"Represencing is an ethereal collection of
static snapshots, spirited over sonic sand dunes by the textured tonal
linger of Abrams’ guimbri (a traditional North African stringed instrument).
recorded at home, abrams again organizes
small group statements around the resonant grooves of the guimbri with a unique & broadly
assimilative compositional voice. sources from traditional musics to
minimalism, jazz to krautrock, animate represencing, but Abrams
is always grounded in the solidity of true working musicianship &
he proves himself an artist fluent not just in styles but traditions.
abrams' guest musicians embrace his polyglot approach. goaded by abrams to focus on a
particular facet of their musical vocabularies, jeff parker & emmett kelly appear as finely contrasting rhythm guitarists, michael zerang
gets virtuosic on a tambourine, david boykin devotes himself to
altissimo long-tones & circular breathing, jason stein's bass clarinet, or, as with nicole mitchell's diaphanous choir of flute parts, function as
landscape. the moondog-influenced "sungazer" is an aria for tomeka reid's spirited cello. throughout the album gong rhythms, synthesizer
"sub" bass, harmonium & organ return as unifying coloristic
elements. abrams likens the overall concept to "entering a forest from
different directions", sandy bull's duets with
billy higgins, don cherry, arnold dreyblatt, hamza el din, popul vuh,
& pharaoh sanders as inspirations." eremite
foto via peter harris
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