A R C H A I S M S I
Rudolph and Sorey had long admired one another’s work from afar when they first met for a concert at The Stone in 2018. “Tyshawn and I had an immediate, alchemical connection,” Rudolph recalls. “We found that we were really in tune with each other, and it was easy and inspiring to play with him.” Sorey adds, “With both of us being composers, it felt natural for us to operate in this composerly way. Rather than speaking two different languages, we quickly found a way to unify our languages and speak as one. Having developed a greater understanding of each other’s work as composers and performers has really intensified the experience for me.”
Archaisms I begins sparsely, with surprising, pointillist sounds that seem to emerge from various points in three-dimensional space surrounding the listener – strikes, crashes, gongs, chimes, horns. An insistent rhythm gallops out of this mysterious space before subsiding again into a mesmerizing sparseness. The first half of the performance continues in this tidal fashion, ebbing and flowing from dynamic action to punctuated silences. The second half (Side B of the vinyl release) begins with a dialogue of mallets and hand strokes, echoing and floating like whale song carried underwater. Ricocheting cymbals and snare snap these amorphous sonics into crisp focus, initiating an avalanche of roiling, shifting sounds that carry on at blistering pace for the remainder of the 22-minute excursion.
Adam Rudolph – handrumset and percussion
Tyshawn Sorey – drum set and percussion
A R C H A I S M S I I
When Sorey and Rudolph reconvened at Roulette a little over a year later from Zürcher Gallery (Archaisms I) as part of Thomas Buckner’s long-running Interpretations series, they decided to expand their palettes by inviting the three members of Yarn/Wire and ICE and conduct this larger ensemble using their respective languages. Archaisms II focuses on the unique approach to conducted improvisation that each has devised, with a trio of collaborators from the new music realm: Sae Hashimoto and Russell Greenberg of Yarn/Wire and Levy Lorenzo of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE).
The first half of Archaisms II features Rudolph at the helm, with Sorey at the piano for much of its 22-minute length, before shifting to drum kit in the closing minutes. The second half is conducted by Sorey, with Rudolph taking his turn at the keyboard for a portion of the proceedings. Despite the additional voices, Sorey says, “In a lot of ways it’s still a duet between Adam and me. Our concept has expanded so the point where the music still sounds like something that we teamed up and developed together.”
Reviews
Archaisms I and II • 2LP Defkaz • 2t-45:33 + 2t-47:19
If the first part of "Archaisms" was already available digitally since last October, the arrival of a second volume now makes both available on vinyl, although not in a single package. They are two rather different twins, given that in "Archaisms II" the Rudolph/Sorey duo expands into a quintet, with the inclusion of Sae Hashimoto and Russell Greenberg, the exact half of the Yarn/Wire lineup, as well as Levy Lorenzo, a of the members of ICE (International Contemporary Ensemble). How easy it is to understand, in "II" the possibility of interacting with diversified languages (improv, jazz, new music), governed apparently by Butch Morris-style conduction, expands enormously, also because both Sorey and Rudolph they take turns abandoning their beloved drums to sit at the piano and extract sounds, especially in the final segment, which tend towards the cosmic. Compared to "I" – more generously versed in digging into the arcane and afro memory of drums and percussion (although not immune to suspensive moments) and bringing to mind experiences like M'Boom ("Re: Percussion", Strata-East 1973 ) –, "II" broadens the perspectives and works to relaunch, through the medium of percussion, the possibilities of dialogue between worlds that are only apparently foreign'' Piercarlo Poggio
credits
released June 7, 2024
go to the LPs pages for more informations
Tyshawn Sorey – piano, drumset
Adam Rudolph – handrumset, electronic processing, voice, percussion piano
Sae Hashimoto – multiple percussion
Russell Greenberg – multiple percussion
Levy Lorenzo – multiple percussion and electronic percussion
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