Sameer Gupta - Catalytic '2022

Tracks list

       There have been many catalysts for the musical partnership of
percussionist Sameer Gupta and guitarist Ben Tyree. The pandemic, for one;
suddenly, the fact of being near neighbors in Brooklyn’s Prospect Heights
neighborhood took on a profound new significance. Then there were the national
protests that arose in the wake of racial violence, which prompted a sense of
mission. Both of those factors provided a sense of urgency to the duo’s
exhilarating 2020 debut, Unruly Neighbors.

Aside from those weightier issues, however, there’s simply the spark that
these two creative artists find in playing with and off of one another, that
same (al)chemical reaction that is the essence of any musical success story.
That feeling is captured in the title of Gupta and Tyree’s mesmerizing
second album, Catalytic. The suggestion of a potentially explosive reaction is
vividly realized in the sonic explorations crafted from Tyree’s
alternately piercing, ephemeral and corrosive fretwork and the questing,
chameleonic rhythms of Gupta’s hybrid tabla/drumkit.

That the title of Catalytic (due out December 6 via Tyree’s Sonic
Architectures imprint) stems from a casual conversation on the February day when
the session was recorded at Gupta’s home doesn’t diminish its
significance. In fact, the scraps of inside jokes and dialogue that titled the
five improvisations on the album point to the easy camaraderie shared by the
duo, a shared sensibility that shines through the music they create together,
even at its most fraught and abstract.

“There's so much freedom in this project to explore and be as spontaneous
as possible,” Gupta describes. “Ben and I are very open with each
other, so we can tap into our life experiences when we work together and have an
open door as far as what's informing the things that we play. It develops as a
continuous story, with each piece becoming a snapshot in time along our
continuum. For me, that development is always compelling.”

The bristling energy of Unruly Neighbors was all the more remarkable for having
been recorded remotely, familiar now as a necessary evil of the COVID era.
Catalytic was recorded in person, a situation that vastly expanded the
possibilities of this singular collaboration.

“We channeled a lot of the energy of the pandemic into the first
album,” Tyree says. “We really drew on that sense of the unknown,
feeling emotionally raw but wanting to be proactive artistically. Being able to
finally get together in person for Catalytic turned out to be really cathartic
and allowed us to use far more colors from our palettes.”

Gupta and Tyree had previously worked together as part of much larger ensembles,
including Burnt Sugar: The Arkestra Chamber and Brooklyn Raga Massive, but
recognized the potential in fusing their two voices. Unruly Neighbors comprised
a combination of structured ideas, including a transportive rendition of the
15th century Scottish folk song “The Water Is Wide,” along with
back-and-forth improvisations. Catalytic is entirely improvised in real time,
and thrives on the instantaneous reaction generated by sharing ideas in the
moment. There is both a greater sense of space as well as a scintillating
combustibility in this date as compared to its predecessor.

Opener “Atoms and Steam” takes its name from a Simpsons reference,
but the title captures the elusive airiness of the piece, built on
Tyree’s keening, evanescent drone loop. Gupta adds tabla rhythms, at
first tenuous and probing, then buoyant, as Tyree launches into a spiraling,
serrated solo. Gupta’s switch from tabla to traps accelerates the outing
into a blistering torrent.

Gupta begins “Rift” with an insistent drumkit rumble, to which Tyree
responds with shimmering, metallic guitar swells. An agitated tension is
maintained for nearly the first half of the ten-minute improvisation, before
tabla eases the tumult. “Only Wrong Answers” echoes a popular social
media meme, but in isolation the title suggests a shared love of the unexpected.
Not that any of the duo’s reactions ever seem “wrong,”
especially as Tyree lays down skronky funk lines over Gupta’s infectious
tabla groove, but each successive invention makes for a jolting new twist in the
tune.

The transcendent, borealis-like “Love Ancestral” was the one piece
undertaken with some prior intent, as the duo decided to reflect on the losses
they’ve incurred over the past few turbulent years. In particular the
track is dedicated to the late critic and bandleader Greg Tate, whose Burnt
Sugar Tyree worked with for a number of years.

It takes album closer “Squall” a hefty chunk of its eleven minutes
to live up to its tempestuous title, but the roiling, simmering quality
generated by Gupta’s staggered, unpredictable rhythms and Tyree’s
gnarled lines feel like the uneasiest of calms before the storm.

What makes the partnership of Gupta and Tyree so thrilling is their
moment-to-moment sense of discovery, something that the listeners to Catalytic
can feel themselves sharing with its creators as these spontaneous compositions
unfold. “We knew we wanted to dive in on the deep end with this
album,” Tyree says, “and that takes a lot of surrender and
trust.”

“That's one thing that connects us in this music,” Gupta adds.
“There's a sense that we can jump off and wherever we land, we're going to
find some music.”

Sameer Gupta: Percussion
Ben Tyree: Guitar

Tracklist:
1.01 - Sameer Gupta, Ben Tyree - Atoms and Steam (8:18)
1.02 - Sameer Gupta, Ben Tyree - Rift (10:00)
1.03 - Sameer Gupta, Ben Tyree - Only Wrong Answers (7:54)
1.04 - Sameer Gupta, Ben Tyree - Love Ancestral (6:40)
1.05 - Sameer Gupta, Ben Tyree - Squall (10:55) 

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