Paying attention to tone, tension, space and silence, the trio of Carlo Costa on percussion, Joe Moffett on trumpet, and Dan Peck on tuba use extended and unusual techniques in a meditative and highly concentrative album of free improvisation, the first album from this trio whose attentive approach to improvisation rewards in unique sonic environments.
Format: CD Condition: New Released: 2015 Country: USA Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold Recorded by Jonathan Goldberger at Firehouse Space, Brooklyn on January 17, 2014
"An ensemble dedicated to exploring the scope and scale of experimental improvised music, Earth Tongues approaches each performance as a chance to build new, challenging work that take silence and ambient sound into full account. Consisting of Carlo Costa on percussion, Joe Moffett on trumpet, and Dan Peck on tuba, the trio creates immersive pieces that weave through a Venn diagram of music, noise, and quiet. Earth Tongues' debut album Rune approaches the boundaries of these three facets head-on. As the title suggests, the sounds that appear act as symbols to an unspoken language, suffused with meaning while remaining un-translated and open to interpretation. The ensemble gradually draws the listener deep into a new world of sound, piecing together a landscape scattered with glyphs, hidden forests, frost, tape, and stone."-Neither/Nor Records
"Carlo Costa: On our first record, Rune (also on Neither/Nor Records) we released four improvisations which display the type of interaction we have been developing since our first concerts. The traditional roles and sounds of the instruments are cast aside for the most part and the music often develops at a slow pace. The use of silence and low volume are an integral part of the musical vocabulary and especially in the sparser moments each small action or variation has structural weight. Some moments of the recording suggest a sound environment, which is something that we further developed in Ohio [their second album].
Dan Peck: The student of sculpture asks, "What can I make with this clay?" Earth Tongues asks, "What is the nature of clay?" "
"By fastidiously juxtaposing the communal benignity of various non-figurative jargons - all of them founded on timbral, rather than linear characteristics - Joe Moffett, Dan Peck and Carlo Costa propose different angles, both to the recipients at home and themselves as extremely alert improvisers. Originated by variable techniques of emission, unendingly changing their impulsiveness inside a setting recalling an ancient rite carried out in total reconditeness of meaning, these sounds demand, take and exercise space as they grab the attention slowly but steadily. In spite of the palette's divergence - as opposed to more "classic" free improv formats - tuba, trumpet and percussion display a relatively tranquil coexistence, either in noisier contexts ("Sunblind") or more brooding flows ("Depths"). Early-age reverberations, clashing (or less) overtones and a general composure in the reciprocation of acoustic intents complete the definition of sonorities that, for the large part, are pretty interesting."-Massimo Ricci, Touching Extreme