The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis

  The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis bring the noise, and I mean that as a compliment. Genre-smashing guitarist Anthony Pirog teams with electric bassist Joe Lally and drummer Brendan Canty as the Messthetics, a collaboration that began in 2016. Lally and Canty got their start playing in Fugazi, the Washington, D.C.-based band that lasted from 1986 until the group took an “indefinite hiatus” in 2002. They play with the locked-in ferocity and drive of the best punk music, leaving Pirog to dip and dive and soar on guitar. Add in the big brawny sound of tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis and you have the right ingredients for a funky and rocking good time. This unit’s blend of elements reminds me of music by the likes of Ron Shannon Jackson and his Decoding Society or the Sonny Sharrock Band. At their best, the Messthetics are playing hard, just on the edge of crashing and burning up. The few attempts at slower tempos, like the overly long and dirge-like Boatly or the mellow Railroad Tracks Home, don’t fit the rhythm section’s style nearly as well. Lewis’ invigorating solo on the latter almost pulls it of the doldrums, but not for long. Favorites include the rousing That Thang featuring a raging solo by Pirog, the relatively sedate groove of The Time is the Place, and the impressive Fourth Wall, which closes the album with its headlong pace and some inventive blowing by Lewis. Recommended. 

Impulse! (CD and vinyl); James Brandon Lewis (ts) Anthony Pirog (g) Joe Lally (b) Brendan Canty (d); Takoma Park, MD, no dates specified; L'Orso/ Emergence/ That Thang/ Three Sisters/ Boatly/ The Time is the Place/ Railroad Tracks Home/ Asthenia/ Fourth Wall; 46:19. www.impulserecords.com

Looking in the Rear View Mirror, Part 3: Location Location Location, Pirog, Gray, Simone

  What can a musician do to stay active during a pandemic that severely restricts gatherings and performing spaces? Location Location Location, a trio of guitarist Anthony Pirog, bassist Michael Formanek, and drummer Mike Pride came up with a solution. For Damaged Goods, the group’s first effort on Cuneiform, each man recorded his parts in different locations: Pirog in California and Maryland, Formanek in New Jersey, and Pride in upstate New York. The three players bring widely varied musical experiences to bear on this project. Since his first appearance on CD with Michael Formanek and drummer Ches Smith (Palo Colorado Dream, 2014), Pirog has recorded with the likes of saxophonists Jon Irabagon and James Brandon Lewis, the late trumpeter Jaimie Branch, and fellow guitarist Henry Kaiser. Formanek’s credits are legion, going all the way back to a 1976 album with the Dave Leibman Quintet, while drummer Pride, since his debut with his own quartet in 2002, has played with everyone from Anthony Braxton to Jon Irabagon to Kirk Knuffke. Pirog’s effects-laden guitar sound is the project’s main focus. Given the odd circumstances of its creation, and the need not to makes things overly complicated, Damaged Goods becomes a largely fusion-oriented set. Most of the tracks are credited to the trio, with one piece each written by Formanek (Verdigris) and Pride (the cheerfully grooving 79 Beatdowns) plus two by Pirog (The Door and Apperceptions). The lengthy opening track, Branch, Breezy, keeps shifting gears and showcasing each member of the trio, complete with a short and unexpected burst of electric guitar at the very end. Formanek’s Veridgris, gliding along with Pride’s stately beat, Pirog’s emphatic guitar lines, and the composer’s steady bass, is one of my favorites. Another is the brief Drips, which makes a brief departure from the big beats of the surrounding tracks. Pride leads the way on marimba, shadowed by Formanek’s calm and responsive lines on acoustic bass. The wild finale, Crisis of Attention, is another highlight, as Pirog rages on guitar, Pride rumbles on drums, and Formanek holds it all together. Big fun, indeed! Cuneiform RUNE 518; Anthony Pirog (guitar, guitar synth, synthesizers: recorded in Monterey, CA, & Silver Spring, MD) Michael Formanek (4 & 5 string electric and double bass, guitar: recorded in West Orange, NJ) Mike Pride (drumset, marimba, bongos, dub: recorded in Chester, NY; Branch, Breezy/ Verdigris/ Trap Door/ Ground Zero/ Drips/ 79 Beatdowns/ Apperceptions/ A Sound That Shapes a Thing That Thinks/ Damaged Goods/ Crisis of Attention; 49:12. cuneiformrecords.com

Guitarist Anthony Pirog had another pandemic idea, a combination thought experiment and music smorgasbord. Pirog asked musicians from a broad spectrum of styles what the word “ambient” meant to each of them, and requested a piece of music that reflected that understanding. Pirog then added his own ideas, for The Nepenthe Series, Vol. 1. Per Wikipedia, “figuratively, nepenthe means 'that which chases away sorrow,'" an apt description of the project’s purpose. For this first foray, Pirog mostly contacted a group of fellow guitarists in a broad spectrum of styles, with contributions from Nels Cline, John Frusciante, Andy Summers, Brandon Ross, Wendy Eisenberg, and Ryan Ferreira. There’s also one track pairing Pirog with Luke Stewart on electric bass, another with Pirog’s wife and producer Janel Leppin on pedal steel guitar, and a lone solo piece for guitar synthesizer, Bernal Heights. The music ranges from the organ-like swells of Ripples of Light (with Cline) to the relatively bouncy Dense Blazing Star (with Stewart) to the melancholy melodicism of Inflorescence (with Summers) to the droning electronic soundscape of Bernal Heights to the mysterious haze of Night Winds (with Eisenberg), and more. The Nepenthe Series, Vol. 1 is a well-conceived and boldly provocative collection, well worth a listen. Is it “ambient”? That depends on how you mean it. Otherly Love Records (digital album & vinyl); Ripples of Light (Nels Cline, AP - guitars)/ Aurora (John Frusciante - monomachine, AP - guitar)/ Dense Blazing Star (Luke Stewart - electric bass, AP - guitar)/ Inflorescence (Andy Summers - guitar, AP - guitar, guitar synth)/ Glowing Gesture (Janel Leppin - pedal steel guitar, AP - guitar)/ Bernal Heights (Pirog) (AP - guitar synth)/ Cirrus (Brandon Ross - guitar, AP - guitar, guitar synth)/ Night Winds (Wendy Eisenberg, AP - guitars)/ The Eternal River (Ryan Ferreira, AP - guitars); 40:48. anthony-pirog.bandcamp.com

Like many frustrated musicians during the pandemic, percussionist Devin Gray turned to solo performance. Most Definitely is a compendium of percussive techniques, with Gray exploring a variety of experimental approaches to sound production, plus occasional electronic manipulation. He also includes a few dedications to influential drummers, with the buoyant Blackwell Magic particularly inspired. At seventy-two minutes, this collection is probably not going to be played from start to finish very often, but it seems designed to be something you might dip into for a track or three. With just a few exceptions, most of the 23 pieces last for two minutes or less. For ultimate contrast, two tracks are much longer: Soldier on, Milford, an ultra-dynamic dedication to the late drummer and teacher Milford Graves, is a bit over twenty minutes long, and Tough Love, a meditation on tonal contrasts in the drum kit, fills nearly nineteen minutes. Think of these tracks more as compositions and improvisations for percussion, rather than drum solos, with all the negative baggage that phrase drags along with it. That will put you more in the frame of mind to enjoy your foray into Gray’s uniquely stimulating world of sound. Rataplan (limited edition vinyl & CD; digital album); Devin Gray - drums, percussion; no locations or dates noted; Hunker Down/ Pull To Refresh/ Bad WiFi/ Most Definitely/ Upstate Berlin/ Tailgate Lunches/ Blackwell Magic/ Hoi Polloi/ Digital Nomads/ 2077/ Crypto Punks / Doom Scrolling/ Only the Poets (for Daniel Levine)/ Soldier on, Milford/ Case By Case/ Data Pollution/ Jack De Blues/ Tough Love/ Anthony, Burroughs/ Millennial Hotel/ Vone Call/ Subscription Fatigue/ Vone it in ; 72:11. rataplanrecordsnyc.bandcamp.com

Finally, in You've Got To Learn, we have a newly unearthed performance by the great Nina Simone at the 1966 Newport Jazz Festival. Recorded for posterity, deposited at the Library of Congress, it was then forgotten about for decades until it was discovered in the vault. Performing with her regular touring quartet of the era, featuring guitarist Rudy Stevenson, bassist Lisle Atkinson, and drummer Bobby Hamilton, Simone made the most of her half-hour slot on a day that included quartets helmed by Charles Lloyd, John Coltrane, Stan Getz, and Thelonious Monk, the Horace Silver quintet, and the Charlie Byrd trio. Her voice and piano get right into your soul with the preachy original title song, and she remains emotionally direct and affecting throughout her appearance. Her performance that afternoon of Mississippi Goddam is one for the ages, angry as hell, and, sadly, no less relevant today than it was in 1966. I seldom write about vocalists, but You've Got To Learn should not be missed. Verve; Nina Simone (vcl, p) Rudy Stevenson (g) Lisle Atkinson (b) Bobby Hamilton (d); Newport, RI, July 2, 1966; You've Got To Learn/ I Loves You, Porgy/ Introduction to Blues for Mama/ Blues For Mama/ Be My Husband/ Mississippi Goddam/ Music For Lovers; 32:58. www.ververecords.com

Joel Harrison & Anthony Pirog: The Great Mirage

  Lou Reed once wrote that “you can’t beat 2 guitars, bass, drum,” a sentiment that Joel Harrison & Anthony Pirog take to heart for The Great Mirage. Harrison and Pirog wield a variety of electric and acoustic guitars, plus the occasional electric piano, mellotron, synthesizers and more. The supple and ultra-dynamic rhythm team of Stephen Crump on electric bass and Allison Miller on drums and synth is supplemented on one track by Bruce Katz on Hammond organ. It all makes for a delicious stew of rock and jazz fusion, with instrumentation derived from the rock side of things, and the open-ended approach of dedicated improvisers. Except for Keith Jarrett’s Mortgage on My Soul, all the pieces are collaborations by the guitarists. The Jarrett piece, from his 1971 Atlantic album Birth, gets a surprisingly raging treatment, complete with a thumping big beat laid down by Miller, and genuine fuzz bass from Crump. Influenced by everything including the blues, surf music, hard rock, and much more, Harrison and Pirog seem to be having plenty of fun with this project. Highlights include the soothingly atmospheric Desert Solitaire, the slowly building turmoil of It Slipped Through My Fingers, the elegant I’ll See You in the Shining World, the psychedelic rave-up of East Hurley, and the fiery closer Buffalo Heart. The Great Mirage is a winner from start to finish. Happily recommended. 

AGS Recordings ABSR-004; Joel Harrison (electric & acoustic guitars, toy piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano, Tibetan bowls, mellotron) Anthony Pirog (electric & acoustic guitars, synthesizers) Stephan Crump (electric bass guitar) Allison Miller (drums, Moog synthesizer) Bruce Katz (Hammond B-3 org on *); Hurley, NY, May 21-23, 2022; The Great Mirage/ Critical Conversation/ There's Never Enough Time/ Mortgage on My Soul/ Desert Solitaire/ It Slipped Through My Fingers/ Last Rose of Summer/ I'll See You in the Shining World/ East Hurley/ Clarksdale*/ Buffalo Heart; 50:25. agsrecordings.bandcamp.com