Magda Mayas/Jason Kahn

Having in the past partnered with groups featuring fellow electronic musicians and often saxophonists such as Ulrich Krieger or Berand Denzler, American in Switzerland Jason Kahn pares down his arrangement to a duet with German pianist Magda Mayas, with whom he’s played on and off since 2012. Mayas, known for her work with Tony Buck and others, brings an atypical manipulation of objects and regular piano elements to intensify Night’s heightened invention.

As the tracks’ sound stretches and judders, electronic crackles, processed tweaks and harsh buzzes and squeaks from Kahn’s equipment share space with Mayas’ metronomic key clips, soundboard echoes and plastic-bottle-like resonations. At the same time her refractive keyboard patterns preserve the closest thing to horizontal expositions throughout.

Building up to the concluding “In the Sky”, Kahn’s programmed and granulized textures eventually pile on more unexpected tumult encompassing slide whistle-like peeps, scouring on what could be sandpaper, metallic grating and radio wave resembling static. Turning obliquely away from the linear at points Mayas also builds up from brief inner-string strums and key plinks to a climax that has her blending string pops, pedal point shudders and implement shakes inside the piano. As well she adds  rapid and constant key plinks to bridge the distance between her improvisations and unite with Kahn’s distended electronic segues.

With these prominent dual textures fading into a linear blend, Night can be defined as three notable tracks of distinctive electro-acoustic invention.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. The Night Was Gone 2. The Morning Star Was Shining 3. In the Sky

Personnel: Magda Mayas (piano and objects) and Jason Kahn (electronics)