The adventurous drummer, composer and bandleader Devin Gray has been spending a lot of time in Berlin lately, and Berlin’s been rubbing off on him. He’s taken a leap from the advanced modern jazz of Melt The Guns, To The Point and his 2010s star-studded Dirigo Rataplan band. Hz Of Gold (March 6 2026, Rataplan Records) steps outside of jazz and into the realm of abstract, free improvisation.
Gray didn’t make this jump suddenly or with eyes closed. Even as he led a NY-based trio that made the Melt The Guns records he was leading an entirely different trio back in Berlin, with Andrea Parkins on electronics, accordion & electric piano and Frank Gratkowski playing saxophones, flutes, & clarinets. The three have performed together biannually since 2015 and Gray just couldn’t keep this dauntless music contained to just concert-going Germans any longer. Thus, we have a set of eleven tracks of wack recorded in a Berlin studio but with the unbridled spirit of a live, club performance.
This isn’t music made without a vision. Gray would tell you that it’s meant to “deliver an immersive experimental listening experience where electronic processing, extended instrumental techniques and collective compositional improvisation shape the music’s modern emotional frequencies.” Put another way, the collective virtuosity and keen intuition is brought to bear on Hz of Gold to portray passion and mystery. It’s noise with purpose.
“In Vivo” starts with an uncertain dissonance and then settles upon a chord that’s barely present. The actual song is a slow buildup of tension that slams on the brakes to a sudden stop as soon as maximum velocity is achieved. Gratkowski sets the mood for “Longtermism,” playing elongated notes bent into microtonality as Parkins (on Wurlitzer) and Gray increase their presence until it briefly turns into a full-fledged three-way interaction.
The unreal sounds heard on this record are made possible not just from Parkins’ electronics but musicians knowing how to expand the range of their instruments. The fierce interaction on “Hz Of Gold” reaches a peak when Gratkowski wrings tortured sounds from his saxophone I didn’t know was possible. Gray conjures up massive cymbal clouds on “Ubetcha” that sets in motion Gratkowski’s agitated horn.
Perhaps no one knows how to use the accordion in highly improvised situations better than Parkins and she shows why in “Kurkuma.” It rumbles in sync with Gray’s drums and at times take the place of electronics while Gratkowski’s flute gently flies above the din. For the dark and dank “High Tide,” the accordion provides rare instance of chordal harmony.
Gratkowski finds unconventional ways to make clarinet statements on “Need To Know” and for “Light Chop,” he uses a flute to dexterously negotiate with Gray’s powerful but subtle rhythm-ing while Parkins uses all the various tools at her disposal to set the tones that pulls it all together.
Devin Gray has always successfully tackled challenging music, but the Berlin Underground bent of Hz Of Gold may be the biggest challenge he’s met yet. In finding the right partners in Andrea Parkins and Frank Gratkowski, he has a group with the instincts and wherewithal to carry out his ambition.
Pre-order/order Hz Of Gold from Bandcamp.
| Album Cover | Artist | Title | Format | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Andrea Parkins | Two Rooms From The Memory Palace | CD | Purchase Here |
 | Ellery Eskelin, Andrea Parkins, Jim Black | One Great Day | CD | Purchase Here |
 | Frank Gratkowski's In Cahoots | Feat. Ingrid Laubrock | CD | Purchase Here |
 | Frank Gratkowski | Triskaidekaphonia | CD | Purchase Here |
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