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Ledley — Ledley
(Bandcamp no#, 2025, LP / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2025-04-17

Ledley Cover art

I’m guessing that most American listeners wouldn’t recognize the name of this group. Ledley is named after Ledley King, a legendary defender for Tottenham Hotspurs, active from 1999 to 2012. Be that as it may, this experimental trio’s music has no sonic relation to its namesake or soccer in general barring their track titles. Raph Clarkson (trombone, effects), Chris Williams (saxophone, effects), and Riaan Vosloo (electronics, post-production) produce improvised music that is mostly on the gentle side, without any frantic or chaotic turns, but full of timbral variety and subtlety. The trombone and sax are sometimes recognizable in the mix, but often the natural tones are obscured by processing beyond identification. Listened to with attention, the tracks are full of interesting sounds, but it’s also a recording that would serve as good background for studying or meditation, or maybe a soundtrack for a documentary about outer space. Williams in particular has a very meditative quality to his playing, with hints of Jan Garbarek. Clarkson sometimes uses a harmonizer to create a choir of trombones, which results in an unusual sound on “Always Days,” where he’s also playing with a mute. “One Knee” is an interesting diversion for the band, being essentially a duet between sax and trombone featuring much more active playing than the rest of the album and little in the way of electronic manipulation. Ledley is sparse and calming in nature, and while it could be seen as lacking in energy, that’s not the point. It’s ambient music of a different sort from all the synthesizer-based recordings out there.

Filed under: New releases, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): Ledley

More info
http://ledley.bandcamp.com/album/ledley

 

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