duo B. Interprets Graphic Notation

Lisa Mezzacappa and Jason Levis (photograph by Emily Olman, courtesy of Mezzacappa)

This past Friday saw the release of Luminous Axis, an album of drums-and-bass performances by the duo B. ensemble, whose members are Lisa Mezzacappa on acoustic bass and drummer Jason Levis. The best site for the album is the Bandcamp Web page, which supports the purchase of the compact disc as well as a hyperlink for streaming and download. The title of the album is the title of a graphically-notated score by Wadada Leo Smith, and Smith was kind enough to share that score with Mezzacappa and Levis. He did not provide them with any guidelines as to how the graphics were to be interpreted!

As a result, it is highly unlikely that the tracks on this newly-released album would bear any resemblance to a recording (if one exists) of Smith interpreting his own score. All that really matters is that each of the eight tracks on the album explores a different approach to dialog between the two instruments. In all probability, Smith’s dialog was a spontaneous one, meaning that any “live” performance of the score would hardly (if at all) resemble the interpretation that was captured for this new album.

That said, each of the eight tracks on the album is likely to stand up to repeated attentive listening. Levis commands a solid interpretation of polyrhythms, solid enough, most likely, to stand up to spontaneous performance. Mezzacappa’s bass technique is equally rich, running a full gamut across extended melodic lines and a diversity of bowing techniques and percussive effects, often involving pizzicato. Most importantly, however, is that, in all likelihood, both performers gave enough cognitive attention to the score itself to build up the necessary chops for in-the-moment improvisation.

The album, of course, can only capture a single span of those moments. Whether or not listening to it would prepare for experiencing the music in performance will be left as an exercise for those fortunate enough to encounter a “concert performance” by the duo! From a more personal point of view, my background as a mathematician allows me to approach this album for its “high information content.” I would not be surprised if, over the course of several listenings, each encounter might lead to its own unique interpretation. Such is the “brave new world” in which the interpretation of a graphic score is left, for the most part, to the performers themselves!