By Paul Acquaro
I’m glad I had the opportunity to write about Tim Daisy and Jason Stein’s duo album Alive at the Woodland Book Center. I have an unfettered bias to all things bass clarinet and have enjoyed Stein’s woodwind work in his other recordings including The Story this Time. Daisy’s discography is excellent as well, as the reviewers from this blog will eagerly attest to. Together, they do not disappoint as already proven by their work on Bascule.
Growling humming thrumming and drumming – the tracks on Alive at the Woodland Book Center entitled ‘Reading’, ‘Thinking’ and ‘Being’ are just a subset of the overarching category of “Playing One’s Ass Off”. Kicking off with a tentative melody over some mallet work, the duo is just warming up. Soon Stein’s playing begins getting more aggressive, with bigger and bigger intervallic leaps and the most appropriate use of the instrument’s ability to create low register blats to help underscore the intensity of some passages.
The energy is unmistakable throughout, but on the track ‘Being’, it seems even more so. The duo is connected – Daisey’s percussion locked in with Stein’s lines as the two propel each other forward, the expressive melody takes over the whole horn as the percussion furnishes complex counter rhythms.
This is an excellent recording sounding recording of the duo in action. Give a listen here on Bandcamp … or better yet just get it, at $2.99 you’re not going to find a better deal!
<a href=”http://timdaisyrelayrecords.bandcamp.com/album/jason-stein-tim-daisy-alive-at-woodland-pattern-book-center-relay-live-2014″>Jason Stein & Tim Daisy Alive At Woodland Pattern Book Center (relay live 2014) by Jason Stein & Tim Daisy</a>
