Drummer-composer Devin Gray’s latest group can loosely be described as a European project, though pan-Atlantic would perhaps be more accurate. Gray himself divides his time between New York and Berlin, while Belgians Nicolas Thys, Robin Verheyen and Bram De Looze have each spent significant chunks of time studying and working in New York.
The five short compositions, all from Gray, are open to influences from both sides of the Atlantic, and for the most part they defy easy categorisation. Relatively conventional in comparison to Most Definitely, Gray’s brilliantly kaleidoscopic album of solo percussion and electronics, the performances nevertheless vary significantly in pace and attack, and Gray once again poses some interesting questions about traditional hierarchies of sound via the roles of the instruments within the ensemble.
The title track that opens the set has that dark, searching, serpentine feel of classic Blue Note era Shorter. Exploding into action after a short bridge, Gray’s darting rhythmic cross-currents circle Thys’s solid groove to steer Verheyen towards more torrid waters.
Unbundle The Bundle has a something of an-M-Base feel, its off-kilter groove and busy angular theme underpinned by intriguing chordal shifts. Verheyen moves to soprano for the delicate Dialectics, and the formal solemnity of De Looze’s solo interlude is very much rooted in European traditions.
Floating Rooms is rather more rubato in feel, Verheyen and De Looze locking horns with Gray in a sequence of free-flowing duets, and on the closing Go Zen the hypnotic minimalism of the theme stands in stark juxtaposition to the dense pointillistic exchanges between Verheyen and Gray that follow.
Available as a limited pressing CD and digital download, To The Point packs copious sonic detail into a compact EP-length footprint and leaves a big impression – let’s hope that there’ll be more from this terrific group soon!
Discography
To The Point; Unbundle The Bundle; Dialectics; Floating Rooms; Go Zen (13.55)
Gray (d) with Robin Verheyen (ts, ss); Bram De Looze (p); Nicolas Thys (b). Brussels, unknown date.
Rataplan Records
