Angelica Sanchez/Chad Taylor

Marilyn Crispell & Harvey Sorgen
Forest
Fundacja Shuchaj FSR 22/2204

Two American duos explore the sparse yet rewarding sounds devised by balancing the lyrical and percussive power of a piano with a drum set’s subtle rhythmic feel. It’s a format that has been rewarding for such keyboard innovators as Cecil Taylor and Irène Schweizer along with an assemblage of percussion partners. The experienced players on Forest are pianist Marilyn Crispell, known for her work with Anthoney Braxton among many others; and drummer Harvey Sorgen who has played in many bands with Joe Fonda to name one associate. Meanwhile A Monster is just an Animal you haven’t met yet the is personified by pianist Angelica Sanchez who has recorded with everyone from Wadada Leon Smith to Paul Dunmall, and drummer Chad Taylor, who has worked with numerous groups, including those of James Bandon Lewis.

Neither disc is designed as casual interludes. But at the same time each duo’s creations aren’t so aggressive that reasonable lyricism is neglected. Instead a variant of sophisticated progression is expressed on nearly every track, balancing textures as they shift among the varied emphasis the twosomes bring to the session.

Crispell and Sanchez can play powerfully though. The title track of the former’s duo for instance begins with Crispell applying pressure on the keys for timbral extension before diving deep inside the instrument for soundboard rumbles. then surfacing to quickly propel elevated note geysers. These speedy changes of pace easily make common cause with Sorgen’s bass drum pounding, cymbal sweeps and press rolls or more retrained woody clanks and clips.

Variation on the theme are prevalent before reaching “Green”, the disc’s mid-range coda. “Green”  that sums up the duo’s dualism with piano segues between dynamic tolling on one hand and gentling echoes with the other, as drum stick clanks and press rolls showcase the drummer’s strategy,

Among the contrasts expressed by Crispell and Sorgen are tracks that firmly nestle in the swing groove; others which break up straight-ahead expositions with keyboard clips and cymbal splashes; and some which toughen in increments as soundboard resonations grow into two-handed keyboard variations backed by drum ruffs and thumps. Sorgen’s ingenuity is defined in that he can propel rhythm with the controlled rotation of objects on drum tops on “Sandscape” as craftily as he uses martial raps and rim shots to speed up an exposition created by Crispell’s key prodding and swaying stops on “Wolf Moon”.

No less creative or cohesive as the other duo, the Sanchez-Taylor pairing also explores permutations of light and darkness, speed and stasis. At the same time every variation is weighed for narrative progression. The drummer’s strategies encompass expected cymbal crashes and drum, paradiddles, pumps and pops. Crucially though he can also pivot to unexpected patterning. For instance his playing on the concluding “All Alone Together” has a faint Caribbean-Latin groove with the cymbal clanks and patter reminiscent of junkeroo goatskin drum resonations. This intersects with the pianist’s internal string and doubled expression in a stop-time narrative. More uniquely the title tune offers a jerky melody created by inner piano string slaps and extensive resonations plus shakes from Taylor’s kalimba plucks.

Sanchez too maintains control with expositions ranging from thick, low-key pumping to single note filigree. “Holding Space” is an instance of the former as the theme is outlined with methodical and balanced key stops aided by drum pops and patters reaching an apogee in the second section as pressure and pep combine. An example of the latter, “Alluvia” has a decorative and flowery piano exposition matched with Taylor’s brush strokes. Linear motifs advance speedily with the climax a tandem fade following drum slaps and key rustling.

Variations in targeted swing, rhythmic stop-time and timbral sprinkles characterize many of the other tracks. However the album’s most notable takeaway is confirming how well this duo and the other expand the parameters of drum-piano music, without upsetting the balance between convention and creativity.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Forest: 1. Forest 2. Overtones of Darkness and Light 3. Wolf Moon 4. Sandscape 5. Garden 6. Dulcimer 7. Borders 8. Air Dissolves, Sea Rushes In 9. Remembrance of Karl 10. Green

Personnel: Forest: Marilyn Crispell (piano) and Harvey Sorgen (drums)

Track Listing: Monster: 1. Liminal 2. Animistic 3. Holding Presence In Time 4. Holding Space 5. Tracers Of Cosmic Space 6. Myopic Seer 7. A Monster is just an Animal you haven’t met yet 8. Alluvial 9. Threadwork 10. All Alone Together

Personnel: Monster: Angelica Sanchez (piano) and Chad Taylor (drums)