Just as the group of blind men drew divergent conclusions about elephants after touching particular parts of the animal, jazz means different things to different people, depending on one’s taste and experience. We heard a particular sliver of the diverse world of jazz on March 8, as 35 of us gathered at Holyoke Media to listen to Aaron Shragge Whispering Worlds. The quartet: Shragge (trumpet, shakuhachi, effects), Luke Schwartz, (guitar, effects), Deric Dickens (drums) and Damon Banks (bass guitar), took us on an ethereal, 75-minute journey through a sound world inspired by the late Jon Hassell.
Although the music was written by Shragge, the compositions were animated by his love of Hassell’s other-worldly oeuvre. Like Hassell’s vision, Shragge’s music unfurled on a new age wave of electronics. Using two Ableton enabled laptops, beds of synthetic sound made it possible to float easily into a meditative state.
The world of Armstrong, Ellington, Parker and Ornette felt very far away.
Shragge’s unique Dragon Mouth trumpet, patterned after Maynard Ferguson’s 70s-era prototype called the “Firebird”, is basically a regular valve trumpet with a soprano trombone slide. The slide enables Shragge to emulate bent notes commonly used in North Indian classical vocal music. When combined with the echo, loops and distortions made possible by his electronics, the sound was at once amorphous and enveloping.
Shragge, who has lived in Amherst since 2020, has had an interesting career in music. He has played extensively with guitarist Ben Monder (now part of The Bad Plus), is part of the boundary busting ensemble Brooklyn Raga Massive, was active in the big-tented Festival of New Trumpet, and leads a band that plays the music of Tom Waits. He’s also a licensed music therapist. Shragge’s long-time Zen practice led him to the shakuhachi, an ancient Japanese bamboo flute. Soon after getting to New York, he was handed a shakuhachi by the esteemed teacher, Ronnie Nyogetsu Reishin Seldin, founder and director of the Ki-Sui-An Shakuhachi Dojo. Shragge is now expert on the instrument.
Shragge got to play with Hassell, whose career as a trumpeter and composer intersected with Karlheinz Stockhausen, Terry Riley, Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, David Byrne and Carl Craig, among many others. This Jazz Shares concert with Whispering Worlds motivated me to pull out my two Jon Hassell records: his 1980 debut, Fourth World, Vol. 1: Possible Musics, and Flash of the Spirit, his 1987 recording with Farafina, an ensemble of musicians from Burkina Faso. Hassell’s integration of percussion and electronics (Possible Musics featured the brilliant Brazilian percussionist Nana Vasconcelos), was mirrored in the work of Whispering Worlds’ Deric Dickens.
Amidst all the swirling, ambient sounds, Dickens acoustic drumming was a grounding force, providing drive and forward momentum. The Brooklyn-based percussionist augmented our Jazz Shares Gretsch Catalina Club kit with a variety of bells and other metal instruments to produce a welcome scaffolding for the atmospherics of the rest of the band. Dickens can be found on stage and recordings with Daniel Carter, Russ Lossing, Caroline Davis and Sara Schoenbeck. His 2011 release, Speed Date, where he invited collaborators like Kirk Knuffke, Matt Wilson, Jeff Lederer and Jeremy Udden to perform with him in duos, is a good place to dive into Dickens work.
Like Dickens, I was meeting guitarist Luke Schwartz for the first time. Both were generous, gracious and extremely talented. Schwartz integrated his articulate guitar lines with his laptop-infused output, resulting in a constant reweaving of the band’s tonal fabric. With its emphasis on layered textures and the engrossing sound environment, Saturday’s concert had the feel of a soundtrack. Schwartz, who was part of guitarist and composer Glenn Branca’s world, has extensive experience in sound design and film scoring. His work with Rick Cox, led to collaboration with the influential Hollywood film composer Thomas Newman, and through them he met and worked with Jon Hassell to help compose a 30-minute piece for sculptor Charles Long that was released on Hassell’s label, Ndeya.
I first crossed paths with electric bassist Damon Banks when Adam Rudolph’s Go: Organic Orchestra and Arun Ramamurthy’s Trio performed in the Valley. I also got to spend time with him when he accompanied his wife, violinist Gwen Laster, when she headlined a Jazz Shares concert in January. He has stayed at our home and become a friend. Banks has a flexible musical mind, ready to provide whatever the moment demands. Although an outsider to Hassell’s world, he certainly is familiar with drones and non-western music through work with Hassan Hakmoun, Arto Lindsay, Angelique Kidjo and Karsh Kale. The Bronx-born, Fisk University educated, Banks has also collaborated with artists as diverse as George Benson, Sekou Sundiata, Wadada Leo Smith and Angela Bofill.
After the gig in Holyoke, Whispering Worlds performed in North Adams, MA and Beacon, NY celebrating the release of their new recording, Cosmic Cliffs, (Adhyaropa Records). The results, available digitally and on CD, was expertly mixed by Luke Schwartz. It is a fantastic listening experience and an important part of the jazz elephant.
Comentarios