Tom & Gerry (Thomas Lehn & Gerry Hemingway): Fire Works

Glenn Astarita

Senior Contributor since 1997

Longtime contributor to AAJ and Downbeat, Jazz Review, EjazzNews, Radio DirectX.

Recent articles (1,629 total)

Published: January 1, 2002

With their second duet outing, Tom (Thomas Lehn) & Gerry (Hemingway) at times, spark notions of those frisky cartoon characters Tom and Jerry, thanks to the artists’ generally animated and altogether good-natured approach.

Once again, Mr. Lehn utilizes his analogue synthesizer for excursions of stark expressionism amid an overall metallic sheen via his shrewdly devised maneuvers. However, Lehn’s permutations breathe new life into the world of analogue electronics! Here, sine waves, modulation techniques, and abstractly devised waveforms counterbalance drummer/percussionist, Gerry Hemingway’s rolling and tumbling, polyrhythmic style of execution. Whereas, Lehn also demonstrates his rhythmic sensibilities throughout as the musicians bespeak a sense of veiled beauty atop a program awash with alien soundscapes and free-jazz type dialogue. Besides, the duo often finds ways of merging similar tonalities in conjunction with a plethora of contrapuntal statements, jagged sub-themes, and wittily rendered diversions. Hence, this effort is not about sugarcoated ambient-electronic dreamscapes or environmental music. Ultimately, the musicians establish a rather intriguing paradigm during this curiously interesting and largely gratifying endeavor!

Umbrella Recordings

Track Listing: 1.Pot

Personnel: Thomas Lehn: analogue synthesizer

Record Label: Umbrella Recordings
Style: Modern Jazz