Pianis jeung komposer Grammy-nominated Larry Goldings jeung tap dancer luar biasa Melinda Sullivan bangga nyebat Big Foot, hiji inovatif, salah sahiji rupa album on Colorfield Records.

Ketika Goldings jeung Sullivan kapanggih saterusna saméméh pandémi COVID, aranjeunna teu bisa nyaho saeutik impacting éta bakal jadi pikeun aranjeunna duanana. Ku 2021, aranjeunna geus dimimitian ngumpulkeun di halaman balik Goldings pikeun maénkeun sareng ngirim video tina sesi jam maranéhanana ka média sosial. Proyék ieu langsung dipikawanoh ku musisi jeung wartawan anu nempo dina sambungan tina tarian tap jeung jazz, hiji warisan profésional ngawengku leuwih 100 taun.

Ieu teu bisa ngabalukarkeun yén duo bakal ngabalukarkeun proyékna ti sosial jeung ka studio. Ti awal, aranjeunna nyaho yén aranjeunna kudu ngembangkeun basa sonik husus pikeun rekaman. Hal ieu ngabalukarkeun aranjeunna ka insinyur-produsén Pete Min, hiji jalma komitmen pikeun nyieun rekaman artistik nu eksplorasi ruang antara improvisasi jeung komposisi, kaos jeung kontrol, niat jeung penemuan.

Salah sahiji tantangan rekaman jeung penari tap, Goldings jeung Sullivan kapanggih, nyaéta yén musik kudu tetep bisa didengar - salaku musik - tanpa nganggur dina prosés kumaha eta dijieun. Big Foot naonkeun keseimbangan antara nyieun rekaman musikally pangaweruh tanpa over-manipulating landscape sonic, nyata ngagambarkeun Sullivan salaku ballerina percussive. “My main thing,” nyebutkeun Goldings, "dia yén kuring hoyong urang ningali naon Melinda ngalakukeun."  

Durung sesi rekaman, Goldings nyimpen diri dina sintésis analog jeung employed hiji katalog keyboard nu bakal nyieun sagala enthusiast éléktronik cemburu. Sullivan danses dina sok, pasir jeung sneakers pikeun mayoritas tina album, ngidinan nuans rhythmic nya pikeun datang ka hadé. The tété, tété, slide, jeung taps nu anjeunna coxes anu kompleks, kadang-kadang ngabalukarkeun sikat dina drum snare, kadang-kadang tablas atawa frame drums, jeung masih kadang-kadang sora mesin drum analog atawa beat box.

Other contributors to the record include Sam Gendel on saxophone and effects, CJ Camerieri on trumpet and flugelhorn, Daphne Chen on violin and viola, and bassist Karl McComas-Reichl. Each of them brings their personal sound to an already unusual party.  And Goldings’ daughter Anna sings a particularly haunting melody on “Do You Like,'' a song that opens with the voice of another luminary, drummer Steve Gadd.  It is Gadd’s voice asking the question “Do you like…?” before he begins to tap out a gently grooving pattern with his hands on a box.

Many of the compositions on Big Foot evoke film cues, in part because of their unraveling structure. They begin, they develop, they end somewhere unexpected. Larry admits that, “Film scores are an influence on this music. So is Björk, and Joe Zawinul.”  

But whatever the journey and the influences may have been, simply put Big Foot is great music that is extremely difficult to execute but very easy to listen to.

About Colorfield Records:

Colorfield Records is a new label based out of Pete Min's Lucy's Meat Market Studio in LA. Colorfield artists are encouraged to compose in the studio, often playing instruments that they're not accustomed to and relying as heavily on sound as on musicianship and composition. The process is designed to emphasize getting outside of comfort zones in order to increase spontaneity and exploration.