ROB CLUTTON with TONY MALABY - Offering
Snail Bongbong records: SBB006
Tony Malaby: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone; Rob Clutton: double bass
Recorded October 26th 2018 by Ryan Streber at Oktaven Audio
The pieces on this set are improvisations based on compositions derived from transcriptions of improvisations. Given this underlying logic in how the music was created, there are few saxophonists you’d expect to see participating in this than Tony Malaby. His playing, across all the pieces, creates an undulating flow of tension and release that responds completely and immersively to the pieces. But what really shines here is the ways in which Clutton and Malaby create conversations in the pieces, with Malaby attentive to Clutton and the bassist creating evocative spaces for the music.
By way of introduction to the process: Clutton received a grant to explore transcription and composition. Rather than transcribing solos of other performers, he opted to revisit his own work and to focus particularly on recordings where he was struck by the spontaneity of interactions with other players (even though his focus is on his own solos). Having transcribed solos, he then took segments of these as the basis for the compositions and introduced these to Malaby. While this might have the appearance of being overly self-reflective or potentially random, the collection of pieces have an integrity and coherence about them that prompted the recording engineer to ask if this was a suite: an easy mistake to make because the movement of the pieces, the musical themes that are explored and, above all, the interplay between the two musicians, make this feel as if there is an underlying story being told across the pieces. Clutton’s approach to bass playing (I’m familiar with the Cluttertones) combines contemporary composed music with ancient folk songs with a mishmash of ambient electronic. Very often, on these recordings, his bass solos are built on an ability to draw together a variety of themes into something warm and lyrical. You could see why he might have wanted to revisit these spontaneous creations in order to find elements that could build into new tunes. And, despite the basis in compositions, the pair create a feel of total improvisation that feels fresh and exciting.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Snail Bongbong records: SBB006
Tony Malaby: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone; Rob Clutton: double bass
Recorded October 26th 2018 by Ryan Streber at Oktaven Audio
The pieces on this set are improvisations based on compositions derived from transcriptions of improvisations. Given this underlying logic in how the music was created, there are few saxophonists you’d expect to see participating in this than Tony Malaby. His playing, across all the pieces, creates an undulating flow of tension and release that responds completely and immersively to the pieces. But what really shines here is the ways in which Clutton and Malaby create conversations in the pieces, with Malaby attentive to Clutton and the bassist creating evocative spaces for the music.
By way of introduction to the process: Clutton received a grant to explore transcription and composition. Rather than transcribing solos of other performers, he opted to revisit his own work and to focus particularly on recordings where he was struck by the spontaneity of interactions with other players (even though his focus is on his own solos). Having transcribed solos, he then took segments of these as the basis for the compositions and introduced these to Malaby. While this might have the appearance of being overly self-reflective or potentially random, the collection of pieces have an integrity and coherence about them that prompted the recording engineer to ask if this was a suite: an easy mistake to make because the movement of the pieces, the musical themes that are explored and, above all, the interplay between the two musicians, make this feel as if there is an underlying story being told across the pieces. Clutton’s approach to bass playing (I’m familiar with the Cluttertones) combines contemporary composed music with ancient folk songs with a mishmash of ambient electronic. Very often, on these recordings, his bass solos are built on an ability to draw together a variety of themes into something warm and lyrical. You could see why he might have wanted to revisit these spontaneous creations in order to find elements that could build into new tunes. And, despite the basis in compositions, the pair create a feel of total improvisation that feels fresh and exciting.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
