Recording: Black Spirituals

Artist: Black Spirituals

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Double Double Land, April 12, 2015.

Black Spirituals - unknown

Following up a gig at Kazoo fest, this local set came with a last-minute sort of announcement, but despite not knowing any of the visiting principals I was intrigued enough to head down. It turned out that this Oakland duo of Marshall Trammell and Zachary James Watkins was just what I needed on a tough day. Trammell (percussion) and Watkins (guitar + electronics) joined in a dialogue of free-noise improvisations, but the project's very name invites the listener to situate their sound in a deeper aesthetic, where the crash of drums and shards of guit-drone can be seen dipping into the same oceans of hurt and redemption in church music (or in Pharaoh Sanders' gut-moans in Seattle). But most fundamentally, this was music in and of the moment.

^* I'm not sure if this was an improvisation or a recreation of a titled piece. Please leave a comment if you know the title.