Keith Kelly & Ask Not – Out of Hope, We Remember (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24bit/48kHz | Time – 00:46:05 minutes | 484 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Edgetone Records
When the shared reservoir of our humanity reaches its newest low point, can looking back aid us? Can remembrance help us manifest the desire to go on?
Looking is the first thing I remember. I wouldn’t say I was studying it, but I held it in my hands and turned it over and over and over. I’m sure I held it when I was outside sitting in the cracked back patio, and though there aren’t any pictures, I probably had it at my 5th birthday, all smiles at the Darth Vader cake my mother made for me. I carried it until it was smoothed over, made smaller and smaller as it passed between my hands.
These recordings happened in one weekend. The combination of artists is novel – in terms of their unique approach to playing, their lived experiences, emotional spaces they occupied, and relational dynamics to one another. I care deeply for each one of these musicians and am a huge fan of their individual musical voices and the various projects they lead and participate in. Being able to create this particular *something* could only have happened with this collection of folks all together at this particular time – some kind of music that nestles between rock/jazz/ambient/experimental. It bears repeating, these are one-take pieces. What is documented is the in-the-flow responses to one another. Not much was communicated beforehand except a title and, sometimes, a vibe or maybe who would begin first. Other times, someone would just say, after the title was spoken, “I got something,” and off we went. What I am most engaged with is the compelling nature of the rise and fall of the music. It spins. It coils. It sits. It cools. The music has a hitch and then doesn’t. Three or more sounds become indistinguishable from one another and then could not be less alike. There is an horizontal-ness to this group improvisation that is possible only with listeners/makers who are comfortable with a certain kind of musical architecture and who hold deep reverence and care for one another. Keith Kelly, Aug. 2021
Tracklist:
01-Cradles/Candles
02-Bullshit Causality
03-Fat Chance, Slim
04-A Return, A Sigh
05-We Don’t Want to be Saved
06-Bifurcated
07-What Choice Would You Unmake
08-Not What You’ve Been Asking For
09-Desolation
10-Like a Bend in the Road
11-Which Piece Needs to Be
12-Please Take Our Picture
Personnel:
Keith Kelly: tenor and soprano saxophones, flute, bass clarinet
Jon Armstrong: tenor and soprano saxophones, electric bass
Brett Reed: vibraphone and marimba
Ari Chersky: electric guitar and effects
Doug Stuart: electric and acoustic bass
Shaun Lowecki: drums and cymbals
Recorded at Union 32 Studios, June 2017
Recording Engineer: Brett Reed
Additional engineering: Connor Ward
Mixed and Mastered at Hard Oil Studios by Brett Reed
Image layout and Design: Jordan Tompkins
Produced by Keith Kelly and Brett Reed
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