Stranger than Friction

Jack Wright/Katsura Kan & TROCKENEIS @ The Carriage House, Baltimore, MD
Friday, April 25, 2008

Audrey Chen: electronics, voice, frictions
Catherine Pancake: dry ice, percussion
Dan Breen: electronics, tools, rake
Andy Hayleck: percussion, frictions
Paul Neidhardt: laptop, percussion

Jack Wright: saxophones
Katsura Kan: Butoh dance

What does dry ice sound like? The on stage visual qualities have been well plumbed, but the sonic potential rests squarely in the hands of Catherine Pancake, possibly the closest thing to a dry ice virtuoso to come along in any generation. Making music with extremes in temperatures necessitates a good set of oven mitts as she takes heated cymbals from a portable heating element and applies hot metal to a slab of dry ice. At times the sounds unleashed are startling in their loudness, a dynamic range controlled by the amount of pressure applied between parts. Pancake also explores the more subtle frictions of spoons and forks along the ice and fills out her sound set with hand held gongs and bowed cymbals.

The other members of Trockeneis delve further into the frictional soundscapes as the collective drone of acoustic tectonic plates evolved into a pair of long-form improvisations. Each performer bringing a slightly different instinct to the elemental qualities of objects rubbing against each other. It is a sound filled with subtle detail and a deliberately blank foreground.

The duet of movement and saxophone that followed managed to heighten the other-worldliness of the evening. The pale form of Katsura Kan nearly blended into the wall in the dim light as the intensity of his movements and stark expressiveness was complimented by the air passing through saxophone as exhaled by Jack Wright. The austere, heavily restrained release of this duo shifted focus on details often overlooked in collaborative performance. The meditative quality of movement and music offering a gentle invitation to open one's thoughts and ears.

Scaling the Saxophone Summit

Saxophone Summit @ The Red Room, Baltimore, MD
November 24, 2007

Jack Wright: saxophones
Katsura Yamauchi: saxophones
John Berndt: saxophones
Heddy Boubaker: saxophones

Strategically positioned in formation across the performance space of the Red Room the Saxophone Summit presented sonic canvases of varying duration over two sets. With a restless willingness to draw timbres from their respective vibrating columns by a wide variety of means this music took on the detail rich vibrancy of an imaginary pipe organ powered by multiple creative minds actively transforming every angle and quality of it's own plumbing in real time.

John Berndt experimented with empty energy drink cans placed within the alto saxophone or the muting properties of a soprano saxophone pressed against his leg. Heddy Boubaker explored a territory of partially disassembled instrument (at one point seemingly drinking the gurgling contents with the horn tipped high over his head) and various mouthpiece-free sounds. Jack Wright was at turns percussive and almost conversationally sputtering with his refined (and much appreciated) personal style of free improvisation. And Katsura Yamauchi wove in timbrally striking patterns that were startling and a point of fixation for these ears. His contributions often led me to open my eyes to determine where a particular layer of the sound was coming from. Invariably it was some quiet repeated pattern of clicked keypads or softly bent tone from Yamauchi's sopranino or alto saxophone. Late in the second set he built up to some loud multi phonics rich with psycho acoustic anomalies.

Wright Pocket, Red Room

The Jack Wright Trio @ The Red Room, Baltimore, MD - May 26, 2007
Jack Wright: alto saxophone, soprano saxophone
Toshi Makihara: drums
Evan Lipson: bass

This is one hot, creative trio with big ears and musicianship to burn. Each member performed as an equal part of the overall sonic painting. The linear explorations and responses/reactions to the other players occasionally coalescing into pockets of richly satisfying grooves before dissolving into a constantly shifting soundscape. The shifting textures and densities gave way to brief focal points on individual performers. But the overall emphasis was on the energy and free flowing ideas that formed a remarkably balanced cohesiveness. I hope somebody is documenting this group.

The extended techniques each player integrated into this evening's performance was striking. Each seemed to emerge as a natural part of the overall sound without drawing attention to the "non-standard" approach to playing. Wright took apart and then reassembled his soprano saxophone in the middle of the set's second piece. First playing without the mouthpiece, then using circular breathing to play the metal column like a small didgeridoo. Makihara explored all kinds of inventive sounds from his drum kit, using a wide variety of sticks, brushes, bare knuckles and elbows. At one point he picked up a thermos and found a nice percussive sound by rhythmically snapping it open and shut. And Lipson brought out the rich, resonant body of the acoustic bass into the sonic texture as he bowed the body of the instrument itself and played some beautiful col legno passages. He also used clothes pins to alter the vibrations of the open strings and fearlessly applied several aggressive Bartok pizzicato snaps. But what really impressed me was when Wright would drop out and one could hear a ghost-like sonic image of his lines and gestures being played on the bass - often matching his register.