New in the KUCI Jazz Library

Once again Chicago comes through. Restroy is Christopher Danmann bassist and composer and his collaborators James Davis, (Trumpet), Kevin Davis, (cello,) Paul Giallorenzo (synth, electronics), Mabel Kwan, (piano, keyboards), and one of the deans of the creative music scene in Chicago, drummer Avreeayl Ra who played with Sun Ra, Ernest Dawkins, Fred Anderson, and Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble. Integral to the sound of this release are the electronic effects achieved by using ring modulation.

"A ring modulator multiplies two signals together to create two brand-new frequencies which are the sum and difference of the input frequencies."

The totality of their sound is not as you might suspect, mechanical, cold, or alienating. It is pulsating, vibrant, profoundly organic in texture. That's Danmann's signature, brown propulsive rhythm as a ground, allowing for other instruments, (notably trumpet and keyboards) to swell and ebb. Ra's drumming is bifurcated between irresistible driving figures and commentary that subliminally interjects. This is music so personal and intimate that any attempt to classify it by genre misses the point entirely. Please check it out for yourself: Restroy S/T, by Milk Factory Productions