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Kevin Kastning / Carl Clements — Partitas, Book 1
(Greydisc GDR3590, 2024, CD / DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2024-12-27

Partitas, Book 1 Cover art

Kastning and Clements are no newcomers to collaboration. If I’m counting correctly this is their seventh album working together, and I’m guessing — though I can’t be a hundred percent sure — that the seven tracks at hand were composed as they were created, thoroughly improvised as only these two outstanding musicians can do. While I can’t provide a lot of background information on the project, it seems to be a set of real time pieces where each player plays one instrument only, with no overdubbing of any kind, the result given to a more gentle sound overall, with moments where Kastning leads on his 24- and 29-string double contraguitars, his 30-string contra-alto guitar, and his 17- and 18-string sub-contra guitars, other times where Clements leads on his soprano, alto, and tenor saxophones, but more often where the two are composing in real time together, each supporting the other. One has to wonder how many hours of work went into these mysterious explorations, as well as how much of their work didn’t make the final cut — though it seems the two work together with telepathic instinct, Clements more often taking the lead due to the saxes being a single-note-at-a-time instrument, and Kasting often supporting with chords and structures the way only a guitar can do. But since there are only two players, who know each other’s style of playing well, there is always plenty of free space in their compositions, neverly overly dense with too much going on. Furthermore, Kastning is often occupying the bass registries while the Clement’s saxes are floating above it all in free melodic play. For listeners who require labels, I would have to call Partitas, Book 1 instrumental free-chamber jazz, not in the wild and crazy free-jazz sense, but in the free floating almost-ambient at times sense, truly melodic, magical, and beautiful at every turn.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases

Related artist(s): Kevin Kastning, Carl Clements

More info
http://kevinkastning.bandcamp.com/album/partitas-book-1

 

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