Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Eli Wallace and Ben Cohen: Evaporation

7

Eli Wallace and Ben Cohen: Evaporation

By

View read count
Eli Wallace and Ben Cohen: Evaporation
In a series of imaginative projects, pianist Eli Wallace and saxophonist Ben Cohen have shown themselves to have a remarkable range of creative impulses. Wallace has thrived in a powerful duo with percussionist Rob Pumpelly called Dialectical Imagination; the two create furious intensity with a substratum of romanticism, as on The Angel and the Brute Sing Songs of Rapture (Atma Nadi Records, 2017). Cohen has a lyrical side as well, displayed to strong effect in his Viriditas trio, which at times invokes the spirit of early Ornette Coleman. Wallace and Cohen have teamed up previously, in a trio with drummer Dave Miller: their Audience Participation (Eschatology Records, 2018), made under the moniker Cataclysmic Commentary, was about as tempestuous as the group's name would suggest, by turns startling, assaultive, and unpredictable. But Evaporation, their first duo collaboration, is a very different creature altogether. Its emphasis on restraint, silence and texture signals a new direction for the pair, with intriguing results.

Through three improvisations, the first, "Saturation," coming in at a substantial 33 minutes, Wallace and Cohen wind through their way through dialogues predicated on exceedingly patient exchanges and measured expression. The emotional catharsis found in much of Wallace's other work is largely absent here; even during the first few minutes of "Saturation," when his skilled use of prepared piano is at its most piquant and percussive, careening off of Cohen's assertive overblowing, the effect isn't overwhelming, and it seems merely an opening effort to strip away any preconceived expectations, as the majority of the piece is centered on much more muted explorations. The sonority of the instruments themselves becomes the focal point. Wallace sticks largely to prepared piano throughout, utilizing the piano's sound- potential rather than its tonality, while Cohen ranges from long, drawn out single notes to upper-register flurries. At other times the two are content to use silence and the bare minimum of expression, seemingly testing the limits of what can be communicated with the smallest possible gestures. It's an expansive, at times absorbing piece of music, although some listeners might find their patience tested by the piece's length and considerable subtlety of movement.

Wallace takes a contemplative turn on the brief, two-minute "Respite," with some pensive chords supporting Cohen's subdued, plaintive cries, before the album concludes with the ten-minute "Evaporation." Wallace once again returns to prepared piano, but his use of the bass register lends a forbidding aspect to the piece, and Cohen's languid, brooding notes build a mood of unsettled calm. The ephemerality of the music is in keeping with the title of the piece, and it is a fitting culmination to an album as fixated on absence as presence, and which gives voice to what is implied rather than what is stated emphatically.

Track Listing

Saturation; Respite; Evaporation.

Personnel

Eli Wallace
keyboards
Ben Cohen
drums

Album information

Title: Evaporation | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: Eschatology Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.