Welcome to Ball of Wax Volume 71: LOOPS! This collection of improvised music created with the help of looping pedals was curated by Leanna Keith and Kate Olson, and honestly it came together better than I ever could have imagined. One thing I hadn’t considered – though perhaps I should have, given Kate and Leanna’s instruments – was how wind-instrument-forward this collection would be, and how few guitars would be involved! As a guitar player myself (whose first instrument was saxophone), I kind of love it.
Trombonist Naomi Moon Siegel, with guest saxophonist Erica Von Kleist, gives us the perfect opening statement for this beautifully wind-powered collection. We start off with a minimalist groove laid down and built up by Naomi, with layers of trombone, drum sounds, and keys. A mellow sax then comes in over it, and before we know what’s happening the groove has momentarily disappeared, and we’re floating out over the open range, buoyed by layers of lush wind instruments. When the groove comes back, Erica solos alongside it, also in layers, beautiful and exploratory but always allowing room for us to hear and feel everything else going on in the music. We close with another trip up into the atmosphere, before being laid down gently in the middle of a babbling brook (or perhaps a stammering stream? a rambling rivulet? I digress).
“A Simpler Life” is a beautiful example of what can be done with just a musician or two, the time to create, and an instrument and some fun pedals to do it with. And we’re only getting started.