HANO, SHOJI & DEREK BAILEY - Fish

Latest in a very long line of guitar and drums duo releases from Bailey, encompassing sessions with Han Bennink, Jamie Muir, Andrea Centazzo, John Stevens, Cyro Baptista, Tony Oxley, Susie Ibarra, Eddie Prevost, and probably several more that have slipped my mind. This is his first record with Japanese powerhouse drummer Shoji Hano, recorded at Moat Studios in London in June 2000. Hano is best known outside of Japan for his brief tenure as drummer in speedfreak rock band High Rise. But he has had an even lengthier career as an improv drummer, with his own roster of groups (including the Polybreath Percussion Band, as documented on PSFD-92) and with the likes of Peter Brotzmann and William Parker. This session with Bailey was the realisation of a long-held dream for Hano, and he was fully psyched up for the date. Baileys playing is squarely in his recent style, centering around dry note clutches and some gorgeously controlled feedback swells. Hanos drumming here sacrifices his exemplary rock motion in favour of a more pulse orientated approach. He brings a weighty presence to his work on toms especially, the result of years of rigorous training in locating the spiritual through the physical. The results are pleasingly heavy, with a density of detail that repays high-volume playback. Four tracks, two of them just under the twenty minute mark, the other two hovering around five or six minutes. Each one named after a species of fish. Very fetching picture of a monkfish on the cover, too. - Alan Cummings.