Stepped Stoned

"Solo music often begs the question whether it is an investigation of the instrument itself or the art of playing alone. Ideally what comes out is that the given scenario is an affirmative answer to both sides. There are certainly solo performers whose work eclipses the specific tools, while also being mindful of the fact that art isn't created without a bit of sweat and distinction. In the percussion canon, when we think of artists whose solo work is a few steps beyond what the kit is usually allowed to do, we think of figures like Han Bennink, Tony Oxley, Paul Lytton or Chris Corsano. Conversely, others extend the literalness of the concept that "this is a drum" - Milford Graves, Pierre Favre, Andrew Cyrille. Obviously there is some dovetailing between the "camps," and while Australian-born and French-based drummer Will Guthrie (The Ames Room, ...& mic) seems to straddle both areas, his feet are more firmly planted in the latter. The present recordings were captured in Le Havre and, while Guthrie's arsenal can include electronics, this continuous thirty-four minute piece is an amplified acoustic gambit. Built from silence and imperceptible cymbal patter to waves of near-blast beats and suspended metallic heaves, the music presents a tidal pummel that recalls Sunny Murray's Helmholtz-conjured surge. In the piece's last several minutes, there are jabbing mechanical workouts and dry, stuttering beats, but they engender a contained relentlessness, a calming pall despite sheer volume and activity. The intricacy that gives rise to force is a natural evolution of structural tension and acute, textural rigor. For example, the close-miked, wowing pulse of worked-over drum heads or the near-constant, automated whir of buzzers and singing bowls that open out to a rugged court-dance of an improvisation. One of the more compelling solo percussion workouts you're likely to hear, this set from Will Guthrie should open doors and ears to what the drums (and the drummer) are capable of. --Clifford Allen Brooklyn, NY June 2014