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Remember when every pop star was claiming to have synesthesia? As if associating certain sounds with certain colors was not an extremely common sensory experience? That was a fun/annoying trend. I'm reminded of it by Making Colors, the new album from improvisational heroes Dave Harrington, Max Jaffe, and Patrick Shiroishi.
The well-traveled trio of Harrington (guitar, organ, electronics), Jaffe (drum set, sensory percussion, gongs, effects), and Shiroishi (alto saxophone, electronics, iPhone) first teamed up for 2024's Speak, Moment, which documented their first time creating together. Last week they followed it up with Making Colors, an album that shows off the breadth of their combined powers.
The music on Making Colors is placid and dreamy sometimes, aggressively skronky other times, but it never loses its sense of genuine searching. Promo materials tell us that Harrington/Jaffe/Shiroishi "works at a cross section of avant-garde, ambient, electronic, post-hardcore, and free jazz, but is not really any of those things," and that's correct. There's a slippery, unknowable quality to the music, even as so much of it taps into deep emotional truth.
If you have any interest in the modern improv scene, you're already familiar with these names, and you know you're in for a treat. If not, Making Colors makes for a fascinating introduction. Listen below.
Making Colors is out now on AKP Recordings. Buy it here.
English (US) · 