Improvised jazz music from the trio of Erb, Mayas, and Hemingway, who have previously provided their musical observations on the subjects of bathing and eating dinner. Today’s item Phyla (VETO-RECORDS / EXCHANGE 023) may refer to a particular place in the table of biological classification.
We always enjoy the work of Lebanese player Magda Mayas, and it’s unusual to hear her performing on the clavinet, which she imbues with her characteristic touches and personality. Well, unusual because that instrument rarely features in an improv setting, but Mayas has made it her own, perhaps approaching it with the same mentality as she approaches the prepared piano. Not just odd sounds she issues, though there are plenty; she seems to find her way in between the cracks of the keys, as if discovering a secret keyboard of her own hidden underneath the usual array.
American drummer Hemingway also injects “controlled feedback” into the sesh, reviving for a moment the hopes of thousands of thirsty listeners who long for a return to the glory days of electro-acoustic improvisation. And there’s his voice too, wailing like a new-born goose who can’t wait to get into the water, or stuttering like an apprentice shaman not sure how to begin at his first day on the job.
To be honest I’d have enjoyed a whole album of just Mayas and Hemingway, hitting it off in a sparky, angular, two-way conversation full of strange tensions and gaps. Taking a cue from the cover art, they could call it “the tiger meets the snail – the rematch!” Live recording made in Basel in Sept 2024. (06/10/2025)