Dunno why they call themselves the Smudges, since violinist Jeff Gauthier and cellist Maggie Parkins make quite defined music. The conjugal string lines of the classically experienced duo bounced off each other in quick conversation or united in rapt focus, ranging through many modes and inspirations without making the players sound like damned eclectics. First they drew us in with the tango drama of a stop-start homage to Astor Piazzolla, then jammed with an intellectual beauty that corresponded well to a stark nature painting by Jeff Faust, on display so we and they could amplify on its refined balance and perspective. The centerpiece of the Smudges' presentation was an extended interaction with slowed-down recordings of various birdsongs; using creative plucking/bowing techniques and subtle electronic augmentations, Gauthier and Parkins took us on an unrepeatable flight that peaked in a rush of sound -- a deliberate blur, maybe, but not a smudge. The concluding Messiaen tribute "Olivier's Nightmare" ebbed and flowed to a massive surge behind a pounding groove built on a big ol' marching-band bass drum under the mallets of auxiliary Smudge Alex Cline, who lavished multipercussive textural accents and mystic resonances throughout the set. The chemistry Cline established with Gauthier decades ago in the chamber-jazz unit Quartet Music has only grown.
Jimmy Page made the connection between Indian music and the guitar. Sacramento's Ross Hammond takes the nexus a step further by treating the lap steel-resonator guitar (one of his is made from a turkey-roasting pan) like a sitar, scraping it with a slide and tuning it so one or two strings act as drones. His gentle but precise picking technique engendered a peaceful atmosphere, especially with duo partner Jay Nair singing Upanishads in Sanskrit. Sitting on and thumping a percussion box, Nair complemented Hammond's ever-varying cycles with his dreamy tenor, sounding a bit romantic in the Krishna bridegroom sense. We tranced out to "Salvation" and rose refreshed, knowing that a blind listener would never have guessed the guitarist was wearing a baseball cap.
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MUSICIAN PHOTOS BY FUZZY BORG.