Sound Clusters of the Abstract Kind:
By Helen Levin
Peter Zummo, Tom Hamilton, Michael Evans performing at the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art, Staten Island, October 2004
Peter Zummo, Tom Hamilton, Michael Evans performing at the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art, Staten Island, October 2004
Can a slide trombonist be "way out"? Yes, but first you have to fall in love with the instrument as Peter Zummo has, and explore every nuance of its sound potential. For instance, most of the six movements of the CD-length composition of "Experimenting with Household Chemicals" find the trombone so close to the human voice that it seems to giggle, chatter, explode, soothe, and even lecture. In the "Peaceful Trans-portation" cut, he is definitely doing an airplane thing…and it’s probably the only non-abstract piece in his whole oeuvre…but you get the point.
A recent interview helped me understand the musician’s relation to range of sound and abstraction. "I think of musical composition more like abstract painting," he explains. "Rather than an architectural structure that is considered ‘necessary,’ I prefer to splash the musical elements in a semi-ordered, semi-controlled manner." Zummo has been composing for trombone, didgeridoo (an Australian Aboriginal horn), and valved brasses with ensembles since 1967. This involvement stems from instrumental and ethnomusicology study at Wesleyan University and a lifelong musical interest starting with himself as schoolboy with trumpet. "I took up the trombone because it feels closest to my own voice. I think of the instrument as an extension of it, only with much greater range."
It was jazz, however, that gave Zummo as taste for improvisational style (with his own soupcon of humor), especially through studying with Roswell Rudd. The latter is described by the musician as "not just a premier improviser on the trombone, but a creator of a systematic educational program for teaching ‘intervallic’ approaches to jazz improvisation. Zummo has worked with John Gibson, David Behrman, Tom Hamilton, and a number of other post-modern artists.
This explains the second passion for this musician: experimentation…putting him into cutting edge and increasingly visual performance-concerts. Zummo appeared early in fall 2004 at ABC NoRio with experimental percussionist, Michael Evans. While Evans’s bare feet worked sounds off the cymbals, Zummo generated timbre modulations with a variety of muting objects placed into the bell of the trombone…everything from standard mutes and mouthpiece extenders to household devices, like water hoses and funnels. His musical notation is original: a tablature based on diamonds, crosses, pictures, and complex notation that delineate the skeletal foundation of the compositions…enough to inspire him with plans to publish a book of the hand drawn manuscripts.
Even more than "Slybersonic Tromoson," Peter Zummo’s other recent album, "Experimentaing with Household Chemicals" really cooks. In this CD, with its repetition of minimalist, lyrical themes (e.g. "Fresh Batteries"), the musician shows what an adept composer he is. The song starts with a clarion-call, marimba flourishes, rattle percussion, and intoning voice—all in a gradual crescendo. He repeats this with variation, so it’s never the same…as he introduces the lazy, relaxed meanderings his instrument, something like the mood of Eric Satie’s piano etudes…only even less predictable. There’s a lot more. The six movements of this album give us trombone harmonies, spontaneous sound clusters, bird like chirps, alarms, while the rhythms change from alpha-wave inducing to bouncy. As their best, they flow elegantly to hold our interest. The other musicians on the album are Arthur Russell on cello and keyboard bass, Bill Ruyle on marimba and voice, Mustafa Amed on percussion, John Gibson on saxophone and flute, Joseph Kubera onelectronic organ and synthesizer, and Dennis Masuzzo on contrabass. The album interweaves performance tapes from past concerts and studio recordings. Dan evans Farkas helps with the digital creative production.
On January 24, 2004, Zummo will be performing at the Cornelia Street Cafe with Drone World and Eastern Orbit,and on April 29, 2005 with the Downtown Ensemble at St. Peter’s Church, 346 W. 20th St. in Manhattan.
