Samm Bennett
Secrets of Teaching Yourself Music
IMJ 516
Bennett- Kong Wave Drum, perc., synth., Casio, cd player, etc.
Long one of the most interesting and plainly enjoyable off all improvisers, Bennett is a master of the techno tribalism he employs here. He can do as much with this genre as anyone else, and he never lets it get in the techno doldrums as it is wont to in lesser hands. He puts drama, humor and narrative into it always and this makes all the difference. This isn’t dance music like almost all techno tribal but it has regular rhythms. And unlike a lot of free improve music, it’s fairly easy to follow, yet challenging nonetheless. I like the easy balance between free forms and structure and the fact that it’s so very human. I feel like I go somewhere interesting with Bennett. With too many free players everything is so disconnected and ever-changing you’re only left with anti-narrative. There’s too much imagination and not enough skill. Bennett avoids these traps. His sense of structure give him more options, not fewer, and this makes him more interesting and individual. Skill and imagination are here in balance.
IMJ
<www. japanimprov.com>
Richard Grooms