News of a Bill MacKay and Nathan Bowles collaboration is the sort of thing I stick on my calendar and countdown to. Chicago based guitarist and improviser MacKay is by no means a stranger to collaboration, it’s something he seems naturally at home with, as demonstrated through collaborations with the likes of Ryley Walker and most recently with Dutch cellist Katinka Kleijn on Stir (reviewed here). Likewise, Durham, NC-based Bowles is a much-in-demand ensemble player and while best known for his innovative banjo playing is also a masterful percussionist. He’s just as capable of delivering a cinematic suite (Nansemond reviewed here) or virtuosic solo banjo work (A Bottle, A Buckeye). The good news is that these two hooked up a few years ago and on April 9th we will get to experience this duo in their full glory via ‘Keys’ on Drag City.
“Joy Ride” is our first taster – MacKay and Bowles taking us on a journey on which their musical intuition shines brightly as they interweave banjo and guitar. Far from being a run of the mill duet; ‘Joy Ride’ offers the listener both cinematic and pinhole perspectives which seem to continually grow and adapt to each movement and flow between them, like a single living entity adapting to its environment.
They both display a curiousness and intuition in their approach to music while underneath all that, there is a playfulness which allows them to also be innovative and carefree as demonstrated here. ‘Joy Ride’ ends on a lovely trickling fade-out, a message to the listener that they could have happily carried on playing. It really is a great trip.
Like the music, the accompanying video animation by Timothy Breen delivers endless possibilities, evolving alongside the tune like a desert dream under the majesty of the stars…
Joy Ride is also our Tune of the Day.
Drag City: Eight of the featured songs are originals, with the other two coming from other centuries. The diversity of song is matched by the instrumentation: in addition to Bill’s guitar and Nathan’s banjo, they use voice, piano, percussion, pump organ, electric organ and requinto to add space to the richness and rusticity, the traditional space of the compositions.
Order Keys: https://www.dragcity.com/products/keys
Stream “Joy Ride”-https://ffm.to/keys
Photo Credit: Nick Broste