Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Arc: The Pursuit Of Happiness

Arc: The Pursuit Of Happiness

By Glenn Astarita
July 5, 2009
Sign in to view read count

This album's title justifiably parallels the trio's radiant synergy. With their third release as a unit, this 2009 outing signifies the artists' initial employment of live electronics—a component that has been gaining steam with improvisation-centric bands over the years. But like anything else, good taste and using effects as an instrument stand as the antithesis of some heavily employed electronics configurations that can at times, saturate core musical aspects. Here, the unit seamlessly combines the best of both worlds into a distinct integration of free-flowing concepts and practices.

The trio's design consists of three instruments spanning low to upper register sounds and tonal contrasts. It conjures up an organic acoustic element nicely offset by the streaming and accenting live electronics factor. Cellist Danny Kingshall's creaky arco-passages intersect with bassist Gus Garside's fluent notes and violinist Sylvia Hallett's intense staccato phrasings. With the electronics, they create motifs that could spark thoughts of a machine shop running on old equipment in need of repair, yet it's a divergent program, teeming with subtle surprises.

The musicians interrogate each other via probing dialogues, hued with emotive sentiment and avant-minimalism. On "Phantom Caravan," Hallett and Kingshill's wordless voice parts ride atop droning strings and frantic developments. They also engineer numerous tension and release type statements in concert with free-chamber type excursions. Hence, they embrace innumerable angles, variances in pitch and depth, and render a variety of cunning propositions throughout.

Track Listing

Binding Light; The Rite of Strings; Quintessence; Forgetting All Over Again; Phantom Caravan; Grandpa's Box; Sand Maps; A Chance Occurrence; The Pursuit of Happiness; Dividing Into One; Where Rivers Meet.

Personnel

Arc

Sylvia Hallett: violin, electronics, voice; Danny Kingshill: cello, voice; Gus Garside: double-bass, electronics.

Album information

Title: The Pursuit Of Happiness | Year Released: 2009 | Record Label: Emanem

< Previous
Michael Jackson: The Possibility of C...

Next >
Protoplasmic

Comments

About Arc

Tags

For the Love of Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create 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.

You Can Help

To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve 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.