Ernesto Diaz-Infante & Chris Forsyth: Wires and Wooden Boxes

Multi-instrumentalist, Ernesto Diaz-Infante is apt to tackle either minimalist style themes, brimming with melodic frameworks and lush voicings or engage in John Cage-like musings with free-improvisational guitarist, Chris Forsyth. With their second collaboration, this 2001 release features more of the somewhat alien discourses witnessed on the duo’s previous effort, “Left & Right.” On the opener “NYC Journal excerpt (2000), Forsyth utilizes his electric guitar power cord and input jack as a vehicle to inject grounding hum and static into a piece that elicits notions of man vs. machine, as Diaz-Infante, here performing on acoustic piano, counters the guitarist with simply stated harmonies via well-placed block chords and slight shifts in tempo. Otherwise, the musicians’ render spurious two-way dialogue, disparate tonalities, and alien soundscapes that are perhaps analogous to a young toddler deconstructing a newfound toy. Additionally, the twosome pursues free-jazz interplay, while also utilizing a toy piano, old piano soundboard and small percussion instruments as they even manage to turn in a dual guitar exposition that is vaguely reminiscent of an English folk song amid a bevy of discordant twists and turns. Consequently, it is all about two artists delving into the outer regions of abstraction.

PAX Recordings