Conch shells, Tibetan prayer bowls, and a black and white cat all make an appearance in this year\u2019s Standard Bank Jazz Festival performance by trumpeter Marcus Wyatt and bassist Romy Brauteseth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
OUTOFTHELOOP<\/a><\/em> 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 \u201call about finding alternate approaches to making music in isolation,\u201d \u2013 an intentional departure from the kind of pandemic-driven performance that\u2019s become \u201creliant on pre-existing electronic or sampled loops\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Brauteseth and Wyatt have a history of collaboration, having performed together in musical outfits such as The Bokani Dyer Trio<\/a> and the inimitable Bombshelter Beast. The subsequent synergy between the two is evident in OUTOFTHELOOP<\/em>, which sees them performing five tracks with a mixed-bag of instrumentation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nvirtual performance is straightforward. No camera crews filming from\nthe empty seats of a shuttered concert hall, just Brauteseth and\nWyatt at home, performing in front of a simple backdrop fashioned out\nof a patterned sheet. The two open with \u2018Jagged\u2019. It\u2019s an\nupbeat number that informs its accompanying visuals \u2013 a musical\nmosaic with each distinct fragment of the screen housing an\ninstrument, angle, or close crop of the two doing their thing. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n A relaxed interlude by Brauteseth on upright bass leads into \u2018Resurrection\u2019 which introduces a variety of disparate percussive elements. A traditional calabash shaker, a covered mallet on the body of Brauteseth\u2019s bass, and the simple clapping of hands all lay the foundations for Wyatt\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Tibetan prayer bowls and cymbals open and close the performance of \u2018Devotion\u2019, a low and languid composition, before a cool, blue filter washes over Brauteseth in vocal harmony with the trumpet. \u2018The outcast shelters the wanderer\u2019 picks up the pace again and brings back the myriad instrumentation, expertly looped and composed by the two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rounding\noff the performance are the \u2018Prayer for Nkosi\u2019 tracks, which also\nfeature a written dedication to the memory of Lulama Gaulana and\nAlistair Andrews, \u201cwhose contribution and commitment to the\nStandard Bank Youth Jazz Festival over the years has been\ninvaluable.\u201d \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unsurprisingly,\nWyatt and Brauteseth put together a brilliant performance built up by\na variety of organically recorded loops and arrangements. What makes\nOUTOFTHELOOP<\/em> a novel experience, though, is the way the two\nhave embraced the possibilities (or restrictions, depending on how\nyou look at it) of \u2018virtual\u2019 modes of performance. At times, it\nis as if you\u2019re viewing the two through a spider\u2019s eye \u2013 an\naudio-visual collage that sees Wyatt harmonising side-by-side with\nhis digital likeness, and Brauteseth working the strings of the\nupright bass while knocking out an accompanying melody on its body,\nsimultaneously. It\u2019s also a way of breaking down and visualising\nthe distinct components that make up the greater performance, be it a\ndisembodied hand striking a resonant chime on the cymbals, or an\nadidas sneaker tapping out time on the carpet. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, as we all hunch over our laptops for the second iteration of an all-virtual National Arts Festival, it\u2019s details like these that help to make the screen feel a little less cold, and the performance a little more intimate. And if that\u2019s still not doing it for you, there\u2019s always the aforementioned cat-cameo to look out for. No clues or timestamps, though. You\u2019ll just have to watch the whole thing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n CREDITS:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n All compositions and arrangements by Marcus Wyatt and Romy Brauteseth \n\n\u00a9 2021 The Critter. This article is licensed under a <\/em>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Conch shells, Tibetan prayer bowls, and a black and white cat all make an appearance in this year\u2019s Standard Bank Jazz Festival performance by trumpeter Marcus Wyatt and bassist Romy … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":4435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[7,10],"tags":[1150,1151,1054],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4434"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4434"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4439,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4434\/revisions\/4439"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n