FRAME LOOP by PETER ZUMMO

Foom present Frame Loop from Peter Zummo. A newly discovered recording from 1984 including Arthur Russell on amplified cello on every track.A few years ago, American composer and trombonist Peter Zummo discovered a 1984 recording of unreleased material from his Six Songs suite in his archive. Six Songs was the basis for Lateral Pass (Foom 2014), his award winning score for modern-dance horeographer Trisha Brown’s work of the same name. Material taken from Six Songs can also be heard on his seminal Zummo with an X (Loris Bend, 1985/Optimo 2012). The work is now being released as a new LP, Frame Loop. Recorded live and in single takes, it features a stellar line-up of longtime Zummp collaborators: Arthur Russel on amplified cello, Bill Ruyle on marimba, and Mustafa Ahmed on congas. Zummo plays trombone and euphonium. Zummo describes the recording as ‘an exercise in spontaneous arrangement’. He mainly hews close to the score, while from time to time introducing canonic lines and variations. Arthur Russell , using his signature amplified cello sound, alternates between solos and rhythm playing. Bill Ruyle vamps on the notation, while Mustafa Ahmed’s improvised percussion drives the forward momentum. Sometimes the music takes its time traversing a sonic landscape; at other points, it jumps from one section to another. Players' decisions push and pull the downbeat; rounds emerge, then disappear.