Two American duos explore the sparse yet rewarding sounds devised by balancing the lyrical and percussive power of a piano with a drum set’s subtle rhythmic feel. It’s a format that has been rewarding for such keyboard innovators as Cecil Taylor and Irène Schweizer along with an assemblage of percussion partners. The experienced players on Forest are pianist Marilyn Crispell, known for her work with Anthoney Braxton among many others; and drummer Harvey Sorgen who has played in many bands with Joe Fonda to name one associate. Meanwhile A Monster is just an Animal you haven’t met yet the is personified by pianist Angelica Sanchez who has recorded with everyone from Wadada Leon Smith to Paul Dunmall, and drummer Chad Taylor, who has worked with numerous groups, including those of James Bandon Lewis.

Neither disc is designed as casual interludes. But at the same time each duo’s creations aren’t so aggressive that reasonable lyricism is neglected. Instead a variant of sophisticated progression is expressed on nearly every track, balancing textures as they shift among the varied emphasis the twosomes bring to the session.

Crispell and Sanchez can play powerfully though. The title track of the former’s duo for instance begins with Crispell applying pressure on the keys for timbral extension before diving deep inside the instrument for soundboard rumbles. then surfacing to quickly propel elevated note geysers. These speedy changes of pace easily make common cause with Sorgen’s bass drum pounding, cymbal sweeps and press rolls or more retrained woody clanks and clips.

Variation on the theme are prevalent before reaching “Green”, the disc’s mid-range coda. “Green” that sums up the duo’s dualism with piano segues between dynamic tolling on one hand and gentling echoes with the other, as drum stick clanks and press rolls showcase the drummer’s strategy,

Among the contrasts expressed by Crispell and Sorgen are tracks that firmly nestle in the swing groove; others which break up straight-ahead expositions with keyboard clips and cymbal splashes; and some which toughen in increments as soundboard resonations grow into two-handed keyboard variations backed by drum ruffs and thumps. Sorgen’s ingenuity is defined in that he can propel rhythm with the controlled rotation of objects on drum tops on “Sandscape” as craftily as he uses martial raps and rim shots to speed up an exposition created by Crispell’s key prodding and swaying stops on “Wolf Moon”.

No less creative or cohesive as the other duo, the Sanchez-Taylor pairing also explores permutations of light and darkness, speed and stasis. At the same time every variation is weighed for narrative progression. The drummer’s strategies encompass expected cymbal crashes and drum, paradiddles, pumps and pops. Crucially though he can also pivot to unexpected patterning. For instance his playing on the concluding “All Alone Together” has a faint Caribbean-Latin groove with the cymbal clanks and patter reminiscent of junkeroo goatskin drum resonations. This intersects with the pianist’s internal string and doubled expression in a stop-time narrative. More uniquely the title tune offers a jerky melody created by inner piano string slaps and extensive resonations plus shakes from Taylor’s kalimba plucks.

Sanchez too maintains control with expositions ranging from thick, low-key pumping to single note filigree. “Holding Space” is an instance of the former as the theme is outlined with methodical and balanced key stops aided by drum pops and patters reaching an apogee in the second section as pressure and pep combine. An example of the latter, “Alluvia” has a decorative and flowery piano exposition matched with Taylor’s brush strokes. Linear motifs advance speedily with the climax a tandem fade following drum slaps and key rustling.

Variations in targeted swing, rhythmic stop-time and timbral sprinkles characterize many of the other tracks. However the album’s most notable takeaway is confirming how well this duo and the other expand the parameters of drum-piano music, without upsetting the balance between convention and creativity.

https://www.jazzword.com/reviews/angelica-sanchez-chad-taylor/

RECORDED with resonating sound in Brooklyn, this duo album by two Arizonans, pianist Angelica Sanchez and drummer Chad Taylor, is a tryst of marvellously open and striking musicianship.

The co-operative spirit of these two virtuosi is explosive throughout - hear the mysteriously animated note patterns of Holding Presence in Time, for example, where the twosome anticipate each other's phrases and conjunctions with such intuitive power, or the longest track, Myopic Seer, where there seem to be two drummers drumming, such are the percussive sonics that stream from Sanchez's piano.

There's a very particular hot and dry excitation coming from the timbre of this session, as if these two have taken the essence of their state, its landscape and climate, into the heartsblood of their music. As Sanchez plucks her piano's innards in the title piece the sound suddenly desertifies into a unique soundscape, inventive and provocative.

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/jazz-album-reviews-chris-searle-2

Two of the leading lights on their instruments strike sparks in a series of impromptu duets on A Monster Is Just An Animal You Haven't Met Yet. Pianist Angelica Sanchez has birthed a string of impressive releases, Nightmare Creatures (Pyroclastic, 2023) with her Nonet, and the twin keys extravaganza How To Turn The Moon (Pyroclastic, 2020) with Marilyn Crispell, being particularly notable. Factor in appearances with luminaries such as trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, flutist Nicole Mitchell and saxophonist Tony Malaby and it amounts to considerable experience brought bear in this hook up with drummer Chad Taylor.

For his part, Taylor has become increasingly ubiquitous, recognized as one of the finest drummers of his generation, as evidenced by his tenure with saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, bassist Eric Revis and late trumpeter Jaimie Branch among many others. He convinces as a supreme technician, not only calling on a kaleidoscope of beats, but also painterly adding complementary shades and rhythms which make the canvas seem even more vivid, without ever doing the obvious. Consequently this studio session presents the perfect opportunity to appreciate the two players' many gifts, up close and personal.

Throughout the pair demonstrate that they are in it for the long haul. There is no unseemly dash for immediate impact. That much is clear from the annunciatory flourishes of the opening "Liminal," which later falls into a pleasingly near synchronous tumble. Both could join in lockstep if they wished, but why negate the tautness and whiff of danger the tension generates? Although none of her charts are featured, Sanchez approaches the date with a composerly sensitivity to both form and effect, ever willing to contribute structural elements, such as the repeated motif which unifies her sudden eruptions on the pulsating "Holding Space."

While drawing the map as they go, sometimes one or other creates a mood that is cultivated, as manifest in the baleful dark textures of "Tracers of Cosmic Space" miraculously assembled from tambourine shakes and swipes across the piano innards, the dense all elbows whirl of "Animistic," or the thumb piano driven patterns of the title cut. Elsewhere though their navigations yield wide ranging excursions. The standout "Myopic Seer" offers a case in point, evolving from tolling piano, via myriad reflections, a tattoo undergirding with spiky momentum, and high density keyboard spanning runs to a final drum rampage.

Programmed with theatrical attention to variation and flow, drama is never far away.

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/a-monster-is-just-an-animal-you-havent-met-yet-angelica-sanchez-chad-taylor-intakt-records__21335

Die Pianistin Angelica Sanchez (jüngst mit einem Nonettalbum hervorgetreten) und der Schlagzeuger Chad Taylor (auf weit über 100 Alben zu hören) begegnen sich seit Jahren in verschiedenen Formationen. Nun also ihre erste Duoaufnahme, entstanden Anfang 2023 in Brooklyn. Alle zehn Stücke sind frei improvisierte Zwiegespräche - entsprechend abstrakt lesen sich die Liner Notes von Brandon Ross. Sanchez und Taylor duettieren hier quasi kinetisch, in einem dynamisch differenzierten Mit- und Gegeneinander. Die Pianistin entwickelt eine immer wieder andere gestisch-tonale Logik, der Drummer interagiert mit einer geradezu orchestralen Vielseitigkeit. Zweifellos hat die Art, wie beide phrasieren, viel Jazzgeschich-te aufgesogen. Ihre Duosprache sei „halb Jazz, halb Telepathie", schreibt der Kritiker Glenn Astarita. In Track 3 gibt es auch einmal ein Timing (das Stück heißt daher „Holding Pre-sence In Time"), in Track 10 einen Klavierbass-rhythmus und im Titelstück wechselt Taylor aufs Daumenklavier (Kalimba). Spannende Momente - man muss nur bereit sein, sich darauf einzulassen.

Duos sind wie Paar-Beziehungen. Man muss dem Partner Raum geben, auf ihn eingehen, aber ihm auch die Stirn bieten können, um sich selbst im Miteinander nicht zu verlieren. Pianistin Angelica Sanchez und Schlagzeuger Chad Taylor meistern die Ambivalenz aus (Eigen-)Ver-antwortung und Empathie in faszinierender Manier. In zehn frei improvisierten Dialogen zwischen drei und elf Minuten Länge sind sie nicht immer einer, aber nie gegensätzlicher Meinung. Aber es geht auch nicht um gefällige Homogenität, sondern um kreativen Austausch und produktive Ergänzung. Oft ist es so, dass einer ein Angebot macht, etwa wenn Taylor zum Auftakt von »Holding Space« ausgelassen auf den Trommeln tanzt, ehe Sanchez zunächst bedächtige, dann allmählich animiertere Pianomotive dagegensetzt, sie schließlich allein zurück-bleibt, bis Taylor mit repetitiven Patterns wieder einsteigt, um so etwas wie einen Groove zu etablieren. Einfallsreichtum und Bandbreite der Stimmungen sind enorm.

Da folgt etwa auf das ungestüme, ungezügelte »Animistic« das ruhige, fast meditative »Holding Presence in Time«. Im Titelstück spielt Taylor ein Daumenklavier, während Sanchez (nur) hier ins Flügelinnere greift. Dann stürzen wieder wilde Piano-Kaskaden auf Trommeln und Becken nieder und man staunt eine volle Stunde lang mit offenem Mund und offenen Ohren. Vielleicht gerade, weil hier nichts auf Perfektion hin angelegt ist, gelingen diese Zwiegespräche so vollkommen. Darf man in einem seriösen Jazzmagazin den Kalauer wagen? Dieses Monster-Album ist einfach eine tierisch gute Platte (die Sie noch nicht kennen?

A Monster is Just an Animal You Haven’t Met Yet is the first duo album by pianist Angelica Sanchez and drummer Chad Taylor. This meeting seems inevitable, considering their long friendship, which has been documented over the years in various configurations. As virtuoso improvisers and diverse stylists, Sanchez and Taylor are two of the most protean personalities currently working in creative improvised music. Sanchez’s melodic progressions and harmonic contributions recall the endeavors of past masters, and are mirrored by Taylor’s equally multistylistic inclinations.

Unlike a solo performance, where narrative flow is unencumbered by the burden of shared responsibility, a duet tasks a pair with having the patience and commitment to follow whatever direction is mutually undertaken, while maintaining a congenial sense of cohesiveness. Sanchez and Taylor’s deft correspondence is uncannily balanced, their near telepathic bond yielding an unpredictable soundscape that is attained in tandem. Sanchez’s confident pianism guides the way, while Taylor’s percussive accompaniment provides momentum. The duo’s efforts are frequently intricate and occasionally serene, but always compelling.

The opener, “Liminal,” is spacious and lush with Taylor gracefully accompanying on mallets before rhythmically interweaving with Sanchez in a series of harmonious variations. “Holding Presence in Time” is similarly opulent, but suspenseful and restrained. On the other hand, “Myopic Seer,” takes off for the stratosphere, as both musicians orbit in close proximity around one another, slowly building in simmering intensity, playing together as one. “Animistic,” a sonic interpretation of animism (the belief that all things have a spiritual essence) is even more primal.

The title track offers exotic tonal variety; starting with a hypnotic riff on thumb piano, the groove continues while Sanchez rubs and strikes the strings inside the piano in sonic solidarity. Emulating natural phenomena, Sanchez’s piano ebbs and flows like water on “Alluvial,” her phrasing modulating from gently meandering to forcefully rushing; Taylor matches her fluidity with shimmering waves of percussion. On the closer, “All Alone, Together,” Sanchez is unrelenting, while Taylor’s pan-textural rhythms escalate in turn, his clattering cadences elevating the tune.

Sanchez rarely gets the recognition she deserves. Her playing is consistently surprising, and Taylor makes a perfect musical partner. Together they conjure a melodious dialogue that brims with endless possibility – expressive one minute, introspective the next. A tribute to the spontaneity of two artists creating in the moment, and a celebration of conversational interplay, the album title A Monster is Just an Animal You Haven’t Met Yet is also an apt metaphor; each excursion sounds unfamiliar at first, but eventually reveals an inner beauty that only close listening can provide.

https://pointofdeparture.org/PoD87/PoD87MoreMoments5.html

Nous retrouvons Chad Taylor avec la pianiste Angelica Sanchez, originaire de Phoenix (Arizona). Installée à New York depuis une trentaine d’années, elle s’est faite connaître tardivement en Europe grâce à plusieurs disques Clean Feed, dont un avec Tony Malaby, Marc Ducret, Drew Gress et Tom Rainey. Il y a six mois, elle a enregistré en nonette et s’est produite à Strasbourg avec Barry Guy et Ramon Lopez. Ce duo avec Chad Taylor constitue une retrouvaille puisqu’elle avait joué dans le trio du batteur en 2009. Voilà pour les présentations succintes de cette pianiste qui pratique un langage beaucoup plus contemporain que son homonyme Marta, très ouvert, multidirectionnel, que provoquent brisures, clusters, contrastes de graves et d’aigus, jeu sur les cordes, auxquels répond sur le champ le percussionniste. Dix pièces communes pour un premier disque chez Intakt, et un dialogue de haute qualité.

https://www.culturejazz.fr/spip.php?article4209#james_brandon_lewis_quartet_transfiguration

Die Pianistin Sanchez und der Schlagzeuger Taylor spielen schon seit Längerem in verschiedenen Gruppen zusammen und zelebrieren nun ihre Freundschaft mit zehn meistens kurzen Duos - Improvisationen oder Spontankompositionen, die oft etwas Mysteriöses und Rituelles haben und bezwecken, hohe dichte Energie zu erzeugen und zu bewahren. Deshalb wird auch der Flügel zu Perkussion mit hart gesetzten Tönen, hin und her schwappenden Kaskaden und hämmernden Cecil-Taylor-artigen Clustern. Und selbst ruhigere lyrische Momente, in denen oft kleine Motive zum Keim langer chromatischer Gesten wer-den, haben eine spröde Expressivität. Schon die spontanen Anfänge sind verschieden und lösen feuersprühende Dialoge aus - manchmal eng verflochten, aber oft auch auf scheinbar separaten Wegen. Taylors Beitrag ist leicht und farbig. Im Titelstück "À Monster" dominiert seine Mbira. Das freie Timing dominiert bis gegen Schluss, wo plötzlich repetierte Figuren und Grooves etwas Afrikanisches erhalten.

Angelica Sanchez/Chad Taylor-A Monster Is Just An Animal You Haven't
Met Yet (Intakt)

Recommended new release, The New York City Jazz Record, USA

A Monster Is Just An Animal You Haven't Met Yet, the new album from pianist Angelica Sanchez and percussionist Chad Taylor, opens with a series of undulating triplets, followed by a crawling right-hand figure and a delicate cymbal flourish. Moving up the keyboard, Sanchez folds the triplets into an extended line that casts oblique shadows in the pale light. Taylor brushes the cymbals with an impeccable sense of colour and space, before playing a short mallet roll that creates an opening for high energy playing later on. This is consummate duo improvisation, where the tension between spontaneity and organisation yields real beauty, from the rhythmic clusters and scurrying polyrhythms of "Animistic" to the title track's finely spun lattice of kalimba and inside-piano timbres.

"We've been friends for a minute and played duo a few times," says Sanchez of her connection with Taylor, first documented on the drummer's 2009 trio album Circle Down and continuing through Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Orchestra, a trio with guitarist Brandon Ross, and a new quartet. "One day he said, "Why don't we just make a duo record?' That record is completely improvised. Every Farah Al Gasimi time we play duo, we're like, oh, this is so much fun. We just have a nice musical connection.

It's that telepathic sort of connection you have with certain musicians. No ego in the room, just music. It's really a joy to play with him." Sanchez and Taylor have never quite had the profiles their talents deserve. Active in the New York jazz scene since the 1990s, Arizona born Sanchez has a relatively modest leader discography, beginning with 2003's Mirror Me. Recorded with her quartet of saxophonist Tony Malaby, bassist Michael Formanek and drummer Tom Rainey, it's an impressive debut, highlighting her skills as a pianist and composer in the post-bop continuum. Life Between came five years later, the first of several releases with Lisbon's Clean Feed, including the luminous solo set A Little House, where she plays toy piano alongside the grand, and Twine Forest, a superb duo with trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith. Other projects include a collective trio with Malaby and Rainey, a trio with British improvisors Paul Dunmall and Mark Sanders, and 2022's Sparkle Beings with Billy Hart and Michael Formanek.

Since 2020, Sanchez has released two leader albums on Kris Davis's Pyroclastic, an artist-run label that has rapidly established itself as an essential platform for adventurous composer-performers. Sanchez praises Davis's support for other artists, particularly women: "A lot of people when they get to her status keep it all for themselves. She's spread the love around." Sanchez's Pyroclastic debut, How To Turn The Moon, is a stunning piano duo with Marilyn Crispell. Discovering Crispell was a revelation to the teenage Sanchez. "I was like, who is this? She's a soul sister, for sure. I really look up to her, just a masterful player. She's so generous musically, as a person. And she has so much fire in her playing. I love it."

The piano duo can be a challenging format. "Sometimes it can be too much piano, but if they're generous of space, and there's no ego in the room [we] can really get to the music," she reflects. "There was no weirdness in terms of who's playing what. And [Crispell's] a master at dealing with harmony, shaping things and finding colours. I really still aspire to be like her as a musician, the commanding knowledge she has, but also expanding that." Sanchez's second Pyroclastic album was 2023's Nighttime Creatures, a suite of compositions for nonet that's a marvel of ensemble writing, with its idiosyncratic textures and disarming melodies. Due to financial and logistical considerations, the project was developed over several years, allowing Sanchez to "figure out the sound I wanted and how I could stretch things, if I wanted the ensemble to sound smaller or sound bigger, how I needed to voice those kinds of situations".

From the Carla Bley-like Spanish horns on "Cloud House" to the otherworldly harmonies of "Astral Light Of Alarid", Sanchez's sectional arrangements are gorgeous. With Ellingtonian flair, she tailors the music to individual voices, with alto saxophonist Michael Attias