Agren / Kaiser / Gunn

Invisible Rays

Label: 7D Country: USA

"A fortuitous meeting off the beaten track in Scandinavia has given rise to Invisible Rays, an enthralling spontaneous collaboration between the two of the most innovative guitarists and one of the most explosive drummers on the planet.Having never made music together before, guitarists Trey Gunn and Henry Kaiser and drummer Morgan Ågren established enough common ground to produce a work of epic proportions. Anchored and propelled by Ågren's ferociously complex drumming, these "invisible rays" scorch through phantasmagoric soundscapes shaped and painted by searing electric guitars and raging bass lines.Gunn and Kaiser and Ågren first crossed paths in March 2011 at the IB Expo, a music education conference in southern Sweden. Thomas Olsson, of the progressive rock band Isildurs Bane, brought Gunn, Kaiser, and Ågren (plus the Swedish duo Midaircondo) to Varberg and surrounding towns to demonstrate and talk about their craft to music and film students.

On the final day of the Expo, Gunn, Kaiser, and Ågren found themselves with time to kill before their afternoon sessions. Making the most of the occasion, the ad hoc trio laid down the foundation of Invisible Rays. Comprising 10 tracks-eight more or less composed pieces framed by two sprawling free improvisations-Invisible Rays defies categorization while reflecting the diverse backgrounds of the players, whose resumes include work with King Crimson, Brian Eno, Richard Thompson, David Lindley, Bill Laswell, Frank Zappa, and many others.The recording that Gunn, Kaiser, and Ågren have made together is all the more remarkable given its spur of the moment origin. The action began at the Red Room, the Isildurs Bane headquarters, in Kungsbacka, a small town north of Varberg. Kaiser discovered that the "clubhouse" was home to Olsson's studio/performance space.

As Gunn recalls, "Henry pushed this into action when he saw an opportunity to improvise together. 'We're in a studio, and we have two hours of free time,' he said, 'we should record.' To be honest," Gunn admits, "I am not that crazy about improvisation as a means to make records. I see it as a risky way to spend cherished studio time. But, we had the opportunity and, well, there's no harm in trying."The musicians set up their gear, got their sound together, hit record, and started playing. "After a few quick takes, Henry had us doing a bunch of endings," Gunn explains, "which was a great idea, because often it isn't easy to carve a conclusion to an improv. When Morgan had to leave after about an hour, Henry and I played another 15 or 20 minutes as a duo. We had students waiting for us at the conference, so we didn't have time to listen back to anything."At home in Oakland, Kaiser put together some rough mixes, and all three musicians were impressed by what they heard. "We were so completely in the moment when we were in that studio," Kaiser remembers, "I couldn't tell if what were playing was really any good. I just knew it felt great. It turned out to be amazing." "-7d Productions