Hamilton, Tom / Bruce Eisenbeil

Shadow Machine

Label: Pogus Country: USA

"Shadow Machine is the first CD by Tom Hamilton and Bruce Eisenbeil, who began playing music together in 2007. Coherence without predictability, speed without tempo, direction without a roadmap - an unlikely foray into the world of out-jazz and free improvisation.

It's a duo that thwarts expectations of its specific instrumentation. The artists hybridize the language of electronic sound through Eisenbeil's guitar and Hamilton's virtual analog synthesizer, and the live-in-the-studio tracks insure that the performances impart maximum physicality and spontaneity.

Their aim is to generate new forms, new ways of listening, new definitions of music. Equal rights for all sounds is one goal, and since each musician is a maximalist, a dizzying array of sounds and techniques are employed to sustain a visceral experience. Contrasting sonic elements are played one against another, simultaneously and successively. Modern jazz and improvised music have just now begun to really embrace the language and sounds of electronics; these two artists are positioned on the forefront of a trend that aims to subvert orthodoxy and challenge old assumptions.

Tom Hamilton has been composing and performing for over 40 years, and his work with electronic music originated in the late-60s era of analog synthesis. He often explores the interaction of many simultaneous layers of activity, prompting the use of "present-time listening" on the part of both performer and listener. Hamilton appears on synthesizer in his own ensembles, and has participated in groups led by Peter Zummo, David Soldier, and Michael Schumacher. He has recently performed with Thomas Buckner, Lisle Ellis, Chris Mann, Al Margolis, and Jacqueline Martelle. Hamilton was a 2005 Fellow of the Civitella Ranieri Center in Umbria, Italy. His CD London Fix received an award in the 2004 Prix Ars Electronica. He is a longtime member of composer Robert Ashley's touring opera ensemble, and his work can be found in over 60 CD releases of new and experimental music.

The Wire has described Hamilton's music as "colourful and seductive," and Gramophone has noted that "the results bubble with energy, a veritable counterpoint of indeterminacy." And Hamilton is cited in Kyle Gann's American Music in the 20th Century as "New York's leading improvisor on analog synthesizers.

Composer/guitarist Bruce Eisenbeil was born in Chicago in 1963 and grew up in Plainfield, NJ. He began playing the guitar when he was four and performing professionally since he was 15. Throughout the 1980¹s he played jazz and R&B. Since then he has performed and/or recorded with: Cecil Taylor, David Murray, Evan Parker, Ellery Eskelin, Karl Berger, Perry Robinson, Milford Graves, Badal Roy, Andrew Cyrille, Edgar Bateman, Nasheet Waits, Lukas Ligeti and many others. He has twelve CD's released on a variety of labels, including: ESP, Nemu, Konnex, Cadence, C.I.M.P., and Nine Winds. Recent recordings include TOTEM, Inner Constellation, and Home Again. Guitar Player magazine has published a detailed article on Eisenbeil¹s history and musical inventiveness in the May 2009 issue.

About his work, Harvey Pekar in JazzTimes has said, "Eisenbeil is one of the most unique jazz guitarists to emerge in decades." Downbeat called his work "Strikingly original." And The Wire wrote that he has, "A distinctive voice. About as revolutionary as music can actually get." "-Pogus