It's always kind of slog to drive into downtown San Francisco for Thursday night Luggage Store Gallery shows, but I am always satisfied with the end result. Inevitably, there are good conversations with valued friends and co-conspirators along with music that I like. Such was the case last Thursday. After a great set by the wonderfully named Runcible Spoon Fight, John Vaughn and I ventured forth for the first time as a duo. Neither of us are really interested in having any project go by our names. We figured that Bamboo Skin Duo would work. It was Brandon Evan's phrase, used in September for a quartet which featured all of us, along with Tim Orr. Thanks, Brandon! Our set, made up of four pieces, paired my drums with John's flute, soprano, and theremin, all mic'c and fed into a looping device. John got some great, thick loops going, over which I had the freedom to pretty much play as freely as I wished. I had fun using brushes, mallets, sticks, and metal rods to coax textures from my kit. It seems as though John's only demand on other players is that they pay attention and play what they truly want to play; what a great paradigm! Over forty or so minutes, the sounds felt very connected and in sync. We got into some pretty interesting spaces, sometimes quite quiet, sometimes a bit more bombastic; everything felt right, either way. One of those sets during which I could close my eyes and feel every striking implement touching drums and cymbals in just the right place and just the right way. Bliss! Hopefully this duo can continue for a while.
Below: duo gear
Above: Bamboo Skin Duo with a few friends (photo by and courtesy of Tom Djill, thanks Tom!)
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