Scenes and Orbits

The intangible benefits of a music community

I’ve been enjoying guitarist/critic Lenny Kaye’s new book Lightning Striking: Ten Transformative Moments in Rock and Roll. Starting in the cauldron of Sun Studios and Memphis of 1954, Kaye looks at watershed moments in the history of rock and roll from the perspective of “scenes.”

There’s discussion of the earthshattering talents at the center of each – Elvis Presley in Memphis, Kurt Cobain in Seattle, etc. – but Kaye devotes lots of energy to the ephemeral, less-obvious conditions that helped the sounds develop. Specifics vary in each location, but there are some common traits. Scenes usually spring up in places where music is already alive within the social fabric, and is (was?) taught in schools. They depend on a community of musicians who are open to new ideas and are willing to invest time and energy in their cultivation; businesspeople who act as advocates, often before getting paid themselves; live performance venues where experimentation is encouraged; audiences who are open to new sounds.

Scenes – and equally important smaller clusters of like-minded musicians that might be called “Orbits” – are everywhere, or at least were everywhere in the past. When a new sound erupts from them, as grunge did in Seattle, these informal networks of friends and bandmates become creativity accelerators, living illustrations of the axiom that a rising tide lifts all boats.

Thriving scenes have a depth chart – if mapped, it would look like a cluster of overlapping Venn diagrams. There may be “Great Artist” figures like Cobain snagging the bulk of the attention, but as Seattle (and Minneapolis, which is not discussed in depth in Kaye’s book) proved, what goes on in the wake of a breakthrough like Nirvana’s – at the grassroots level – becomes a story in itself. At that point, the dynamics of community kick in. Sometimes there emerges a collective identity. Aesthetic notions are shared amongst rising artists, becoming mulch for future refinements. From one spark come many – often of wildly divergent temperaments.

There are gazillions of examples of this. In honor of Bandcamp Friday, I looked for three records with a common but not obvious root: Each is made by someone in the orbit of guitarist and composer Mary Halvorson – one of the most open-minded collaboration-oriented musicians currently working. Halvorson is releasing a pair of strikingly original new records on Nonesuch in May; for more than a decade, she’s been at the center of a fast-evolving circle of New York improvising artists whose music doesn’t fully align with genre descriptions like “jazz” or “ambient music.” Her recordings – both as a leader and in a dizzying number of support roles – may one day be read as a history of this sub-community, or at least a navigational aid to some of its amazing small label records. Halvorson doesn’t appear on these three projects. But she’s a common thread: Each of the artists have recorded with her.

Susan Alcorn: Soledad. Add this lush recording to the list of must-hear interpretations of the work of new tango master Astor Piazzolla. Susan Alcorn, the pedal steel player who recorded with Halvorson on Away With You in 2016 (among other projects), has translated Piazzolla’s works for quintet into sweeping, precise, head-spinningly orchestral reimaginings for sol pedal steel guitar. Alcorn evokes the restrained grace and beauty of tango, but on her own terms; she veers and swerves and plays games with its insistent rhythms. Unforunately this is not on Bandcamp, but Alcorn’s discography contains other beautifully melodic and spiritually stirring works.

Patricia Brennan: Maquishti. The classically trained mallet percussionist Patricia Brennan is part of Halvorson’s sextet on the forthcoming Amaryllis; she’s also involved in projects with longtime Halvorson associates Michael Formanek and Tomas Fujiwara. Her delicately shaded 2021 debut Maquishti pushes the language of the vibraphone well beyond the usual placid plinking bell tones: Her phrasing is crisp, her voicings have an arresting density. The atmosphere is contemplative here, and some will file it under “ambient,” but there are interesting complexities beneath the surface. Below, a taste of an electronic reworking of Brennan’s album:

Ben Goldberg with Nels Cline and Tom Rainey: The Art Spirit. Like Halvorson, the clarinetist and composer Ben Goldberg is tireless: While leading several forward-looking klezmer bands, he’s written for and recorded with many of the most provocative thinkers in Halvorson’s orbit. Goldberg’s 2021 thoughtful Everything Happens To Be features saxophonist Ellery Eskelin alongside Halvorson and the rhythm section of her longtime trio Thumbscrew – bassist Michael Formanek and drummer Tomas Fujiwara. The relaxed The Art Spirit, recorded in 2016 but released this winter, catches occasionally rhapsodic extended conversations between Goldberg and guitarist Nels Cline.

Got favorite orbits/scenes? Share in the comments! (One of mine involves all the records that feature both saxophonst Joe Farrell and percussionist Airto….). And please support the above artists on Bandcamp Friday. Or any old day.

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