- Thom Gossage and Other Voices - In Other Words (Songlines Recordings) Rating: 8 (out of 10)
Ostensibly Thom Gossage plies his trade as a percussionist but it's really as a composer that the Montreal musician makes his mark. In Other Words, the fifth album generated out of his Other Voices project is all about process and how different elements fit together.
Gossage has worked extensively with choreographer Isabelle Van Grimde and this collaboration is integral to his creative process. Van Grimde's use of a figure and its constant presence through permutations in a series of paintings inspired Gossage to try something similar with his music.
Some of the tracks on the album (such as "Counter Counter Clockwise" and "Chemins II") come directly from material written originally for dance pieces while others bring in different sources: "Inari" builds from "the chants of Shinto priests at an Inari shrine sent from an iPhone" and the title track came from "a lengthy rhythm score without pitches scribbled on a floor tom." Gossage uses this material in new contexts, pushing the creative envelope and seeing how far they can "abstract the initial idea."
In the liner notes Gossage name-drops Anthony Braxton in explaining how his music is an "open work" intended to be completed by the other musicians. Braxton's concept of "pulse tracks" and the suggestion of rhythmic markers within the flow of the music helps the percussionist to organize the sound. It's up to the rest of the band working with him in real time to make it happen.
The Other Voices (former Besnard Lakes guitarist Steve Raegele, bassist Miles Perkin, tenor saxophonist Frank Lozano and alto saxophonist Rémi Bolduc) take the music off in many directions. The two horn players, well established on the Montreal scene, have a real feel for what Gossage is doing and work together beautifully throughout the record.
Raegele and Perkin bring in different schools of thought and practice but are no less integral to the mix. The guitarist's work is more prominent, or at least louder, on the second half of the recording while Perkin has a stalwart presence throughout. Gossage's drums, electronics and percussion (the French word "batterie" says it best) are the glue that hold the whole thing together.
- John Goodman
- Benoît Delbecq and Françis Houle - Because She Hoped (Songlines Recordings) Rating: 8 (out of 10)
Parisian-based pianist Benoît Delbecq and Vancouver clarinetist Françis Houle have recorded together before but distance makes their collaborations few and far between. Their first album as a duo, Nancali, came out in 1997 with a second, Dice Thrown, following in 2002. Because She Hoped was put together while the two were on a rare French tour in January of last year.
The effort required for the two to get together is always well worth it. Delbecq is known for his use of prepared piano techniques to extend the sound of the instrument and in Houle he has found a partner who is equally capable of venturing out into new territory.
Both musicians provided original material for the session with two covers, Steve Lacy's "Clichés" and Duke Ellington's "The Mystery Song" (a tune Lacy covered as well), indicating where the two improvisers find common ground.
For more information on these albums and other recordings on the Songlines label visit www.songlines.com.
