Guitars have been a part of Tim Berne’s music since a then-unknown Nels Cline appeared on Berne’s second album 7x (1980) and a few years later with a just-emerging Bill Frisell (Theoretically, 1984). No guitarists have figured more prominently in Berne’s oeuvre over the last twenty-five or so years than Marc Ducret and David Torn. Candid brings those two together with this saxophonist for the first time.
Billed as the ‘Sunny Five,’ the Sun of Goldfinger trio of Berne, Torn and drummer Ches Smith is bolstered by Ducret and electric bassist Devin Hoff. Hoff (Nels Cline Singers, Dylan Ryan/Sand, Mendoza Hoff Revels) represents another intriguing twist, as Berne is heard alongside an electric bassist (Berne usually performs with an acoustic bassist or no bass at all).
As both Ducret and Torn are very brash axe men and Hoff is no shrinking violet, either, the Sunny Five is a loud and audacious band. With Torn tossing out his live, multi-looping and Smith supplementing with creepy electronics, this isn’t just a dangerous band on paper, it sounds every bit the part.
All the composing here is done as we hear it: on the fly as group improvisation. Four episodic, lengthy pieces where the players converge, disperse, build up and release as a unit and the commitment to make an impact at every turn is strong. When “Piper” builds up to a mid-song crescendo of Torn and Ducret meeting together in an orgy of screech, it’s noise-jazz at the highest level. Berne by himself matches the fervor with one of his more off-the-chain blowing moments.
In spite of the instant composition approach taken to realize songs as they are performed, there’s a strong sense of direction and purpose. “Scratch” is definitely linear across its vast, 19-minute duration, starting with a premonition mood soon to be borne out by Berne’s urgent sax wails and moving logically to the next phase of Hoff and Smith muscling in. Smith’s drum explosions lay the foundation for a full-frontal attack of guitar, electronics and, eventually, saxophone. It all comes crashing down, because there’s no other way to go, and the seeds are quickly planted for a new, uneasy ambiance.
Ducret grooves with Hoff’s and Smith’s sideways funky figure on “Craw” that stays loose enough for Berne to stretch way out. “Floored” is lengthy enough to be its own album. The twelve-minute intro of elongated notes makes way for one of Smith’s impossible time signatures, laying the foundation for Berne’s slow simmering side and his uproarious side sandwiching a deluge of overdriven guitars from by Ducret and Torn. By the song’s conclusion, the boys are throwing down that doom jazz.
In the end, Candid is a jam record but in this case, the jams expose just how scary talented this assemblage truly is. Deployed in the service of unfiltered passion, it’s talent applied in the best way.
Candid gets uncaged on January 19, 2024 from Intakt Records. Pre-order/order a copy from Bandcamp.
Amazon links:
Sunny Five – Candid
Sun of Goldfinger
David Torn – Prezens
Time Berne – Oceans And
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