Percussionist Jordan Glenn performing (photograph by Eric Vogler)
Percussionist Jordan Glenn is unlikely to be a stranger to those that follow this site regularly, particularly those keeping track of “Bleeding Edge” events. At the end of last week, he was the percussionist for a trio performance at the Center for New Music led by guitarist Elliot Sharp. (The third member of the trio was Brett Carson on piano.) Last month he had a set in the monthly Jazz at the Make-Out Room concert, joined by Matt Robidoux on synthesizer, and Sudhu Tewari playing his home-made instruments.
This past Friday his BEAK ensemble released a new album entitled The Party, which is available through a Bandcamp Web page. Glenn composed the entire album and conducted its performance, adding his own contributions on spring box. The other performers are listed on the Bandcamp page as follows:
- Mark Pascucci-Clifford - vibraphone, bundtmonica, gongs, tongue tube
- David James - electric guitar, modified electric guitar
- Karl Evangelista - electric guitar, modified electric guitar
- Lisa Mezzacappa - acoustic bass, foot bass
- Jon Arkin - drums, tongue tube, electronics
- Robert Lopez - percussion, bundtmonica, tongue tube
- Sudhu Tewari - no string guitars, YEMRS (Yasmin Electro Magnetic Rhythm Sequencer), bundtmonica
The tongue tube, bundtmonica, foot bass, and no string guitars are all Tewari’s inventions.
The performances involved both conducted improvisation and compositions. As an “uninformed listener,” I can confess that I have no idea which of the seven tracks fall into which category! Nevertheless, the overall rhetoric is an engaging one. Much of the rhythm verges on mind-bending, and the diversity of sonorities is delightful. In that context, I was amused to see that, in the advance material, the adjectives “psychedelic” and “whimsical” were situated side-by-side!
Having listened to this album several times in preparing to write this article, I suspect that I shall return for further visits in the future!
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