Wakool

Recorded over a series of four Sunday afternoons, Wakool is an interrogation into an expanded range of techniques and gestures applied to instruments including banjo, electroacoustic guitar, bandura, and eukolin. In part an antidote to laborious studio process, this project privileges live stereo recordings without additional overdubs, processing or equalization. The varied and spontaneous nature of David’s effortless playing across an eclectic range of instruments was recorded transparently to direct the aural focus on the dynamics and nuances comprising each performance. In some ways Wakool is pure documentation of process, simply demonstrating David’s formidable range of concepts and techniques developed over an extraordinary period of experimentation and research commencing in the late 70s. On the other hand David’s meticulous preparation of each instrument combined with his prodigious knowledge of improvisational practice provides a complexity that negates the need for sophisticated studio process. Wakool stands as a testament to David’s sustained and unwavering commitment to improvisation, which he executes with enthusiasm, vigour and inventiveness that easily posits him as the most vital figure in the Australian musical avant-garde. Philip Samartzis