Orenda Records is pleased to announce the release of Simple Ways Such Self, the debut album of the improvising duo of cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum and harpist Jacqueline Kerrod. This intimate musical dialogue was recorded live in concert in March 2023, and captures the duo’s subtle approach to melody, timbre, and organically evolving sonic narratives. The unique instrumentation features Bynum’s expressionistic sounds on multiple brass instruments (cornet, flugelhorn, and a double-belled cornet often colored with mixed mutes) and Kerrod’s virtuosic performance on the concert grand pedal harp.

Both Bynum and Kerrod have extensive credits across various musical genres, ranging from creative music luminaries to leading figures in the contemporary improvisation scene, from pop stars to classical orchestras. They met when Bynum was producing composer Anthony Braxton’s Trillium J opera in 2014 and continued to work together in Braxton’s ZIM Music ensemble in 2017-2018, as documented on 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017 (Firehouse 12 Records). When Bynum was invited by writer/presenter Bill Shoemaker to bring a project to the Frederick Experimental Music Association’s concert series in Maryland (the hometown of the great trumpeter Lester Bowie, dedicatee of the opening track), he chose to reconnect with Kerrod for a first-time collaborative duo performance, resulting in this album.

Mixing a composition by each artist along with spontaneous improvisations, Simple Ways Such Self is a patient exploration of the infinite possibilities of free music, by two eloquent improvisers with deeply personal vocabularies on their respective instruments.

“Only when, time and again, we have discovered that there is no such thing as the whole or the perfect are we able to live on.” (From Old Masters by Thomas Bernhard)

“Being alive is a problem that cannot be solved with living. The self is ever stirred like the leaves in the trees.” (From Pure Colour by Sheila Heti)

In late May, Bynum and Kerrod will be touring together for a week of New England concerts in Bynum’s new all-acoustic JAK4 improvising chamber quartet (along with bass clarinetist Allison Burik and bassist Ken Filiano): Tuesday 5/28 at Dartmouth College in Hanover NH, Wednesday 5/29 at Jazz Shares/Holyoke Media in Holyoke MA, Thursday 5/30 at Creative Music Series/Lilypad in Cambridge MA, and Friday 5/31 at Firehouse 12 in New Haven CT. The Bynum/Kerrod duo will also have later upcoming performances to be announced.

Credits

Track 2 by Jacqueline Kerrod (BMI)
Track 3 by Taylor Ho Bynum (BMI)
Tracks 1, 4, 5 by JK & THB

Recorded live on March 18, 2023 at the Frederick YMCA Arts Center by Doug Benson.

Mixed and mastered by Nick Lloyd, Firehouse 12 Studios.

Concert produced by Bill Shoemaker as part of Frederick Experimental Music Association's series, IF: Improviser's Forum. Funded by a NEA Create and Activate Now grant administered by Frederick Arts Council.

Photo by Marc Uys
Design by Daniel Rosenboom
Produced by Taylor Ho Bynum and Jacqueline Kerrod

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