Nmperign + Jason Lescalleet
Nmperign + Jason Lescalleet
What we said at the time…
Nmperign are the Boston duo of soprano saxophonist Bhob Rainey and trumpeter Greg Kelley. It’s difficult to really say what scene exactly Nmpergin fit into, and I guess that’s partly why they’re so interesting; they kind of sit out with most categorizations of improvisation, existing almost entirely on their own but with an interest in reductionism, electro acoustics and free jazz. Previous recordings, and indeed the live sets that I’ve seen, display a kind of chiselled intensity to their improvising: the duo’s techniques are seriously extended, and I’m often not really sure where those techniques might have come from; their music is full of refracted brass and wind tones, dead silent air and the occasional piercing shard of sound. So it’s a surprise to hear their collaboration with Jason Lescalleet, who they’ve been playing live with for almost seven years now, and who seems to be both wildcard and crucial element to their trio playing, using tape loops to pull the focus and shift the horn players into unfamiliar territory. It’s still incredibly concentrated, but alongside a capacity for some tight quiet improvisation and beautiful hypnotic, swirling and aerated drones, (which breather with the rasping pulse of vibrating metal), Lescalleet also elicits moment of in your face, involved and quite frantic noise, shrouded in a glistening, granular darkness.
This is their first performance together in the UK.
Documentation

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre
Artists

Jason Lescalleet
