Paul Pellegrin is a ��polyrhythmic force on drums and percussion�� (Gapplegate) and a composer working in Los Angeles. His approach to music involves complex rhythmic and melodic counterpoint and modulation. He usually begins by exploring hybrid rhythmic phrases in a polymetric time (e.g., 5/3/4, 7/5/3, 6/7/9, 8/12/15) and from this builds the melodic components of a song. He likens these hybrid phrases to ��claves�� (in an Afro-Cuban sense), because, although they are not always explicitly heard in the music, they are the rhythmic "keys" that allow the song?or the musicians while improvising?to modulate to different feels or meters, somewhat akin to African music, but with the intention of being even more stratified (if that is possible).

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