darkmatterhalo & wadada leo smith + nublu orchestra, summerstage 2016 - NYC, aug 10

• photography by Clara Pereira / text by Filipe Freitas

On the evening of August 10th, the remarkable trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, an icon of today’s free improvisation, joined the New York-based quirky trio DarkMatterHalo for a concise performance at the East River Park Amphitheater in Manhattan, followed by the charismatic Nublu Orchestra.
The event, organized by the City Parks Foundation, was part of the annual initiative called Summer Stage, the New York City’s largest free performing arts festival.
 
Exhibiting a confident attitude and winning straightforwardness, Wadada Leo Smith, was in charge of the intro, delivering resonant melodic phrases with soul and determination.
Unhurriedly and uncompromisingly, the members of the DarkMatterHalo, whose music is shaped with abstract dark tones, sonic pollution, and unexpectedness, started to advance with bizarre vibes and sinister flare-ups through the sometimes gentle, sometimes aggressive strokes of their unorthodox guitarists, Brandon Ross and Doug Wieselman, and the perplexing effects of the sound designer, Hardedge.
Wadada, who at some point encouraged the pair of guitarists to become more active, also addressed the audience with a wise advice: “you shall find your place on Earth and live, otherwise you lose”.
 
Nublu Orchestra’s performance was less abstract and infused with an insatiable rhythm.
This ensemble project was led by Lawrence D. “Butch” Morris for more than a decade until his death in 2013, and boasts great musicians in its lineup: the guitarists Brandon Ross and Doug Wieselman who had double performance tonight, the consecrated drummer Kenny Wollesen, the Brooklyn M-Base cornetist Graham Haynes, the saxophonists Ilhan Ersahin and Jonathon Haffner, the electric bassist Jesse Murphy, and Forro In the Dark’s percussionist Mauro Refosco.
“Conduction”, a term patented by the late Morris, was alternatively embraced by Wollesen, Haynes, and Morris, who commanded the band according to their whims.
The music, oscillating between a jubilant avant-funk packed with syncopated rhythms and atmospheric incursions of more restrained temper, left the audience satisfied.