NYC Jazz Record
terraphonia
patrick brennan / Abdul Moimême
(Creative Sources)
Steve Loewy
December, 2019
Alto saxophonist patrick brennan joins his former student, Portuguese native and prolific recording artist, critic and talented manipulator of sounds Abdul Moimême, in a delightful and surprisingly accessible set of unique, highly abstract improvisations. brennan’s sparse recording output through the years makes this thrilling recording worth the wait.
The six tracks are filled with odd sounds from Moimême’s two manipulated guitars played together simultaneously with “objects”. While they sometimes appear as sculpted sound structures, they combine constantly shifting moods. brennan’s wailing jazz-infused saxophone explores stylistic nooks, with thinly blown spurts, his sound and approach uniquely his, as he adds fascinating riffs, blats, ruptures and even postbop lines while his counterpart explores timbre and variegated concoctions of another order. Surprisingly, it all holds together, the dynamics fairly even, with the two interlocked as partners-in-sound.
Each piece is different in emphasis, often in subtle ways, so on mycellerate, for example, brennan is all over the horn, though generally restrained by volume, against a deep listening vibe. But while the volume is often subdued, there is much going on from the fascinating Moimême, sounds so different it is difficult to cite influence or compare the end product to other abstract works. What is unusual, too, is the way the players integrate their sounds so although they seem, at first blush, to portray a kind of indifference to each other, they are actually perfectly attuned.
In the end, there is an attractive nihilism to the performance, as the tracks somehow curiously form a unified static whole, going nowhere fast, but never losing the listener’s attention. Just when you think there is nothing new under the sun, brennan and Moimême come to the rescue, with something not only different but also compelling.