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Clark Sommers Lens: By A Thread
ByThe By A Thread band is headed up by a bassist; the tunes were all written by a bassist, but listening to the disc blind, it would be hard to identify the leader. Sax man Bradfield or keyboardist (mostly organist here) Gary Versace would be reasonable guesses. Sommers is not one to step out front and strut his stuff. This is about the ensemble interplay and the tunes. With guitarist Jeff Parker in the rhythm section with Versace, the harmonies have a more intricate weave. Trombonist Joel Adams teams with Bradfield in the front line (with really doesn't often sound like a traditional front like; it's more a cohesive ensemble approach here) and meld their sounds with Versace and Parker. Harmony takes a front stage much of the time, punctuated by surprising and succinct-but-eloquent turns in the spotlight by Bradford and guitarist Parker, and the modernistic soulfulness of Versace's organ work.
The title tune/opener is a world unto itself, brimming with a collective inspirations, going from grooves to amorphous atmospherics and back to grooves again.The tunes throughout have an idiosyncratic, futuristic appeal. Sommers has quite his own thing going, compositionally. Drummer Kendrick Scott is top-notch as a texturalist and timekeeper/provocateur.
Sommers has shaped a first rate set with By A Thread, wrapping things up with the highlight, "Pillage," with Vijay Tellis-Naayak sitting in on Moog, and Jeff Parker's guitar soaring into a stratospheric surf music territory, giving way to a smoldering tenor sax solo from Geof Bradfield.
Track Listing
By A Thread; Meet Me Halfway; Stoic Sun; Points Of Reduction; Simple Act; You've Said; Chasm; Pillage.
Personnel
Clark Sommers
bassClark Sommers: bass; Jeff Parker: guitar; Kendrick Scott: drum; Gary Versace: organ/Rhodes; Geof Bradfield: saxes, bass clarinet; Joel Adams: trombone, megabone (9); Vijay Tellis-Nayak: Moog (9).
Album information
Title: By A Thread | Year Released: 2017 | Record Label: ears&eyes Records