Breaking out of the virtual performance loop

Conch shells, Tibetan prayer bowls, and a black and white cat all make an appearance in this year’s Standard Bank Jazz Festival performance by trumpeter Marcus Wyatt and bassist Romy Brauteseth.

OUTOFTHELOOP sees the two performing as a duo ensemble in isolation, recorded, chopped up and multi-tracked into a 30-minute streamable performance of old and new compositions. A framing text gives some idea to the title and format of the collaborative performance, which is “all about finding alternate approaches to making music in isolation,” – an intentional departure from the kind of pandemic-driven performance that’s become “reliant on pre-existing electronic or sampled loops”.

Brauteseth and Wyatt have a history of collaboration, having performed together in musical outfits such as The Bokani Dyer Trio and the inimitable Bombshelter Beast. The subsequent synergy between the two is evident in OUTOFTHELOOP, which sees them performing five tracks with a mixed-bag of instrumentation.

The virtual performance is straightforward. No camera crews filming from the empty seats of a shuttered concert hall, just Brauteseth and Wyatt at home, performing in front of a simple backdrop fashioned out of a patterned sheet. The two open with ‘Jagged’. It’s an upbeat number that informs its accompanying visuals – a musical mosaic with each distinct fragment of the screen housing an instrument, angle, or close crop of the two doing their thing.

A relaxed interlude by Brauteseth on upright bass leads into ‘Resurrection’ which introduces a variety of disparate percussive elements. A traditional calabash shaker, a covered mallet on the body of Brauteseth’s bass, and the simple clapping of hands all lay the foundations for Wyatt’s soaring trumpet. Visually, the two make use of full-screen perspectives of each of these components, showcasing both the act of performance, and the process of recording in isolation.

Tibetan prayer bowls and cymbals open and close the performance of ‘Devotion’, a low and languid composition, before a cool, blue filter washes over Brauteseth in vocal harmony with the trumpet. ‘The outcast shelters the wanderer’ picks up the pace again and brings back the myriad instrumentation, expertly looped and composed by the two.

Rounding off the performance are the ‘Prayer for Nkosi’ tracks, which also feature a written dedication to the memory of Lulama Gaulana and Alistair Andrews, “whose contribution and commitment to the Standard Bank Youth Jazz Festival over the years has been invaluable.”

Unsurprisingly, Wyatt and Brauteseth put together a brilliant performance built up by a variety of organically recorded loops and arrangements. What makes OUTOFTHELOOP a novel experience, though, is the way the two have embraced the possibilities (or restrictions, depending on how you look at it) of ‘virtual’ modes of performance. At times, it is as if you’re viewing the two through a spider’s eye – an audio-visual collage that sees Wyatt harmonising side-by-side with his digital likeness, and Brauteseth working the strings of the upright bass while knocking out an accompanying melody on its body, simultaneously. It’s also a way of breaking down and visualising the distinct components that make up the greater performance, be it a disembodied hand striking a resonant chime on the cymbals, or an adidas sneaker tapping out time on the carpet.

So, as we all hunch over our laptops for the second iteration of an all-virtual National Arts Festival, it’s details like these that help to make the screen feel a little less cold, and the performance a little more intimate. And if that’s still not doing it for you, there’s always the aforementioned cat-cameo to look out for. No clues or timestamps, though. You’ll just have to watch the whole thing.

CREDITS:

All compositions and arrangements by Marcus Wyatt and Romy Brauteseth
Loops conceived and edited by Marcus Wyatt
Filmed by Marcus Wyatt and Romy Brauteseth
Video editing and visual concept by Romy Brauteseth
Music mixed by Peter Auret and Marcus Wyatt
Produced by Language 12.

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