Alex Wing

Rhodri Davies

Telyn Rawn

Amgen 101

Two approaches to mostly solo string-driven improvisations are as different as Wales is to Chicago – and not just because Welsh Rhodri Davies is playing the harp and Windy City denizen Alex Wing spreads his singular applications among guitar, bass, oud, drums, hulusi, Moog, Rhodes, and alto clarinet. Definitely the musician who has created a place for one of the world’s oldest instruments in improvised music, Davies plays electric and acoustic instruments in collaboration with everyone from John Butcher to Simon H. Fell. Telyn Rawn‘s 18 (!) selections however are played on a specially designed and built replication of an antique Welsh harp, strung with wound and pleated horse-hair strings. A long-time member of art of Chicago’s experimental scene, Wing who plays with David Boykin and others, is part of a group which has run a south side free improv jam session for almost 20 years.

Using tropes that range from delicate pizzicato frails to authoritative arco scrubs, Davies’ vigorous improvisations tap into primordial sound currents which on a track like “Gorchan Sali” and “Angharat Ton Uelen” could be traditional airs. The first projects excitement with a waterfall of chromatically moving tones, while the second transforms into a sequence of foot-tapping resounds. Slurred staccato fingering predominates on other tracks, while some resonate with such percussive force that it’s almost as if he’s playing a cimbalom. As andante and moderato tempos give way to presto and vivace ones, tracks maintain their spiky contemporary feel even as they abut carefree rhythms that could be Balkan dances as easily as hoedowns. The string tracking on a tune such as “Dygan tro’r Ebill” may be blindingly fast with staccato strops and echoing plucks. Yet each is also amplified with the logical sonic extensions of each timbre. By the CD’s concluding tracks, strummed and stopped low pitches are more prominent during the improvisations. As the strings rush against once another collective animation is maintained culminating in measured stroke and rebounds in the final “Y Don Newydd”.

Wing’s 12 tracks are a different matter because his solo improvisations are divided among many instruments. However the electronics, reed and percussion serve as a necessary counterpoint to the acoustic guitar and bass forays. In fact on tracks like “Solo Tutti” the squeaky outer-space-like Moog currents set up and complement subsequent staccato guitar licks before ending with a contrapuntal challenge. Meanwhile some of the sul ponticello bass variations that rappel up and down the strings on “Park Slope, top floor 2” resemble some the faux primitivism Davies exhibits with horse-hair harp. Yet Wing works from buzzing drones to textures that almost scream stridency.

More distinctive is Wing’s guitar work which like the harpist’s interface sometimes concentrates on pressurized plucks and the equivalent of col legno string strokes. A tune such as “1988 “ is a Bizzaro adaptation of Blues changes with emphasize on bottleneck-like whines, ending with echoes that connect to the guitar’s story-telling tradition. Similarly his technique on tracks such as” Guitar 2” reveal folk-like improv variations that relax into flattened licks and pinpointed string hammering. Meantime there are forays into Hawaiian-guitar like vibrations or hammering below-the-bridge timbres. However “For Saalik” the extended final track positively confirms his string versatility and identity. Adding a sitar-like drone to a shaking downwards shuffle, the staccato conclusion confirms individual identity.

Davies’ contribution is to cannily make a set of up-to-date improvisations sound as if they’re invested with thousands of year of Welsh history. Meanwhile Wing’s modern primitivism is such that when he puts instrumental virtuosity aside to concentrate on functionality, his individual improvisations can be best appreciated.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Telyn: 1. Penrhiw 2. Gorchan Sali 3. Y Gaseg Fedi 4. Angharat Ton Uelen 5. Maen Ceti 6. Rhywbeth 7. Afon Dewi Fawr 8. Ffarwel Arddol 9. Lwc i’r Ceffyl Melyn 10. Pengribyn 11. Cwrt Malle 12. Triban Cilrhedyn 13. Waunceiliogau 14. Dygan tro’r Ebill 15. Erddigan Gwawr 16. Gorhoffedd Rhisiart 17. Penglog Ceffyl 18. Y Don Newydd

Personnel: Telyn: Rhodri Davies (horsehair harp)

Track Listing: Solar: 1. Solo Tutti 2. Park Slope, top floor 3. 1988 4. Hulusi 5. Guitar 6. Moog 7. Shra 8. Moog 2 9. Guitar 2 10. Park Slope, top floor 2 11. Solo Tutti 12. For Saalik

Personnel: Solar: Alex Wing (guitar, bass, Moog, Rhodes, oud, drums, hulusi, alto clarinet)