Brooklyn percussionist Devin Gray is releasing the best LP of his career today — a whopper of a set featuring Andrea Parkins on electronics, accordion and wurlitzer and Frank Gratkowski on saxophones, flutes and clarinets. Hz of Gold was recorded at Lowswing Studios in Berlin back in 2021.
The trio has been a kind of side project since 2015. “We don’t play that often, but it is always amazing when we do,” Gray told me in an email. “We’re all so busy doing so many artistic things, it’s always a little luck and a ton of magic when we finally get to play.”
Gray’s debut as a band leader came in 2012 with Dirigo Rataplan, a straight-up quartet recording that gave little indication of where he’d be a decade later. The performances were excellent — Gray has always attracted solid talent — but there was more in his early work for traditionalists than avant-gardists.
So while this set was recorded in 2021, it sounds more like a logical next step in Gray’s progression from big talent to important jazz artist.
Gray sees it a little differently: “To me there’s no separation between these releases, as they are all part of my personal musical journey, through improvisation and composition.”
I don’t mean to suggest that this is all Gray. The new album features live samples, extended performance techniques, microtones and what the notes refer to as “non-idiomatic dynamic improvisations.”
Parkins’ electronics serve as a kind of glitter glue. “She’s an amazing master of weaving her approaches with and through improvisers’ sounds,” Gray said.
Gratkowski’s woodwind contributions are just as compelling. Gray told me his work often shifts “between melody and noise,” which is certainly the case here. Gratkowski captures the full range beautifully.
Gray said the trio is “about community. The shows always bring folks together, and that is what I love about music the most.”
Can I get a plus-one?
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