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This is a peach of a record from two hard-working veterans who seem to fly just under the radar. Brooklyn-based J.R. Bohannon has been more interested in the pedal steel recently, but both his Recôncavo EP and Dusk LP are excellent releases and show plenty of his prowess as an adept fingerstyle guitarist and experimenter. Dave Shuford, AKA D. Charles Speer, is a founding member of No Neck Blues Band and is very handy with a range of instruments (check out his solo version of Markos’s Cave from the D. Charles Speer album Arghiledes on the Thrill Jockey site). Suffice it to say then that this duo set promises plenty of flexing and a hefty range of styles and techniques…
And it doesn’t disappoint: from the off, Where Nightbirds Roost gives the impression of beginning ‘in media res’, with the fade opening on a sharply picked bouzouki from Dave and sympathetic plucking from Bohannon. There is an eastern tinge to the piece that brings to mind Joshua Massad and Dylan Aycock’s recent Two Improvisations album; the pace is meditative and patient, with each player giving the other plenty of space to play quietly dynamic lines.
This flavour continues on Macassar and Mahogany but with more attitude and muscle. A longer song at over four minutes, both players let loose more here, with tricky runs intuitively intertwining and making for a dramatic, energetic song that balances an improvisational feel with a tighter rhythm towards the end.
There is a different character to the pedal steel tracks, with Bohannon’s lovely, saturated lines sweeping through the bars. On songs like Floating Fry Sand, the steel hangs in the background, with Dave’s electric mandolin taking the lead. Moving into Glacial Buzz, the steel is more forthright and far less at ease, employing a more urgent and anxious line that ‘won’t let you relax’, as Matt Krefting’s notes accurately put it. Apparently affected by this spectral part, Dave’s isolated shards of electric notes struggle to settle, making for a fascinating, alien soundscape.
Elsewhere, there is a bit of weirdness peppering the set (bring it on), with the eerie Burgundy Fountain being a decent example. This one plays like a blues song from an alternate reality, with almost familiar structures fragmented and scattered and lower pedal steel notes prowling around like Jack Rose’s Spirits in the House through a guitar effects pedal. Fantastic stuff it is too, and matched by Path of Descent. This is the longest track at over eight minutes, and it begins with a sparsely played, forbidding acoustic duet, with each instrument seemingly circling the other like two insects in a standoff. The string bends and itchy notes are quite mesmerising, as are the spiky, repeated, stilted chords that ratchet up the tension. This spare, dusty voyage uses space so well, with the extended run time seeming surprisingly short. I could listen to this kind of duel all day. Reclined in the Haze is a cracker, a daring set that manages to balance Eastern musical influences with country licks and experimental improvisation. I already love this and it’s one I’ll revisit for the foreseeable. Recommended.
Reclined in the Haze (13th September 2024) Barchan Dune Recordings.
Order via Bandcamp: https://jrbohannondaveshuford.bandcamp.com/album/reclined-in-the-haze
