CHAOS + Contemplation
Ravello, 2022
9/10
Listen to CHAOS + Contemplation
An iconoclastic saxophone/percussion duo, DRAX, i.e. Leo Saguiguit and Megan Arns, create rebellious and raw sounds that they funnel into today’s social issues, political headaches and widespread hysteria.
Asha Srinivasan’s “Tantrums” opens the listen with the manipulated brass and mysterious percussion meeting at a place that somehow sounds tribal and futuristic, and Steven Snowden’s “We Don’t Have Enough Time” follows with repetitive sound bites alongside the bright sax and waves of droning that segues the track into an aberrant version of jazz.
Residing in the middle, “They Tried To Bury Us, They Didn’t Know We Were Seeds”, by Jose G. Martinez, burns slow and low, with a reflective tone that inserts plenty of dialogue about the current societal turmoil, while Carolina Heredia offers us “Soledad, Part I: Lamenting” and “Soledad, Part II: Triumphant” to exit the listen. The former flows with a dreaminess that welcomes soulful sax and stirring vibes, and the latter emits a sparseness that pairs the emotive brass with very charming percussion.
A stylish, uniquely energetic and highly creative affair, you’ve probably never heard sax and percussion paired like this, and you’re going to remember moment of it.
Travels well with: Wesley Ferreira- Into The Green; James Dashow- Soundings In Pure Duration Vol 2