light.box is the duo of Alex Bonney and Pierre Alexandre Tremblay, both on electronics, but with Bonney doubling on trumpet and Tremblay doubling on bass guitar. They have made four records, the first just as a duo, the others in partnership with one other musician, Sam Pluta, another electronics performer on one, British-based Norwegian drummer Emil Karlsen on another, and Tom Challenger on this most recent album.
The collaboration with Tom Challenger creates music with many variations and full of unique sounds and textures. The collaboration takes different forms; at times the electronics lays down a rich backing for Challenger to develop his own lines over, at others the approach is much more interactive with Challenger integrating short phrases with similarly short phrases from the electronics. Bonney also moves between electronics and his trumpet, swapping phrases on the trumpet with Challenger’s saxophone in the classic free jazz style, but also blending in with the electronics to create a rich integrated sound.
The opening track, “Lateral Sway”, begins with a booming industrial sound; this serves as a rich background over which Challenger develops abstract lines on the tenor sax.
“Chain Chimes” begins with Bonney on trumpet improvising in short interactive phrases with Challenger. The track is divided into three parts and a short interlude and after the opening duet between Bonney and Challenger it moves into various passages of electronics with snatches of distant sound from the saxophone and the trumpet at different points to create a very special sound.
The final track, “Covalent”, has, after an extensive electronic opening, a beautiful, rather melancholy solo from Challenger over atmospheric electronics; it concludes with a more forceful statement from the saxophone, still over the electronics.
The album is on Bead, a label which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year and in which Emil Karlsen is now playing a leading role.
