Birgit Ulher/Nicolas Collins

There’s nothing brassy or overtly heraldic about Spark Gay despite it involving the performance of six instant compositions by two trumpeters. Instead American Nicolas Collins and German Birgit Ulher rely on shading, scope and skill to draw novel textures from their horns. Part of the distinctive clarion overlap results from each applying their varied backgrounds to the situation.

An electronic music composer, sound artist and academic, Collins’ aleatory forays have involved such players as Zeena Parkins and John Zorn. Also a visual artists, Ulher’s experience is almost pure improvisation, playing with everyone from Damon Smith to Christoph Schiller. Frequently involved in dual trumpet situations, she adds radio, speaker and objects timbres to her procedures here.

Not that the add-ons make that much difference, for the chemistry involved on Spark Gap is the combination of undifferentiated high and low tones and use of every part of the instrument from valves, tubing, mouthpiece and innards to express, compress, cultivate and color textures so they amplify and embellish sequences.

Watery and segmented at times or solid and unbroken at others, the squeaks and smears projected by both trumpeters are sometimes augmented with particular tropes such as playing with a metal sheet pressed against the bell, propelling near-static air through the trumpet’s body tube without valve movement or adding whines and growls for emphasis.

Although stop-time and synthesized electronic fillip make their appearance in the form of modular-like gonging, widening drones and signal processed tones that appear to emanate more from the cosmos than the conservatory, an overall horizontal bearing remains.

However since added to the innovations are percussive rolls and rattles against the instrument’s bodies as well as tongue jujitsu and extended mouthpiece suckling along with half-valve cries, stops and triplets assemblages, exact individual identification is nearly impossible. Furthermore there are numerous brassy ascensions, but none that subvert linear expression and cooperation.

Eventually the concluding and cooperative “Sea Moss” wraps these motifs together for distinct definition. Equally expressing elongated grace notes and elevated pinched trills alongside nearly continuous lower-pitched tongue stops and plunger tones, acoustic and electrified tones combine into a distinct and unique musicality that lacks no other notes or tones. A stentorian unbroken brass blat confirms this bat the finale.

With no pop music, romantic obbligato or brass band references here, on this disc the gap filled by Ulher and Collins’ trumpets is the spark that describe originality and innovation.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. Gimlet 2. Plinth 3. Riprap 4. Scudding 5. Spur 6. Sea Moss

Personnel: Nicolas Collins (trumpet)  and Birgit Ulher (trumpet, radio, speaker and objects)