A Window, Basically is the newest release from the unstoppable Peter Evans, this time in a duo with drummer Mike Pride. Evans and Pride played together previously in the trio Pulverise the Sound with Tim Dahl on bass, but on this record they move away from their punk jazz adventures in a more decidedly free jazz direction, in an entirely improvised session.
I will admit upfront that I’m not the biggest fan of drum duos. Especially in the free jazz idiom, where there is still a division between ‘frontline’ and ‘rhythm section’, I feel that the music would almost always be improved with the addition of another player to generate more resistance, momentum and textural possibility. Otherwise, the drums are cursed to assume the role of ‘accompaniment’ whilst the other instrument is the ‘soloist. Much of this recording seems to succumb to this trap: however good the connection between the two players is, I can’t help but feel that Pride is there to support Evans’ complex improvisations.
But on the third track on the album, 'Substance Z,' my ears perked up. Here we start to see the less virtuosic and more creative side of the two musicians, making use of noise, subtler dynamics and an autoharp – a welcome addition after a general lack of textural variation up to this point. The track is the longest on the album, but has a clearer structure that allows it to show the potential of the format rather than draw attention to its limitations. Two thirds of the way through, they return to the free jazz madness of the first two tracks, but this time it is presented as a welcome change.
'Substance Q', which clocks in at a brief one minute sixteen, shows the potential of the drum duo format. Being so concise, they don’t have time to settle into a hierarchy of soloist-accompaniment, and the result is a perfectly focused ‘window’ on what they can achieve together. It still feels like jazz (in the best sense of the word), but with all the creative freedom of improvised music. Some more short tracks like this might have helped focus the album more.
'Substance P' finishes the album and was my favourite of the bunch. By putting their virtuosity to one side, Pride and Evans begin to blur into one another, and the result is a voyage of discovery: the scraping cymbals match the timbre of Evans’ ghostly piccolo trumpet, generating ethereal layers of sound which seem to come from more than just two musicians. The improvisation is slow-moving and tense, far more interested in the sonic possibilities than any demonstration of instrumental skill. I could have listened to much more of this.
My favourite tracks on the album were those which didn’t showcase technical ability and moved more in the direction of ‘improvised music’. This is not to deny the strong connection between the two players on the higher energy improvisations, jumping seamlessly between tempo and metre and locking in seamlessly with one another, which of course can be the joy of playing in a duo. Pride certainly shows himself to be a master drummer in the jazz idiom, and Evans’ knotty playing is as impressive as ever. But their musicianship is highlighted when they put this high level of technical ability to one side, and instead seek spaces of the unknown. That is what I would have liked to hear more of.
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