Phil Venable, the Chapel Hill, North Carolina bass player known for his work in the free jazz outfit Tragic Assembly, pairs up with Tragic Assembly drummer Charles Chace for an excursion into the outer limits of improvisation, the album title a reference to a medicinal clay and a riff off of the Charles Mingus song "Moanin".
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Phil Venable-upright bass
Charles Chance-guitar, shakers, bells, sakara, Tumbi, shennai, ocarina
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UPC: 195269165536
Label: Soul City Sounds
Catalog ID: SCS-0005
Squidco Product Code: 32056
Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2022
Country: USA
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded at Todd Warner Studios, by Todd Warner.
"Phil Venable, the Chapel Hill, North Carolina bass player known for his work in the free jazz outfit Tragic Assembly, pairs up with Tragic Assembly drummer, Paul Swest/Charles Chace, for another excursion into the outer limits of improvisation. The title is a reference to a medicinal clay and a riff off of the Charles Mingus song "Moanin'."
In his persona as The Paul Swest, Chace produces multi-instrumental, improvised works with the use of multi-track recording. "Everything is happening as you hear it," Chace said. "For me, it's a therapeutic approach, although I'm not sure it will help cure anything.
"I enjoyed this session because Charles didn't play in his usual frenetic style," Venable said. "This was much more about soundscapes and ambience. It's the first time Charles and I collaborated as a duo, with no other musical intermediaries. We had a more direct musical dialogue. We listened and reacted to each other, in real time, in a genuine manner. I tend
to be the hammer, focused on the impact and making of the statement. Charles is more into the detailed brushwork of the material."
The music on the album is divided into five sections, each taking a different route to the destination. Repeated listening will yield unexpected rewards. Venable gives a few hints to their approach.
"Objects Romance" - I enjoy how this tune sets the listener up for more conventional expectations that we then destroy.
"Violet Timber" - There's a pedal Charles has called a Freeze Peddle. It sounds like Satan's harmonium on this and I love it.
"Echo Lake Paragraph" - This reminds me of the beginning of "May This Be Love" by Hendrix. Then we stretched it out.
"Damned Thing" - We work hard to create soundscapes that lure the listener in and gives them space to occupy, while also being taken in by the experience
"Cave, Steve, Process" - This reminds me of the way I think: foundation of thought, punctuated by and overlay of impatient moments, that lead to an unknown conclusion.
Don't expect the duo to reproduce the sounds of the album when you see them live. The music of the moment will always be their foundation. "We try very hard to never repeat ourselves," Venable said. "That's our challenge as musicians. It's easy to rely on muscle memory and/or repeated phrases and motifs. At our best moments, we listen and react to each other in real time, in a genuine musical manner."
Artist Biographies
• Show Bio for Phil Venable "Phil Venable is a Chapel Hill, NC composer and multi-instrumentalist. He plays in numerous groups including Tragic Assembly and The Phil Venable - Paul Swest Duo." ^ Hide Bio for Phil Venable
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Track Listing:
1. Cave, Steve, Process 6:07
2. Damned Thing 8:57
3. Objects Romantic 8:27
4. Echoe Lake Paragraph 10:31
5. Violet Timber 4:48
Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
Percussion & Drums
Stringed Instruments
Duo Recordings
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