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Trevor Dunn's Trio-Convulsant avec Folie ? Quatre: Séances

By Mark Corroto
September 27, 2022
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Trevor Dunn's Trio-Convulsant avec Folie À Quatre: Séances

If you thought the Hang Mike Pence and Three Percenters crowd are just a phenomenon of the 21st century, let me introduce you to the Convulsionnaires of Saint-Médard, an 18th century Christian sect with the hysterical practices of coprophagia (yes, eating feces), spontaneous milk-vomiting and levitation. After the established religious authorities cracked down on the Convulsionnaires, many were sent to mental asylums, but others continued with less public séances or 'sessions.'

Composer and bassist

Trevor Dunn

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Trevor Dunn unearths this heretical movement for his third Trio-Convulsant recording Séances. The two previous releases Debutantes & Centipedes (Buzz Records, 1998) and Sister Phantom Owl Fish (Ipecac Recordings, 2004) were trio outings with first

Adam Levy

guitar
b.1966

" data-original-title="" title="">Adam Levy and

Kenny Wollesen

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Kenny Wollesen, then

Ches Smith

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Ches Smith and

Mary Halvorson

guitar

" data-original-title="" title="">Mary Halvorson. Here he expands his trio of Smith and Halvorson with the Folie ? Quatre, a string/winds quartet comprised of cellist Mariel Roberts, the violin/viola of

Carla Kihlstedt

violin

" data-original-title="" title="">Carla Kihlstedt, flutist

Anna Webber

saxophone, tenor
b.1984

" data-original-title="" title="">Anna Webber and

Oscar Noriega

clarinet

" data-original-title="" title="">Oscar Noriega on bass clarinet and clarinet.

Dunn certainly has experience with hysteria and frenzy as a member of the rock band Mr. Bungle,

Mike Patton

" data-original-title="" title="">Mike Patton's Fant?mas and Tomahawk, various stints with the Melvins,

Dan Weiss

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Dan Weiss' Starebaby, and multiple

John Zorn

saxophone, alto
b.1953

" data-original-title="" title="">John Zorn projects. Here, the music ricochets between chamber music, metal, country blues, and disembodied jazz, all in service of this underground mass hysteria. Dunn's compositions for the most part begin simply enough, but in due course split apart like the overture "Secours Meurtriers" with different time signatures and a logic seemingly only available to the mystics. The heavy metal references from the chamber ensemble inform "1733" as the music chases its serpent tail, expressing an orchestrated pandemonium. Dunn as choreographer, like the elders of this 18th Century sect, is the mastermind behind the frenzy. None of which, remarkably, is random or haphazardly presented. It is not until the final track "Thaumaturge" that we are able to catch our collective breath. Dunn's bass solo opens, delivering a comforting line followed by the musicians applying a soothing salve to mend our feces-eating, milk-vomiting, and levitating trauma.

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Track Listing

Secours Meurtriers; Saint-Médard; Restore All Things; 1733; The Asylum’s Guilt; Eschatology; Thaumaturge.

Personnel

Trevor Dunn

bass

Mary Halvorson

guitar

Ches Smith

drums

Oscar Noriega

clarinet

Mariel Roberts

cello

Carla Kihlstedt

violin

Anna Webber

saxophone, tenor

Additional Instrumentation

Ches Smith: timpani, congas; Oscar Noriega: bass clarinet, clarinet; Anna Webber: flute, alto flute.

Album information

Title: Séances | Year Released: 2022 | Record Label: Pyroclastic Records

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