Hamid Drake/Erwan Keravec
Silence. One musician sits behind his drums, eyes closed. The other stands six feet away, his bagpipes sticking out from under his arm. The room is still. A faint sound is heard—but maybe not. After a second, another faint sound is heard. What is that? Then again, a little stronger. It’s the faint hiss of the hi-hat, its pedal gently pressed by percussionist Hamid Drake’s bare foot. Erwan Keravec crouches, clutching his bagpipe under one arm like a football.
He reaches up with his other arm to plug one of the pipes with a finger. He squeezes. The bagpipes let out a croak.
The performance at the Bus Stop Theatre on Tuesday Sep 17—the season opener for the adventurous live music organization suddenlyLISTEN—was an interesting one. Two internationally known improvisational musicians combined the sounds of bagpipes with drums.
The idea sounds like a peanut butter and tuna sandwich. The reality was much
tastier.
The musicians played their instruments in interesting ways—Drake using a big red cloth over the drum set to muffle them, Keravec plugging the pipes with his finger—to make all kinds of sounds: Loud sounds, faint sounds, long sounds and short sounds.
The noise could be felt.
It’s like the musicians were summoning some chaotic spirit from the ether. While they played, both kept their eyes closed. Before they finished with a simplified piece—using only a frame drum and a tiny reed flute—Drake spoke to the attentive crowd of about 30.
“A vibe was felt immediately between us,” when he met Keravec two years ago, he said. He added that it has been a joy to perform with Keravec, and the unlimited choices as a percussionist floating “in the ocean of his sound.”
They performed their final piece, two people communicating organic music with their eyes closed. Throughout the night they have matched each other’s energy.
As the drum strikes soften, the double-reed whine fades. Silence.
www.thecoast.ca
Jean-Jacques Birgé, Blog Mediapart
https://blogs.mediapart.fr/jean-jacques-birge/blog/301122/hamid-drake-erwan-keravec
On pouvait s'y attendre. Hamid Drake et Erwan Keravec en duo. L'idée préconçue se vérifie. Et pourtant l'alchimie du batteur free jazz et du sonneur de points d'orgue vous transforme dès la première des quatre faces du vinyle Nova Scotia. Les peaux et les cymbales de Drake comme la cornemuse de Keravec évoquent une sorte de rituel chamanique qui vous emmène comme les drones de La Monte Young. Très vite on perd ses repères. Bisque bisque rage ! La vélocité des baguettes et la ténacité des bourdons sont sur la même longueur d'onde, fractales d'une seule pensée. Enregistré en public en Nouvelle Écosse, province canadienne, le double disque 30 centimètres oblige à faire des pauses tous les quarts d'heure. Le temps de retourner la galette, de reprendre son souffle. Et ça repart pour 33 tours. Jusqu'à ce que l'Américain fredonne je ne sais quoi, tandis que le Breton s'est éloigné encore un peu, jouant sur l'espace, puisque le temps n'a plus de prise ni sur eux, ni sur nous.