Radically experimental artists are — almost by definition — deeply idiosyncratic and no two are alike. But one thing these extreme outlier musicians tend to have in common is that they usually like to get together, because they understand that putting together two unique approaches to music usually produces a third unique approach to music.
That is why when you look up the catalog of recordings by either guitarist Nels Cline or keyboardist Thollem McDonas — commonly referred to as simply ‘Thollem’ — you will find they have done collaborations probably more than solo stuff. These are guys who simply get off on the idea that bringing another open mind to the table multiplies the possibilities of putting forth sounds they might not have conceived individually. Reality and Other Imaginary Places is the fourth trio record involving both McDonas and Cline, this one under the fitting moniker Radical Empathy Trio.
Third member Michael Wimberly hadn’t been recording all too prolifically as a leader or co-leader; he has one album under his own name exclusively, and that was back in ’98. But he’s been a fixture in improvised music circles as the drummer for Steve Coleman and Five Elements and a long-time member of Charles Gayle’s band. As a composer and educator, Wimberly typically prefers makes his mark in other ways lately so to get him on board for this wild improv ride is a treat.
Recorded live at Brooklyn’s Pioneer Works cultural center, the Radical Empathy Trio brew up two extended twenty-minute performances that liberally mix acoustic with electronic in ways that reveal the creative genius at work here.
Thollem kicks off both of the jams with piano, suggesting that out-of-the-box doesn’t always require out-of-the-box instruments or effects. Cline and Wimberly take his cue of densely packed notes and hurtle toward a quick resolution on “Collective Tunnels,” slowing down only to further expose the close synthesis between Thollem and Cline as the latter folds in pedal effects on the fly. Thollem’s changeover to 80s arcade sounds prompts Cline to step further out into the noise arena, and the static-intense sonics coming from both blend together nicely into some wonderfully weird mid-century alien cacophony. Another quieter moment finds Thollem playing a keyboard that resembles a Wurlitzer in its death throes.
“Conscious Tunnels” falls under the auspices of free form jazz for the first six minutes or so, with Thollem on piano and Cline playing with bop sensibilities. Wimberly is notably using his brushes to add abrasiveness from below. But once that motif plays out, Cline is reaching into his electronic bag of tricks, making deft use of the volume pedal, looping and other schemes to create an otherworldly soundscape in communion with Thollem. Some Cecil Taylor-isms from Thollem gets confronted briefly by Cline’s Nordic rage before the trio settles into a peaceful denouement.
Radical Empathy Trio’s Reality and Other Imaginary Places is now available from the radical ESP-Disk label.
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