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Alexander Hawkins / Mirror Canon: Break A Vase
Before we get to those two themes, Hawkins has constructed the container which he reduces to its constituent parts. This is indeed a branded Hawkins trait, evident in Togetherness Music (For Sixteen Musicians) (Intakt, 2021) and his past composing for The Convergence Quartet. He opens the disc with that same solo piano plus static before diving into "Stamped Down, Or Shovelled" with his trio, bassist Neil Charles and drummer Stephen Davis, augmented by electric guitarist Otto Fischer, percussionist Richard Olátúndé Baker, and saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings. The composition's character is a salute to the music of Henry Threadgill with its quirky time signature and singular logic. Elsewhere, Hawkins weaves a complex DNA strand with "Generous Souls" not unlike the patterns one might hear in a Steve Lehman composition. He allows room for Hutchings to solo over the percussive turbulence here and with "Stride Rhyme Gospel." These compositions are the vase Walcott spoke of that gets smashed, only to come together to form a stronger whole.
Track Listing
The Perfect Sound Would Like to Be Unique; Stamped Down, or Shovelled; Sun Rugged Billions; Generous Souls; Faint Making Stones; Break a Vase; Chaplin in Slow Motion; Domingada Open Air; Stride Rhyme Gospel; Even the Birds Stop to Listen.
Personnel
Additional Instrumentation
Otto Fischer: electric guitar; Stephen Davis: drums; Richard Olátúndé Baker: talking drum, percussion.
Album information
Title: Break A Vase | Year Released: 2022 | Record Label: Intakt Records
About Alexander Hawkins
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