while working from separate countries. plus, this collaboration takes on a new colour with the addition of electronic sounds and treatment. some of the things i was exploring in this piece paved the way to compositions for the Inclusion Principle album i worked on next.

i cut up the recordings henry sent me, drawing sections of improvisation, and shorter clips to create space and dynamic flow, radical changes between tableaux that organically unfold. i used samplers for the trombone, looped riffs, layered harmonic sections, processed the piano to create spectral clouds, etc. and thus, using henry’s material as building blocks, i arranged the structure for four pieces.

in all four, i gradually added electronic rhythms, field recordings and sound sculptures that are part of my palette, enjoying the possibilities found in ableton live 10 and creating new sounds. i then added alto sax improvisations, at times duetting with henry’s phrasing, at time playing in contrast, and flying off over loops or beats. the interplay, i hope, portrays the energy and excitement typical of our duo, and yet feels very different with added studio time and wide soundscapes. i rather like the balance between the raw energy of improvisation and the playful compositional techniques i have used.

this work seems to explore many areas of contemporary music, including jazz, improvisation, electronic, new music and electroacoustic composition. imagine a car crash between rothko and pollock. cezanne cries in a corner. the scene, smudged in the rain. 

 

 

i am very pleased to share this work with you, and i hope you enjoy listening. drop us a line and let us know… pass the word, and please support the artists featured.

three voices

after a long period spent in the electroacoustic universe, i return to recording saxophone and revisit live processing on a different system. over time, i recorded improvisations using a limited set of plug-ins to inspire a certain soundscape. the three voices correspond to three sound worlds and three types of plug-ins: spectral, granular and tonal.

with the saxophone, i explore abstract textures and sound techniques that can be found in free improv and contemporary music. but mostly, i replicate the fractal approach of this sonic explosion, and play with symmetrical shapes using a harmonic system i have been developing.

the last improvisation, in contrast is free from wild tweakery, and sits in the vast space of a gentle reverb. i am using a minor scale with major seven, a very powerful and dramatic colour used by ravi shankar in his ode to gandhi.

 

this album reflects some of the sounds and techniques i have been playing with. i hope you enjoy this journey…