Christoph Gallio / Silvan Jeger / Gerry Hemingway
April 8, 2020Devotion
Percaso 37
Like Roger McGuinn and the Byrds, the Swiss Day &Taxi (D&T) band is defined as being made up of multi-reedist Christoph Gallio and whoever plays with him. Over its 30 year history that’s included a small platoon of musicians, and now on Devotion D&T has evolved to a trio of Gallio, veteran American drummer Gerry Hemingway and young Swiss bassist Silvan Jeger. Jeger also leads his own Pop and Jazz bands, while Hemingway, who resides in Luzern, has worked with just about everyone in the advanced music scene during those same three decades. Both are adept interpreters of the compositions of Gallio, who moves among soprano, alto and C-melody saxophones.
The Baden-based saxophonist’s tractable themes are notably performed here with the tight structures allowing each member to express himself fully. The only caveat remaining is the sheer number of tracks. With 20 (!) tunes interpreted, at points ennui threatens to set in. Luckily that’s avoided in most cases. However those brief ditties in which Gallio verbalizes Friederike Mayröcker’s words are probably the least memorable.
More imposing are those tracks in which the three can work up a whole head of improvisational steam. This starts with the first track, “Tall Guy Blues” with its strong beat propelled by the drums and deconstructed with a collection of honks from Gallio, all the way to “Lightweight Heavyweight”, the final one, which bounces along strongly as Hemingway’s toy-drum-like whacks and Gallio’s reed trills cut through the undulating buzzing sequencer.
Throughout, the trio adeptly cycles through a variety of moods and musical inferences. For instance “Pan Comido” is a jumpy, near-Calypso featuring sui generis percussion and the saxophonist spinning out as many notes as possible. On the other hand the beauty of an atmospheric tune like “Mare” is enhanced with lower-case saxophone timbres and drum clips. Meanwhile Jeger’s quietly confident bass thumps introduce or balance the rhythm on other tracks.
With allusions to pure improvisation, New Music, folklore and other sounds, Devotion is a masterful summation of Gallio’s talent and D&T’s mature identity. But more praise could be expressed if fewer more extended tracks would have been featured.
— Ken Waxman
Track Listing: Devotion: 1. Tall Guy Blues (to Christian Weber) 2. Silvia (to Silvia Bachli) 3. Im Juni * 4. Soll Ich Einen Turm Bauen? 5. Gegenteil (to Jurg Stauble) 6. Mare (to Kaissa Camara,1998-2018) 7. South For North 8. Ueli Der Meister (to Ueli Fuyuru Derendinger) 9. Pan Comido (to Hans Tanner) 10. Fleurette Danoise (to Anne Hoffmann) 11. Your Attitude Surprises Me (to Lutz Bacher) 12. Be Kind To The Cats 13. Faces (to Beat Streuli) 14. Dreizehn*15. Die Regenrose*16. The Ghost Who Never Lies 17. Flowers (to Maya Rikli) 18. Doowoo (to Corsin Fontana) 19. Pray Monk 20. Lightweight Heavyweight (to Eric Hattan)
Personnel: Devotion: Christoph Gallio (alto, soprano, C-melody saxophones); Silvan Jeger (bass, electric bass, sequencer and voice) and Gerry Hemingway (drums); Friederike Mayröcker (words*)