STEVE NOBLE & DANIEL THOMPSON - 

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

(LIVE AT THE HUNDRED YEARS GALLERY)
(confront collectors series ccs 52)

 

Steve Noble : percussion
Daniel Thompson : acoustic guitar

 

1. First Improvisation (26.57)
2. Second Improvisation (7.33)

 

Recorded and mixed by Edward Lucas, live at the Hundred Years gallery, London on October 26th 2014.

 

This is a recording of two London based improvisers of different generations communing in the resonant surroundings of the 100 Years Gallery. Steve Noble creates glittering bell and gong like tones over which Daniel Thompson hangs fractured harmonics and strange bending chords, moving to a more frenetic interplay between what is essentially a percussive guitarist and a melodic percussionist. This is the sound of instant creation happening before your ears, where the music can turn in an instant from a sombre evocation of a quasi-ritual nature, to a scurrying and mischievous ramble through scratches and thwacks- the kind of sympathetic, almost telepathic communication that only the best, and most revelatory free improvisation can provide. An engrossing listen from beginning to end, aided by an amazingly clear recording that balances Thompson's acoustic guitar with Noble's drums and percussion perfectly. (RICHARD SANDERSON)