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Steve Baczkowski and Ravi Padmanabha performing on stage

Steve Baczkowski and Ravi Padmanabha

Steve Baczkowski and Ravi Padmanabha

What we said at the time…

A review of this duo recently held them up as proof that there was still life in sax / drums collaborations. I wasn’t really aware that they were dying, what with Flaherty/ Corsano seemingly reinventing the form in a post hardcore fury. But certainly Steve and Ravi’s collaborative work easily forms part of that lineage, alongside both recent firebrands like Flaherty/ Corsano and also those great multidirectional historical sax / cans duo’s; say Frank Lowe / Rashied Ali. But who cares about comparisons: you certainly don’t need to have heard any of that other work to get something from these guys. This duo is the real thing, operating on their own terms; they’re immediate, visceral and they exhilaratingly swing between sparring with and complementing each other. And they burn with a flickering intensity, effortlessly switching between raucous, pealing noise, (full of fluttering overtones, circular breathing, foghorn multi-phonics and some booming, muscular pugilism), and cries of beguiling lyricism, sometimes almost despondent in their emotional intensity as whispered sax phrases float in a timbral cloud of bowed metal and rumbling toms. I can’t wait to see them live; it’s their first show together outside the USA and by all accounts live is where it’s at for these cats.

Documentation

12 images, 1 video, 1 audio
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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
A man plays drums next to a ban playing a baritone saxophone

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

A man sits cross legged playing a small reed instrument

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Steve Baczkowski and Ravi Padmanabha performing on stage

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

two men seated one playing tabla the other a small reed instrument

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Ravi playing drums behind steve playing baritone saxophone

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

A man crouches slightly with a saxophone, drums behind him

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

two men, faces contorted with effort, play saxophone and drums

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

A drummer and saxophonist performing on stage

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Drummer in foreground, saxophonist in background of stage with spotlights

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Ravi Padmanabha playing drums on stage with a patterned cloth over the bass drum

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Steve Baczkowskie with baritone saxophone lit from behind

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

A seated man looks down in concentration at some tabla, in pink light

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

A man plays drums next to a ban playing a baritone saxophone

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

A man sits cross legged playing a small reed instrument

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Steve Baczkowski and Ravi Padmanabha performing on stage

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

two men seated one playing tabla the other a small reed instrument

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Ravi playing drums behind steve playing baritone saxophone

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

A man crouches slightly with a saxophone, drums behind him

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

two men, faces contorted with effort, play saxophone and drums

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

A drummer and saxophonist performing on stage

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Drummer in foreground, saxophonist in background of stage with spotlights

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Ravi Padmanabha playing drums on stage with a patterned cloth over the bass drum

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

Steve Baczkowskie with baritone saxophone lit from behind

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

A seated man looks down in concentration at some tabla, in pink light

▴ Credit: Bryony McIntyre

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