A while back there arose interest in the musical aspects of sound and communication produced and perceived by animals. Several examples spring to mind – Roger Payne’s famous Songs Of The Humpback Whale, Paul Horn with Haida the killer whale, Misha Mengelberg with Echo the parrot, and David Toop, who researched inter-species communication and bio-acoustics at London Zoo, performed with water-filled fish tanks and used pre-recorded tapes of birds and mammals.
This is a similar exploration of sound, but not confined to the animal world. Marine and aquatic life is acoustically spied on, in non-invasive ways, in the docklands, rock pools and urban ponds of the Sunderland area. Insects stridulate, producing noises by rubbing their legs, bodies or wings together; water moves, swishes and sighs; plants and seaweed rustle, squeak and creak; oxygen bubbles.
Listening to these recordings, a trio responds. There are no pre-conceived motives or material, as they enter into an abstract sound world. Occasionally a pulse may be detected – whether by the musicians or by the aquatic life forms is not apparent.
Of course, sounds made by the saxophone, cello or percussive instruments tend to be more recognisable. On Plant Based Patterns, the drums and cello bass string play a perceptible motif, but then the recorded aquatic drips, grinding and trickle provide the overlay. The improvisation moves in and out of the framework in which it finds itself, building up a density of layers.
The introduction to The Strangest Tales Are Heard At Sea is of familiar crashing waves, but that recedes for a mixture of extrinsic sounds to replace it. A coastal stream filling a pool? A tractor working on the beach? Surely not. A high F# on the tenor? A periwinkle or a whelk? The cello’s low C? Pebbles shifting in the current? Bucket and spade? Who knows? Intriguing.
Discography
Water Bugs And Factories; The Pond Listener; Cello And Rockpool; March Towards The Light; Six-Limbed Drummer; Reed Solo Amongst The Reeds; Plant Based Patterns; The Strangest Tales Are Heard At Sea; Winter Gardens; Aquatic Plants Swimming In Sun.(47.34)
David de la Haye (underwater recordings); Graeme Wilson (ts); Mark Carroll (cello); Adam Stapleford (d, pc). Sunderland, 2022.
New Jazz & Improvised Music Recordings NEWJAIM10
