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Paul Dunmall/Chris Corsano, "Identical Sunsets"
This memorable live collaboration between one of the world’s most explosive drummers and a titan of the UK jazz scene bizarrely came about from a random meeting at an airport in Portugal during Corsano’s lengthy tour with Björk. As expected, the result is some absolutely incendiary free-jazz flame-throwing, but with some unexpected surprises thrown in too.
Identical Sunsets opens (rather unusually) with a brief solo bagpipe performance by Dunmall. It's quite an odd and unrepresentative way to begin the album and I’m still not entirely sure what to make of it, even after several listens (maybe Chris wasn’t either, since he sat it out).It is certainly a bit fascinating and unique to hear an incredibly talented musician furiously shredding on a damn bagpipe, but it is not an instrument that lends itself particularly well to rapid flurries of notes—it can get a bit shrill.
Thankfully, Paul sticks exclusively to his saxophone for the remaining three songs and things get a lot more exciting.Corsano, characteristically, puts on a skittering and rumbling tour de force and Dunmall holds his own quite nicely (no mean feat).It must be extremely tempting to resort to atonal skwonks and howls when there is such a volcanic percussionist absolutely leveling the place behind you, but Dunmall remains in complete control throughout.His runs are appropriately frenzied and cathartic given their backdrop, but generally still quite melodic and intelligently connected.The rare quiet moments are quite compelling too—particularly the section in "Living Proof" where Paul coaxes ghostly multiphonic moans and overtones from his sax.The duo display quite an intuitive connection throughout their set, as they always seem to shift gears before any passages begin to drag, seamlessly flowing back and forth between visceral raging and ominous simmering.
Of course, the downside to two guys wildly improvising at some club in Cheltenham is that it still ultimately sounds like two guys wildly improvising at some club in Cheltenham.An album like this probably won’t have much cross-over appeal for people that don’t already like free jazz (bagpipe fans aside), though Corsano is considerably more frenzied and muscular than most other jazz drummers.This is certainly well-traveled stylistic territory, but it is rarely done with such a perfect balance of musicality and go-for-broke intensity.Chris and Paul both deliver some truly impassioned and virtuosic performances here, making for one very impressive and satisfying album.
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