Geoff Leigh & Makoto Kawabata – Review from “The Wire” May 2018
Flautist/soprano
saxophonist Geoff Leigh and guitarist Makoto Kawabata too have
colourful backgrounds, and each of them has vast discographies behind
them. Leigh has played with Henry Cow, Faust, and The Artaud Beats,
while Kawabata is the founding member of Japanese psychedelic rockers
Acid Mothers Temple. The first time that Leigh and Kawabata played
together was in 2014 in Kyoto, Japan.
The recording of that
performance was released by the Acid Mothers Temple label two years
later as Spatial Roots :
a performance that develops slowly, the players sounding uncertain of
each other, with Kawabata's guitar often fading in the mix. Having
worked together on several occasions since then, tonight's
performance sees Leigh and Kawabata both confident and loud.
The
players start without hesitation. Leigh samples his flute, processing
the arabesque notes through a laptop. Kawabata mirrors Leigh's
fluttering notes with nimble dashes across the fretboard his black
headless guitar, approaching the instrument like a sculptor might
approach clay.
An
experienced sarangi player, Kawabata then draws his curved bow across
the strings to produce textures that are malleable and forever
shifting. He tells me later that the size and shape of the sarangi
bow allows him to easily alternate the tension of the bow hairs,
which makes for better control over the sound.
There
is virtually no low end, but both players work hard to fill up empty
spaces. Leigh's close miked flute puts an accent on each suck of air,
giving the impression that a vacuum is forming inside the venue.
Because his setup is coming through the PA, but Kawabata's guitar is
not, an interesting spatialisation occurs. The flutes bounce around
the venue in stereo, while Kawabata's controlled use of overdrive
force the soundwaves into different corners of the room, meaning that
the reflections from the guitar amp arrive with a slight delay into
each ear.
In
the second half of the performance Leigh and Kawabata move onto
soprano saxophone and electronics respectively. Kawabata's pocket
piano and effects chain bring additional nuance, while Leigh's looped
microphone taps and mouth clicks impart a syncopated rhythm track.
The
sound remains at a constant intensity throughout the concert. It
would have been preferable to experience a greater dynamic shift
between the two players – Leigh's singing bowls and cowbells can
barely be heard – but being hit by a wall of sound can be just as
satisfying.
Ilia
Rogatchevski.
Concert
was at Iklectik, London, UK, 2nd
March, 2018
