why we love this

A previously unreleased suite of spontaneous compositions written in 1984 featuring Arthur Russell on amplified cello, Bill Tuyle on marimba, Mustafa Ahmed on congas and Zummo on trombone. A great listen from start to end.

about the record

A few years ago, American composer and trombonist Peter Zummo discovered a 1984 recording of unreleased material from his Six Songs suite in his archive. Six Songs was the basis for Lateral pass, his award winning score for modern-dance choreographer Trisha Brown’s work of the same name.

The work is now being released as this new album, recorded live and in single takes. It features a stellar line-up of longtime Zummo collaborators: Arthur Russell on amplified cello, Bill Tuyle on marimba, and Mustafa Ahmed on congas. Zummo plays trombone and euphonium. He describes the recording as ‘an exercise in spontaneous arrangement’. He mainly hews close to the score, while from time to time introducing canonic lines and variations.

Arthur Russell, using his signature amplified cello sound, alternates between solos and rhythm playing, while Ruyle vamps on the notation and Mustafa Ahmed’s improvised percussion drives the forward momentum. Sometimes the music takes its time traversing a sonic landscape; at other points, it jumps from one section to another. Players’ decisions push and pull the downbeat ; rounds emerge, then disappear...”