Matthew Bourne/Emil Karlsen

Anthony Coleman and Brian Chase
Arcades
Chaikin Records CKR 006

Stripped down to essentials the piano and drums duo can often provide all the textures needed serious improvisations. At least it’s so in these cases. That’s because each member of the duo has the artistry to emphasize the instrument’s expected qualities as well as the ability to latch onto characteristics of the other instrument to complement the exposition. Thus the piano’s percussiveness is accentuated in some sequences and the melodic qualities of the drums in others. All the players are experienced in this sort of quick-change routines in varied contexts. On the American Arcades disc for instance, pianist Anthony Coleman has worked with everyone from John Zorn to Elliott Sharp; while drummer Brian Chase of the Yeah Yeahs band brings restrained Rock music chops to the session. Meanwhile on the UK’s The Embalmer, pianist Matthew Bourne has worked in a duo with Laurent Dehors, while drummer Emil Karlsen in one with Phil Durrant.

Energy music at its freest, the first sound heard on the first and longest track of the Coleman/Chase disc, also titled “Arcades”, is the reverberations from percussion smacks and piano pressure prodded simultaneously. The track continues with metallic rim shots, rebounds and pressurized keyboard strokes. But interspaced among the clashing jolts are interludes of stopped-key squirms from the pianist and oblique nerve beats from the drummer, culminating in quiet naturalism at the end. This contrapuntal set up characterizes the duo’s other tracks, with both the vividly descriptive and muddy percussive tones emphasized in double counterpoint. That means dedicated keyboard clinks and bottleneck-guitar-like inner piano string strokes are heard as often as dynamic chording and purposeful drum rim clicks share space with thick drum rumbles. Best examples of this strategy are the sequential “Crepuscule” and “Momentary Come-on”. Almost before the methodical and slow-paced theme elaboration by Coleman plus Chase’s tandem paradiddles have been established on the first, then ringing cymbal scratches and pressurized comping leads to a dynamic turnaround. Mid-way through the second track, with drum paradiddles alongside, the pianist pounds out a conveyer belt of repeated patterns that focus not only the root and extension of every tone, but also the pounding undertow.

Across the Atlantic, Bourne and Karlsen follow a different course, often, as on “Clench” their introductory track, easing into the narratives with a single keyboard clip and percussion slaps, until the intertwined sound tapestry picks up speed and stress. Moving from warm vibrations against the piano’s soundboard, Bourne rolls out a parcel of packed piano notes as the tempo doubles and is further prodded by rattles and rim shots. Piling multiple tones from in-between -key spaces, Bourne’s thumping chords meet up with Karlsen’s martial pulse and press rolls for a spectacular climax. Also showing the light and dark tinctures of a piano-drums duet, the two can advance an exposition with gentle brush strokes or stick cracks against the drums’ wood and metal, as well as piano pedal emphasis and stretched tones. If intensity is expressed, then its dynamic pressure is tempered with logical and linear progressions. Here too the longest elaboration of the strategy on “Prick” shows how a narrative can be cunningly drawn out with keyboard jumps and japes and sandpaper-like rubs on drum tops without abandoning its precise, impressionistic cast. Moving from swift to settled, along with keyboard lines from either hand intersecting, the drummer’s woody nerve beats help create a stop-time climax that relaxes the exposition into a distinctive finale.

With no dead bodies, dead chords or dead air around, it’s puzzling as to why the UK session is called The Embalmer. There may be a certain studied expertise that goes into the laying out of both these progressive duos. But there’s also enough loping and lively musical surprises and resolution to perhaps make the deceased dance or at least move rhythmically.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Arcades: 1. Arcades 2. Divagations 3. Crepuscule 4. Momentary Come-on 5. With Cunning

Personnel: Arcades: Anthony Coleman (piano) and Brian Chase (drums)

Track Listing:1. Clench 2. Snuff 3. Prick 4. Fool 5. Chalk 6. The Embalmer

Personnel: Matthew Bourne (piano) and Emil Karlsen (drums