EKG & Giuseppe Ielasi - Group

Formed
105

There’s a kinder, gentler side to eai, an area were tonal content is not eschewed, where soft rhythms are allowed more than a brief existence, where granularity doesn’t necessarily slide into harshness. One thinks of much of the work issued by the twothousandand label or the lovely albums Olivia Block’s created over the past few years. Giuseppe Ielasi has also been exploring this territory in recent times and here teams with the existent duo, EKG (Ernst Karel and Kyle Bruckmann), fashioning a fine recording that not only is aurally amelioratory, but even (heaven forefend!) dabbles in a bit of composition.

There are five tracks, the first, third and fifth arranged and mixed by Karel, the second and fourth by Ielasi, each apparently using performances from an April 2005 tour as a basis and then, to greater or lesser degrees, expanding on those post-recording. While all three utilize electronics, the presence of trumpet, oboe/English horn and guitar/piano act as a warm balance to the abstractions. The horns respond unisonally to the quavering electronics on the opening cut, “Detach”, playing Greek chorus to the electronics’ tetchy drama. It’s an intriguing piece—almost formal in its structure, again akin to some of Block’s work. It also serves as an apt introduction to the rest of the disc which satisfyingly builds from this point in richness and depth. Ielasi’s piano on the second track (untitled) immediately opens up the slightly hermetic space established on “Detach” just by positioning a couple of repeated chords at a remove from the crackle ‘n’ hum. Some taped ambient sound that sounds like muffled speech in an adjacent room adds a third element, again expanding the potential sound environment. The areas thus staked out, they’ve created a breathing space to inhabit wherein the original elements easily jostle with new ones, the whole sounding deep and natural. When a drone emerges that sounds like an old Jon Gibson electric organ line, it initially shocks but Ielasi’s piano chords aptly place it into context.

“(Providence-Middletown)” picks up that organ-y tone, fluctuating in and out like the remnants of an old Riley “Poppy No-Good” session, gloopy blips darting through an increasingly lush haze. It just churns and grinds along beautifully for several minutes before subsiding into a field of whistles and hoots, a solid, audio-tactile journey. The second Ielasi-mixed track is a relatively brief but delightful mélange of bubbly pops and long, pure trumpet tones, easing into a drone that includes something that sounds for all the world like a bicycle bell; gorgeous piece. “Umweg”, perhaps the strongest work on the disc, begins with vivid, abstract electronics before very surprisingly introducing an English horn/trumpet line that’s quite reminiscent of the sort of slow, dirge-like theme Braxton perfected in the 70s. In fact, there’s a reasonable kinship between “Umweg” and Side One of Braxton’s “Trio and Duet” originally on Sackville, a similar sense of brooding space. Of course, there are great differences as well and this piece more than holds its own. That theme surfaces every so often, bracketing a handful of finely observed episodes including a wonderful quiet section full of insectile noise, and ending the work succinctly.

Of this area of improv, where a relaxed amble is preferred over a manic run or seated contemplation, it’s as good as I’ve heard this year. Recommended.

formed