Light.box + Tom Challenger

Stephen Flinn/Bryan Eubanks
Stephen Flinn/Bryan Eubanks
Public Eyesore PE 159

Blending electronic impulses and acoustic instruments now has a multi-decades history in improvised music. Depending on the participants sub genres have developed which emphasize whether the oscillations or the phonics are paramount. The most rewarding of these situations however, are those which highlight one or the other but reconcile the two impulses.

The single more than half-hour improvisation by Americans Stephen Flinn and Bryan Eubanks emphasis synthesized wave forms since alto saxophonist Eubanks specializes in distinctive spatial and computer-based composition, while percussionist Flinn moves beyond standard drum patterns to create unique sounds, which in this case are intensified with electronic interaction. While both members of Light.box are fully involved in electronic experimentation on Eyre’s six tracks, UK trumpeter Alex Bonney and Canadian bass guitarist Pierre Alexandre Tremblay’s retention of acoustic timbres are further strengthened contributions from British tenor saxophonist Tom Challenger, who usually plays in non-programmed settings with the likes of Mark Sanders and Olie Brice.

Flinn and Eubanks’ triumph is how they navigate the parameters of the harsh, inflating and sometimes ear-splitting instrumental motifs so that its dimensions also reflect of concurrent associations. Throughout unvarying reed note bending and strained vibrations brush up against not only gong reverberations and scrapes against unyielding metal but tempo and pitch changes summoned through programming and dial twisting. Quivers advanced with thickening resonance, aviary whistles and back of throat reed gargling abut unbroken electronics impulses. At the same time undulating shills that intersect are propelled with such skill that whether their origin is wave form intensity or thick cymbal and gong scrapes is often unclear. Contrapuntal pushback also encompasses jagged saxophone bites and bell-like pulsations until gong reverberations, reed overblowing and electronic pulsations are squeezed together into a pressurized finale.

Eyre is distinct and different from the eponymously titled other session. That’s because bass string bounces, brass tongue buzzes and undulating saxophone slurs are as upfront as the electronics’ watery slurps and chugging wave forms as early as “Lateral Sway”, the first track. These alternating impulses continue throughout the performance before culminating in an electro-acoustic synthesis on the concluding “Covalent”.  This involves shaking programmed reflux colliding with an unvarying reed breaths and last-minute bass guitar strums.

During the group of “Chain Chimes” tracks Challenger’s mid-range expression and the synthesized rumbles rarely advance without a top line from Bonney’s trumpet that range from mewling whines to half-valve howls and brassy shakes. The melded understated judders and emphasized breath emphasize electronic or acoustic pivots in turn, reaching an interactive crescendo on “Chain Chimes Part 3”.

As ringing tremors and whooshing shakes inflate, an instance of stop-start textures speed up to trumpet triplets and triple-tonguing reed digs as the wave form drone continues unabated. Finally, a unison buzz and shake is heard before fading into a mellow slur.

As long as sessions like these continue to probe electro-acoustic dimensions, the possibilities for more invention and fine sounds remain,

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Stephen: 1. Stephen Flinn/Bryan Eubanks

Personnel: Stephen: Bryan Eubanks (alto saxophone and electronics) and Stephen Flinn (percussion and gongs)

Track Listing: Eyre: 1. Lateral Sway 2. Chain Chimes Part 1 3. Chain Chimes Part 2 4. Chain Chimes Interlude 5. Chain Chimes Part 3 6. Covalent

Personnel: Eyre: Alex Bonney (trumpet and electronics); Tom Challenger (tenor saxophone) and Pierre Alexandre Tremblay (bass guitar and electronics)