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Brad Dutz — Sarek Seemed Satisfied
(Bandcamp Right Brain Records no#, 2025, DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2025-08-15

Sarek Seemed Satisfied Cover art

We last encountered percussionist Brad Dutz with Oktet, which was brought to us by the letter O and featured eight musicians. The release at hand, Sarek Seemed Satisfied, is obviously sponsored by the letter S and involves a septet (minus two, as explained below). This set of nine relatively brief tunes (none over four minutes) carry on the Dutz style of polyphonic jazz-inflected chamber music, this time with a quintet. Dutz contributes vibes and percussion, joined by Jasper Dutz (bass clarinet, clarinet, alto flute), Rachel Therrien (trumpet, flugelhorn), Sara Schoenbeck (bassoon), and Joe Giordano (trombone). The percussion involved does not include a drum kit, and most of the time it’s just vibes and the horns. The tracks are referred to as improvisations in the liner notes, though that can’t be completely true — the opening of “Samuel Selects a Stave,” for example, includes a unison line on several of the instruments — but it’s notable that the improvisation falls into a form that’s very similar to Dutz’ style of composition, so it would be easy to believe that more of the parts were composed. Sarek Seemed Satisfied sits somewhere between being a full album and an EP, distinctions which may be losing meaning in the age of digital downloads. The recordings were produced in preparation for a future septet release involving these musicians plus a couple of others, and they function as a nice sampler of what’s to come. If their improvisations are this engaging, imagine what they’ll do with more structure!

Filed under: New releases, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): Brad Dutz, Sara Schoenbeck

More info
http://braddutz.bandcamp.com/album/sarek-seemed-satisfied

 

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