Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Recording: Avesta Nakhaei

Artist: Avesta Nakhaei + friends

Songs: [three excerpts from a group improvisation]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), December 7, 2014.

Avesta Nakhaei + friends - [excerpt 1]

Avesta Nakhaei + friends - [excerpt 2]

Avesta Nakhaei + friends - [excerpt 3]

Shows in the Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge are inevitably quite informal, but there's degrees within that. This one was at the especially-unstructured end of the spectrum, a very casual set where musicians kept showing up and joining in as the set was already in progress. When I arrived, I thought it might be a duo with Avesta Nakhaei (pianist and instrument inventor) and bassist Michael Lynn, but they'd be joined by John Creson and Adam Rosen (vocalizations, misc percussion) and Anoush Taba'i on clarinet by the time the set started. As they played, guitarist Kyle James wandered in and took his place with the group, and a little later sax player Christopher Weatherstone. Nakhaei, hunched over the piano with his back to the room, took the changes in stride, letting out a delighted laugh when the sax took him by surprise. As the session continued in a shifting but unbroken progression, others might drop out or take a break, but one got the impression that Nakhaei'd be content to play indefinitely.

[Avesta and his brother Kousha Nakhaei will be presenting "Meandering Streams of Consciousness", a night of music and visual arts at Array Space on Friday, January 16th, 2015, which features an intriguing fourteen-piece ensemble.]

No comments:

Post a Comment