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Jon Hassell: Seeing Through Sound: Pentimento Volume Two
BySo there is no guesswork about who is playing on each track. Which still does not even begin to clear up the "who is playing what" question. The opening Scene, "Fearless," illustrates this very well. Hassell plays trumpet (with electronics), which is clearly audible in all its reedy, vocal glory. There is a repeated guitar patternwhich could be either Cox or Eivind Aarseta bit of identifiable Kheir-Eddine M'Kachiche violin, and a bass part from Von Seggern. But, beyond that there is a dense soundscape which includes percussion elements, and could be the contribution of any or all of the four players credited with samplers. It all contributes to a memorably atmospheric beginning.
In keeping with the pentimento theme (in visual art, the process of revealing previous images that had been painted over in a painting) it is probably fair to say that the star of the show is really Hassell's editing, as he layers and recombines recorded musical materials to create new soundscapes. "Moons Of Titan" focuses on the trumpet, while "Unknown Wish" makes it an equal partner in an abstract texture.
"Delicado" again features a sinuous trumpet line. After a couple of brief textural excursions with Hassell on keyboard, "Lunar" returns to a featured trumpet voice in a striking chordal role. The final Scene, "Timeless," finds the leader on keyboard and electronics, with substantial contributions from percussionist Adam Rudolph (on African drums and orchestration) and violinist Hugh Marsh (a major contributor to the previous volume). The longest track on the album, it makes a compelling conclusion: equal parts stasis and motion.
Track Listing
Fearless; Moons Of Titan; Unknown Wish: Delicado; Reykjavik; Cool Down Coda; Lunar; Timeless.
Personnel
Additional Instrumentation
Peter Freeman: bass, electronics; Ralph Cumbers: kongo drum programming; Eivind Aarset: electric guitar, sampling; Kheir-Eddine M’Kachiche: violin, sampler; Christoph Harbonnier: bass; Michel Redolfi: electronics.
Album information
Title: Seeing Through Sound: Pentimento Volume Two | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: Ndeya