Scully Sound » reeds

Byard Lancaster Unit

Sarah — Fri, 29 Apr 2005 17:10:43 +0000

In April, 2005, Bobby Hill and Transparent Productions brought another jazz legend to Takoma Park at Sangha. Byard Lancaster wove a continuous tapestry of sound from the pre-show tune-up through the enthusiastic audience reception at the end of the concert, never stopping for more than a second. His mix of African and Caribbean folk music, traditional jazz standards and original compositions blended into one long, joyful celebration. This was an amazing opportunity to witness Byard’s energy and how it affected everyone present.

Ethnic Heritage Ensemble

Sarah — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 18:36:09 +0000

The EHE combines a unique blend of native and jazz instruments to explore African-influenced and free-form jazz. The highlight of this show was the vocal contribution by Kahil El’Zabar. Fortunately, the small size of the venue made it easy to capture this nuanced performance on the recording.

Bill Cole’s Untempered Ensemble

Sarah — Sun, 14 Nov 2004 13:00:01 +0000

As with Bill Cole’s previous appearance at Sangha, I used matched pair of small-diaphragm microphones set up about 15 feet from the stage. The larger band and small stage area created a bit of a challenge, so I used a wider pattern to capture all of the instruments. Fortunately, Sangha is a great recording space. There is little street noise and the audiences are usually quiet for these gigs.

Bill Cole and Warren Smith

Sarah — Sun, 04 Apr 2004 22:35:46 +0000

I first recorded Bill Cole and Warren Smith when they performed as a duo at Sangha in Takoma Park, MD. Bill (double reeds) and Warren (percussion) have been performing together for years, a fact that reveals itself in their intuitive musical chemistry. Several months later I was asked to come back and record Bill’s larger Untempered Ensemble.