Abstract Black – In circles with self
released January 26, 2019
Solely produced by JayVe Montgomery
Cover Design by Chelsea Velaga
Recorded in Nashville’s most grand studio, her parks.
“Montgomery’s new music, released on cassette by Nashville label Banana Tapes, doesn’t sound out of place in the current jazz scene. In Circles With Self could make a bookend with bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding’s work, and it bears similarities to glitchy, hip-hop-influenced repertory records like MAST’s 2018 Thelonious Sphere Monk. Even though he’s been influenced by jazz, Montgomery hasn’t set out to rework the jazz repertoire. His Abstract Black recordings combine spoken-word sections with sections that use circular looping, and he also plays saxophone with a skronky bite that is immensely satisfying.
For Montgomery, an admirably unfettered musician who seems determined to seize the moment, jazz is a constant presence, but he says it might be merely a point of departure. As he tells me, “It’s taking this concept of great black music, Sun Ra-influenced stuff, and putting it into the circles.”
Edd Hurt, Nashville Scene, January 24, 2019
After witnessing the Sun Ra Arkestra in Memphis October 2018, I used the month of November to create these compositions, quick mantras really, which focus on using the sound circle (loop), to reimagine an ensemble, in the tradition of Great Black Music ensembles like the aforementioned and the Art Ensemble of Chicago, yet comprised of self solely. This recording stands to document my adherence to the practice of sonic improvisation in the out of doors.
instruments:
bass clarinet
tenor sax
alto sax
flute/piccolo
park bench
ewi/circuit
oboe
xaphoon
singing bowls
wood bell
tambourine
jingle/bells
hands/feet
voice
ubass
atoke
cowbell
chakcha
castanets
qarkabeb
production:
zoom u-24
share beta 57A
ipad/loopy hd
post:
ableton live
push2
trx mixer
minikp2
organelle