Rachel Musson is a highly regarded improvising saxophonist who has been very active in recent years in the Shifa trio, and on various excellent recordings, for example with Olie Brice and Mark Sanders on Immense Blue (REVIEW).
On this latest recording, she has taken a different approach; it is a solo project in which she brings together composition and improvisation using field recordings mostly collected in West Wales, but with a few additions from London, into which she integrates instrumental passages on saxophones, flute and piccolo. So we have the sounds of birdsong, water flowing, church bells and also the London underground which are gradually manipulated digitally to create a variety of textures against which Rachel improvises on her various instruments. The sound of the instruments are also manipulated at certain points to create a range of engaging sounds.
Thus Meltwater begins with birdsong and sounds of the countryside into which the sound of the flute enters very quietly. Then the tenor saxophone enters over the flute but the sound of the tenor is manipulated such that it sometimes sounds like a soprano saxophone.
Bethink and Lay to Heart begins with the spiritual sound of the tenor saxophone over a repeated rhythm which is accompanied by electro-magnetic sounds taken from the London underground. This in turn leads into a passage in which the sound of the saxophone is enhanced to create the effect of a saxophone choir. The second part of the track features Rachel on piccolo with occasional intrusions of the sounds of the underground.
This is the pattern throughout the six tracks; Dawnsing has the sound of flowing water, manipulated church bells overlaid with saxophone multiphonics, while Keystone has the tenor saxophone over splashing water.
The title track is rather longer than the other tracks; on it Rachel has manipulated the sound of church bells through various devices slowing the sound so that it creates an intriguing and mysterious effect.
Rachel’s family originates from the area of West Wales in which she made most of the recordings, and her compositions and improvisations reflect her reaction to the contrasts between that environment and the city (London) in which she was living at the time. On her website Rachel discusses her yearning during lockdown for open skies and how this led to her exploring her family history in West Wales and ultimately to the various field recordings that are the basis of this project.
It is an engaging set of music which will be fascinating to hear live.
LIVE DATES: Stroud on 22 Feb at 7:30 at Klang Tone Records (free entry).
Newcastle on Tyne on Sunday 25th February at The Globe at 7.30 in a double bill with Bex Burch.