Arthur Russell: The Peter Zummo Reflections

Composer/trombonist Peter Zummo in remembrances of longtime collaborator composer/cellist Arthur Russell (1951-92) illustrated with excerpts from a musically ethereal and emotionally charged 1985 concert at Roulette. Produced by Beck Zegans, this special edition is a major contribution to the legacy of the unpredictable, calculated, and disciplined work of a treasured artist and the complex, emergent scene that both misunderstood and nurtured the work. Listen to the full, unedited performance at roulette.org/event/arthur-russell. Photo: Tom Lee.

https://roulette.org/

roulette.org

The Roulette Tapes - Arthur Russell: The Peter Zummo Reflections

Back in March 2023 I booked in for a double drummer recording session with good friend Sarathy Korwar and was waiting for him to arrive from the other side of the cosmos (along with his Drums and Tabla via Uber) or to be specific, from his home to the studio.

Earlier I’d had the idea to sample up this particular polyrhythmic modular synth piece that i’d fallen in love with by James Holden (now with his permission) and drum solo to it, so whilst waiting around, I
recorded myself improvising along on drums as well as vibes and various Thai percussion that I had picked up on our recent trip to perform in Bangkok.

The track came together intuitively and instinctively (but not by collectively improvising together as a band, like the other tracks on the forthcoming album “Abstract Intuition”)

I somehow knew that I wanted to create something precise, but I couldn’t quite verbalise or visualise it, perhaps because it was in way subconsciously influenced by everything I was listening to and subjectively inspired by all at once?
So, I allowed it to flow naturally and take its form under my guidance.

Another master percussionist friend, Magnus Mehta, added congas to the melting pot and I then added parts written by Ben Hadwen on flute and Twm Dylan on upright bass followed by me doubling up on synth bass.

I needed a certain simplicity from their input for this piece and I definitely remember ending up telling them both that if they got too ‘clever’ or ‘muso’ on it, I would have to start chopping off fingers one by one until they got the message. Thankfully it didn’t get to this!

To complete the collage I had the idea to invite Peter Zummo aboard for some dubby post punk trombone, the deep tone of which almost reminded me of the depth of sound achieved with a Tibetan Dungchen.
I had briefly met Peter at Cafe OTO when I was there providing DJ support for Bex Burch during her residency there.
And on the subject of Bex, it was her description of her sound as “Messy Minimalism” that partially inspired my title for the track.

it’s about CONSCIOUSNESS, unconsciousness, ego, identity, the mind… and LOVE.

This is expressed in the forthcoming video for the track.

Spontaneously created by

Twm Dylan
Ben Hadwen
Nick Woodmansey

Produced, mixed and collaged into being by Nick Woodmansey / Emanative

Elevated significantly by guest appearances / samples from
Peter Zummo, James Holden, Magnus Mehta,

Mastered by Casper Sutton - Jones At Gearbox

Artwork by Danny Gretscher

https://emanative.bandcamp.com/album/abstract-intuition

Emanative & The Abstract Intuition - Messimalism (Above Thought)

Brooklyn Free Speech Radio is the borough's first community podcast network with content produced and edited by New York City's most diverse audio makers.

New episodes every Sunday-Friday

New tracks tagged #peterzummo