Tomaž Grom / Zlatko Kaucic

Jerome Bryerton/Damon Smith

… There Must be a reason for Generating Sounds…

Balance Point Acoustics BPAltd 14014

Bernard Santacruz/Michael Zerang

Cardinal Point>BR>

Fundacja Sluchaj FSR27/2020

Give the drummer some is an old expression in the Jazz lexicon. But what about “giving some” to the bedrock(s) of most rhythm sections – the bassist and drummer? Creative musicians who cast away such shibboleth as to which are frontline and which are background instruments initiate non-hierarchical programs and these discs show what a dedicated bass-and-drum team can accomplish.

Americans, bassist Damon Smith and drummer Jerome Bryerton have individually worked with numerous advanced musicians, The 11 tracks on their duo session though honor German multi-reedist Wolfgang Fuchs (1949-2016), whose rhythm section they were at the turn of ther century. Meanwhile Cardinal Point consists of seven improvisations by French double bassist double bassist Bernard Santacruz, who plays with the likes of Jean-Luc Cappozzo and American drummer Michael Zerang, known for his work with Ken Vandermark. Both played together in the Bridge project. Two of Slovenia’s best-known players, who direct many bands, drummer Zlatko Kaučič and bassist Tomaž Grom are alone together on Torn Memories Of Folklore. But their 10 selections are distinctive since Kaučič adds percussion textures and Grom sonics from a cacophonator or homemade combination synthesizer, effects pedal and noise box.

Familiar with the forceful and laid-back currents that can animate improvisations, Bryerton and Smith steer a middle course, among vigorous strokes and smacks, dedicated gut string and Mylar top extensions plus scene-setting and story-telling lyrical interludes. A track such as “I Don’t Want to go to Porky’s” for instance is based around trebly string squeaks and wood-rending pulls which as they rush forward intersect with bell-peals and ratcheting scratches across a cymbal top. In contrast, ones such as “I like Music – and Musicians”, which coincidentally memorializes the late bassist Gary Peacock, makes its point through responses among distant bass string plucks, drum patterning and cymbal clinks. Other sequences include combinations of these tropes. Despite its title, “I am Sorry, You Cannot be Both” starts with a shambling jump onto the string accelerating to a combination of string plucks and arco sweeps. As Smith slides up and down his instrument, with sul tasto runs and concentrated pops, Bryerton outlays motifs encompassing mental pan-like echoes, finger-cymbal pings and responsive foot pumps. Eventually the piece climaxes with a combination of concentrated arco pressure from Smith and shrieking metal rubs from the drummer. Furthermore the extended “I Played Very Loud and I did not Listen” is made up of several sections. Starting slowly with disconnected stops from the bass strings, the speed ascends to andante as the exposition is beefed up with concentrated ruffs and shaking top-like brush swishes. Countering the bassist’s near-lyrical sweeps, the drummer, channeling his inner Max Roach, work out a Jazz-groove only to have it eventually and markedly replaced with constant meld of wood and metal. This culminates with singular and descending claves-like slaps at the end.

More rugged and repetitive, Zerang and Santacruz draw on their shared experience in Jazz, ethnic and improvised musics to work out a dual paradigm which draws on those currents with maximum intensity and minimal interruptions. Insinuating walking bass lines with an archer’s string power and hard ruffs, splayed paradiddles and press rolls into the interaction, dialogues are cerebral as well as compelling. Unexpected sound detours produced by gradually loosening taut strings and sudden spiccato pushes as well as lug loosening and emphasizing the drum’s undersides and side for tone investigation gives some tracks unusual narratives. But timbral examination never introduces exoticism. A solid beat is present even if understated. Riff trading comes front-and-centre on “Nefertari”, as Zerang’s indirect beats include those from strident whistles, cymbal scratches and drum rattles. The response is perfectly balanced double bass vibrations. As Santacruz subsequently investigates the multiple ways in which strings can be manipulated, stretched and plucked, the track stays low-key and relaxed. Moderation is also expressed on “Copeaux et Limaille”. But reductionist timbres are soon superseded by buzzing col legno string rubs and drum pops and paradiddles. Finally the theme, like many others, is resolved with an upsurge to metallic string crash and drum slaps until quietly fading away.

Very faint echoes of Balkan timbres sometimes infuse Torn Memories Of Folklore. But the folklore is that of improvised music. With additional textures available from varied percussion and synthesizer more sound currents are worked into the program along with expected strident string drones and thick drum thumps. A track like “Stay The Course” for instance mixes vibraphone-like stings with rim shots and bass drum ruffs as Grom’s balanced string shapes the exposition. The climax pressures the percussion to intensify along with a mid-range walking bass line. Similarly “With a Hole in the Sock” utilizes a conveyer belt of continuous voltage from the synth, subverting the quasi-military raps from Kaučič creating a lavishly dappled melody. Harmonizing both elements the result is a percussive narrative that connects by repeating the initial theme. Whooshing air currents and distended wooden pops are sometimes heard as are clop-clop percussion and more refined rattles and pings. Still, infrequent and unexpected aviary whistles confirm the duo’s singular nature. Because of this the two final tracks are also the most descriptive. “Sheep on the Right Bank” masticates cymbal buzzes and drum pumps into appropriate backing of Grom’s fantasia of just-below-the tuning-pegs narrative. Finally “Knitting the Traps” illustrates that as Kaučič’s hard drum raps and distinctive thumps become an essay in focused idiophone reverberation, ending with light patterns from emphasized never beats.

Each of these duos prove that a band definition is what you make of it. More importantly it confirms that all the timbres needed from that band can come from a double bassist and drummer.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: There: 1. Three (-1) Italian Dogs 2. This is Clear 3. I Don’t Want to go to Porky’s 4. One Minute, One Espresso, One Cigarette 5. I am Sorry, You Cannot be Both 6. I Played Very Loud and I did not Listen 7. This is not About Friendship 8. The Blue Letter 9. From the East 10. I like Music – and Musicians (Gary Peacock in memorium) 11. Your Lights Made me Public

Personnel: There: Damon Smith (bass) and Jerome Bryerton (drums)

Track Listing: Cardinal: 1. Cardinal Point 2. Nefertari 3. Sand Roses 4. Copeaux et Limaille 5. Arlequin 6. Stay The Course 7. White Horses

Personnel: Cardinal: Bernard Santacruz (bass) and Michael Zerang (drums)

Track Listing: Torn: 1. Each in his Own Municipality 2, Feeding the Distance between Us 3. Scattered out of Context 4. Slightly Used Machine 5. With a Hole in the Sock 6. Not Every cloud 7. Hardhanded 8. Almost the Same 9. Sheep on the Right Bank 10. Knitting the Traps

Personnel: Torn: Tomaž Grom (bass and cacophonator II) and Zlatko Kaučič (drums and percussion)