Some Fine Legacy – SFL 007
Since its debut on two releases from 2011 and 2012 (the live Hit &
Run with Joe Talia and the studio Audience of One), the epic structured
improvisational piece ‘Knots’ has formed a staple of Oren Ambarchi’s
live performances. Like a jazz musician searching for ever-new ways to
play a standard, the guitarist has repeatedly brought the piece to life
in a variety of settings ranging from guitar/drums duets to a large
ensemble replete with string section, with each iteration bringing with
it new variations of tone, intensity and character.
Knotting presents the entirety of a beautifully-recorded set performed
by Ambarchi and the astonishing Australian- French drum virtuoso Will
Guthrie in Geneva in February 2019. Beginning with a delicately played
but rapid and insistent ride cymbal rhythm over which Ambarchi layers
his signature shimmering Leslie cabinet guitar tones and eventually
building, as the piece always does, to a peak of caterwauling harmonic
fuzz and thundering drums, the recording also shows the pair taking
risks and pushing the piece into new directions, especially in Guthrie’s
willingness to let the central pulse momentarily die away or only
barely be implied as his main focus of attention turns to instantaneous
responses to the subtle rhythmic suggestions of Ambarchi’s shuddering
guitar tones. Ambarchi’s performance also demonstrates the ever-evolving
nature of his relationship with the guitar, making space for some of
the more harmonically uneasy yet subtly lyrical playing (in a tone
calling to mind the 80s guitar-synth work of Pat Metheny or Bill
Frisell) that has emerged in his recent solo work. Ending with a
remarkable coda where Guthrie’s bells and cymbals suddenly transforms
the performance into something like Tibetan temple music, Knotting is an
essential snapshot of the workof two musicians not content to repeat
themselves.
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