Matt Gold

“Imagined Sky”

(Whirlwind Recordings WR4759)

Matt Gold – electric & acoustic guitars, keyboards, voice, Bryan Doherty – electric bass,
Jeremy Cunningham – drums

with guests;
Macie Stewart – voice, Sara Serpa – voice, Dan Pierson – analogue synthesiser, Myra Hinrichs – violin, Matt Ulery – double bass

This latest release from Whirlwind features a new name to me, Chicago based guitarist and composer / songwriter Matt Gold.

The Whirlwind catalogue features music from British, European and American artists, but most of the latter are based in New York. It represents a welcome change to hear something from a musician best known on the Chicago scene, although with Whirlwind founder Michael Janisch originally hailing from Wisconsin it perhaps shouldn’t come as a total surprise to know that the label owner has also got his finger on the pulse with regards to the music of the ‘Windy City’.

Ironically Gold originally hails from Long Island, New York but settled in Chicago after studying at music college in Oberlin, Ohio.  The move to Chicago was partly influenced by economics, but Gold seems to have settled very happily into his new home. “I value the cross pollination and intermingling of the scenes” he says, before adding “it’s a beautifully collaborative city”.

“Imagined Sky” represents Gold’s first release as a leader but he has been involved with other projects, notably Sun Speak, his duo with drummer Nate Friedman. The pair have released a total of four albums under the Sun Speak banner, including one full length recording with vocalist Sara Serpa.

Gold is also one half of Storm Jameson, the collective name for his duo with vocalist and guitarist Jim Tashjian.

Gold works across a variety of musical genres and is perhaps best known to jazz listeners for his work with the Chicago born drummer Makaya McCraven. Others with whom he has collaborated include saxophonist Greg Ward and vocalist Jamila Woods. Gold is also a member of Dennehy’s band, Hood Smoke.

In 2015 Gold established Flood Music, a concert series and record label based in Chicago, whose output includes recordings by Sun Speak, Storm Jameson and Bryan Doherty. However one suspects that Gold’s deal with the more established Whirlwind will help to bring his music to a wider constituency.

One of Gold’s primary creative outlets is his trio with Doherty on electric bass and Jeremy Cunningham at the drums, the latter presumably not to be confused with the dread-locked bassist of the Levellers.

The trio have been playing freely improvised gigs in and around Chicago for a number of years and constitute the core group on this recording. Gold later brought written material to the band and explains; “my trio music sits on several years of trust, collaboration and exploration with Bryan and Jeremy”.

“Imagined Sky” also includes the contributions of a number of guests, the majority of them drawn from the Chicago scene, including another long term collaborator, Dan Pierson, who adds vintage analogue synth to two of the tracks, augmenting the core trio.

Gold describes himself as a ‘songwriter’ rather than a ‘composer’ and vocals and lyrics play an important role on the album with Macie Stewart and Sara Serpa each singing a song and Gold featuring his own voice on a third. “I’ve tried to stitch together the more improvisatory electric trio material with something more song focussed and concise, balancing these energies”, he explains.

It’s something that he does very successfully and the album is a convincing blend of jazz, rock,  blues, folk (or ‘Americana’) and even classical influences. Bill Frisell and Pat Metheny are obvious reference points, but in truth Gold doesn’t really sound like either of these,  instead establishing a strong identity of his own. Occasionally I was reminded of the playing of his Whirlwind label mate Matthew Stevens and also that of B.D. Lenz.

The album commences with the instrumental “Augusta Fairgrounds”, featuring the core trio augmented by Pierson on synth. Hard driving rhythms complement the twang of Gold’s guitar, the latter conjuring up images of rolling along the highway in a convertible under big Mid-Western skies. In this respect it’s much like Metheny or Frisell, but with a much more pronounced rock influence. “I think a lot about space in my writing” explains Gold, “whether it’s external, as in a physical sense, or internal – the spaces of our imaginations, our uncertainties, our own peculiar ways of seeing the world..this album leans into both interpretations”. In any event this piece represents an enjoyable and energising introduction.

Featuring the voice of Macie Stewart, herself a talented multi-instrumentalist, “Queen Anne” introduces the first of the ‘song focussed’ pieces. Stewart’s pure, well enunciated vocals bring a folk element to the music, that contrasts effectively with the still impressive rhythmic drive of the trio. Gold himself doubles on synth and electric piano as well as guitar and the song is effective in its use of dynamic and stylistic contrasts.

The instrumental “Crimes” again features the core trio plus Pierson, and once more evokes strong visual images, the cinematic quality of the music encouraging comparisons with an Ennio Morricone soundtrack. This time the listener is transported even further west, perhaps to Arizona or Wyoming.

The similarly evocative “Between the Four Seas” brings another element to the table with Gold delivering a solo acoustic guitar performance, but subtly treating his sound by means of tape manipulation. The juxtaposition of folky Americana with avant garde techniques is effective in creating an atmosphere of faint unease.

“Truehearted” finds Gold continuing on acoustic guitar and also adding his understated vocals to a melody inspired by a Dvorak composition, one of his “Slavonic Dances”. Gold played viola as a child and this particular melody, originally written for flute and oboe, has remained with him. Gold subsequently re-framed the tune as a solo guitar piece and added lyrics, bringing it back to its origins as a folk song. He fills the sound out by doubling on mellotron, and the piece also includes guest contributions from Myra Hinrichs on violin and Matt Ulery on double bass. The words include the line “Imagined Sky”, effectively making this the title track.

Following these two acoustic interludes Doherty and Cunningham return with a vengeance on “Dollarama”, which commences with the familiar twang of Gold’s electric guitar, complemented by Cunningham’s ominously atmospheric mallet rumbles and cymbal shimmers. The trio then coalesce on a unison theme, with bass and drums locking together like a rhythmic juggernaut as Gold stretches out.

“Always Starting Over” then presents a gentler side of the trio, with Gold featuring on acoustic guitar and Cunningham displaying an admirable sensitivity with his nuanced performance behind the kit, including some deft and delicate brushwork. At seven minutes plus it’s the lengthiest track on the album and also features Gold doubling on electric piano. With its mixing of styles and dynamics it’s the piece that perhaps best demonstrates the versatility and flexibility of the core trio.

Co-written by Gold and Serpa, the latter providing the lyrics, “Petrichor” is a duet between the pair and represents a follow on to their work with Sun Speak. Originally from Lisbon, Portugal but now based in New York Serpa has become a leading figure on that city’s music scene. She brings a folk like purity to her singing here, her voice complemented by washes of analogue synth and carefully picked acoustic guitar. Older British listeners, such as myself, may also be reminded of certain aspects of ‘Canterbury Scene’ style prog.

The album concludes with the core trio in ‘jam band’ mode on the blues and country tinged “Bottom of the Barrel”, a track also available as a single. Gold wigs out joyously, soloing in scorching fashion above the powerful rhythms, with Doherty also a muscular presence on electric bass. It brings the album full circle and ends it on an exhilarating note.

Although difficult to categorise or pigeon-hole “Imagined Sky” represents a highly mature and distinctive statement from Gold, who brings the various aspects of his musical personality together to create a totally convincing whole. Moving seamlessly between genres the album is an admirably cohesive amalgam of influences drawing on various aspects of American and European music. It’s all here - jazz, folk, rock, country, blues, classical – but what could frankly have been a bit of a mess is actually just the opposite.

Gold’s compulsive genre hopping around various aspects of the Chicago music scene has resulted in a sound that is very much his own. Indeed a phrase from the accompanying press release sums it up perfectly; “unconstrained by genre, but sure of its own identity, Imagined Sky feels less like a début and more like a culmination”.

Amen to that. I thoroughly enjoyed this album, which is well sequenced with the instrumental tracks punctuated by the vocal items and the electric pieces by the acoustic episodes. It all helps to give the album as a whole a strong sense of narrative, like a book or a film, with the music often evoking cinematic images.

Matt Gold certainly represents an exciting new discovery and it is to be hoped that Whirlwind can bring his trio to the UK if the live music scene ever gets back to normal after the Covid-19 pandemic. I’d love to see that band going through its paces.

 

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