This week’s #ThisDealInHistory is a continuation of our look into tND’s February 20, 2009 show in Northampton, MA.
The clip begins with what is effectively a “standing start” - one of us just playing something (anything, really) and off we go. No discussion beforehand, no planning - just put your hands on your axe and dig in.
In this case Darren steps up with the beat and I join in shortly thereafter with a Nord pattern. I’m definitely getting elastic with the time signature in the first couple of minutes, changing from 4/4 to 5/4 and 6/4 and then back to 4/4; something that I tended to do with our standing-start jams and often just for fun or to see if something new (melodically or harmonically) would arise from this meter change. Darren and Dan would usually just keep to the standard 4-beats-to-a-bar directive while I dart in and out of the 4/4 framework.
We build the theme until Darren brings in the deep groove at 2:15 and I introduce a main Moog line at 2:45. This new melody, rather than serving as the focal point for this jam, acts as a transitional section into something deeper, darker and faster at 3:45. Dan establishes the theme with a fresh bass hook and a dirtier tone while I “up the aggro” on the Nord. As discussed in previous #TDIH’s, I’m also deferring to the prominent bass melody by limiting the keyboards to short chord stabs and the occasional long-note melodic line.
The bit at 6:55 features a busier keyboard part along with some chordal/harmonic modifications. Dan has put the bass melody aside for the moment and is now supporting the main synth motif which has evolved in complexity and detail since it was last heard two minutes earlier.
At 8:45 we decide to pull back a bit, thereby allowing space for some echoed organ stabs and Rhodes chords. Slowly but surely we’re opening ourselves up to some type of transition - the likes of which we’re not quite sure yet but you can definitely hear us downshifting and expanding the parameters of potential direction. Between 8:45 and 10:15 we become almost free-form, letting the musical dust settle as we wait and see where we’re going to go.
At 10:15 it appears that we’ve decided on a tighter house groove layered with mellow Rhodes chords, a high Solina string pad and a jazzy synth solo. I reintroduce the Nord stabs/melody at 12:15 as we redevelop the intensity on the path back to the previous jam.
We drop into a completely new bag at 14:15 via a key change and some fancy bits courtesy of Dan and Darren. They’re confidently in control here so I decide to sit back and limit my contribution until 16:00 when I play some fuzzed-out Juno lines - still in the background but adding some texture and flavour while Dan and Darren do the heavy lifting.
MSG joins in the fun at 16:20 with some well-placed echo effects that advance the rhythmic complexity until the beatbox section at 17:40. We close out this segment of the jam with an interesting synth solo over top of some Drum+Bass. Keen ears will note that at 18:54 Darren briefly triggers a rhythmic cue which we all hit at 18:59, using this rhythm to transition into “VL Tone” at 19:31.
The simplicity of “VL Tone” works nicely as a landing pad for the improvisational intensity of the previous 20 minutes. With that concept in mind we keep the middle section short and get on with playing the recognized “VL Tone” structure to close out this week’s #ThisDealInHistory. -Jamie
