Chris Brown & Ben Davis

Chris Brown & Tim Daisy
Spells are Cast
Relay Recordings 038

Bi-coastal or at least dual city electro-acoustic improv, Bay-area based Chris Brown uses his piano and live electronic signal processing in duos with UK cellist Ben Davis and Chicago percussionist Tim Daisy. Brown who is an academic as well as recording with the likes of William Winant and Larry Ochs, works out 10 improvisations with Davis, who has worked with everyone from Simon Nabatov to Tomeka Reid. Meanwhile Daisy, who is involved in two extended improvisations with Brown has recorded with fellow innovators like Dave Rempis and Mark Feldman.

Davis reacts and leads the responses from  both of Brown’s instruments by emphasizing  string techniques that range from thick glissandi to col legno stabs and multiple strums.  His timbres can be Ur-romantic at points, output ferocious spiccato runs at others and torque and buzz elsewhere so that his strident echoes sound almost electronic.

Never emphasizing his keyboard or his processing at the expense of the other, Brown’s strategy is to meet Davis’ romanticism or raunch with equivalent impulses. At the same time he’s able to operate as if he’s two separate players. On a track like “Hither” for instance he counter string strums and scrubs with single keyboard clips which are carefully positioned within squeaking and jiggling electronics.

This timbral intermingling also takes on other dimensions as tracks vary in pitch, tempo and intensity. Although electronic inferences from dial-twisting static to booming resonations are often heard or at least sensed, the acoustic properties of the instruments aren’t neglected. To take one example, timbres unaltered by processing are emphasized on “Fzy”. Aggressive piano pounding that intersects with sharp, multi-string strokes soon switches to intermittent keyboard clips as Davis emphasizes single string plinks. Oscillations underline the interaction as the two combine for a darker duet that synthesizes cello string whines and piano rumbles into an effective whole.

With enough technical adroitness which allowed each to reach solo concerto ability, the warmth that could be projected from expected cello-piano interaction is also heard intermittently. But since the session is dedicated to improvisation not impressionism, rugged smacks against the wood of either instrument and clenched key or string strains are as common as turns towards mellow and moderate.

“Oort Cloud” expresses this duality at its greatest length as tough cello buzzes and rolling piano smacks give way to linear, but no less torqued expositions. Multi-string string stops from Davis and Brown’s passionate yet percussive expositions swiftly revert to staccato string rubs and keyboard slaps and pops.

Slaps, pops, rumbles and rebounds are of courser a drummer’s stock and trade, but despite being a percussionist, Daisy’s duets with Brown on Spells are Cast are no more jolting than the piano-cello interactions and are as inventive in integrating electronic processing as the Brown-Daviss duets on the other disc.

Never overbearing, Daisy’s contributions are often understated or move rumbles and rolls into the sound picture for maximum effects. With patches of squeaks, trembles and boings twitching underneath, Brown uses his piano skills to emphasize expositions which can move from delicacy to toughness mirrored by Daisy’s similar movement from rim clips to percussion resounds. On both tracks the dynamic interchanges and additions maintain individuality even as whining and menacing programmed impulses are heard.

On the slightly lengthier “Sticks and Stones”, as the bouncing piano theme uses key tinkles and expansive cross pressure to move from andante to allegro, Daisy’s staccato pulse performs a similar function, as squirming tremolo-twitters contrast and connect to the other’s output. While the drummer’s exposition introduces metallic cymbal clanks and woody slaps, Brown emphasizes the humanness of the interaction by briefly pivoting to Blues runs, buttressed by simple single-key patterning. Despite concentrated electronic buzzes and shakes which sometimes approximate harmonica-like timbres, the final sequence narrows to  reassert acoustic projections with pounding kettle drum-like whaps and emphasized keyboard arpeggios.

Meeting each challenge with confidence as well as currents Brown confirms his ambidextrous capabilities, while Davis and Daisy reflect their adaptability to electro-acoustic improvisations.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Jongleurs: 1. Murmur 2. Burr 3. Hither 4. Oort Cloud 5. Nether 6. Eyebros 7. Fzy 8. Umidata 9. Peck 10. Ringslo

Personnel: Jongleurs Chris Brown (piano and live electronic signal processing) and Ben Davis (cello and percussion)

Track Listing: Spells: 1. Counting Feather 2. Sticks and Stones

Personnel: Spells: Chris Brown (piano and live electronic signal processing) and Tim Daisy (drums and percussion)