92CD - Craig Green - Love Notes In Binary Code - CD plus download

Reviews

A gem from beginning to end! - Gagliarchives Radio Philadelphia

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Most releases by Discus Music concern recordings from musicians based in the Sheffield-area. Not however this one. Craig Green is from New Orleans, where he grew up under the influence of many musical idioms. It became a characteristic of his musicianship, communicating in and with very different idioms of jazz, avant-garde, world music, rock, etc.

 Besides his work as a performer and improviser, he produces music for film and ballet, composes chamber music for small ensembles, etc. So far he released several solo albums and collaborations. Among them are two albums with drummer David King from the Bad Plus and Happy Apple for Long Song Records. I suppose he likes the combination of drums and guitar, as this new release is again one with a drummer. For this occasion, it is Clive Deamer who worked with Radiohead, Robert Plant, Hawkwind and Portishead to name a few. Together they perform four duets for classical guitar and drums and percussion. The music is improvised but born out of ideas that were conceived in the days before recording. In this case, improvised doesn’t mean abstract far out improvisation leaving melody, rhythm etc, behind. The opposite is the case here. Green loves melody and makes knots to many musical styles. The title track has an atmosphere that reminded me of work of Durutti Column, spacey acoustic guitar with confined echoing effects. But Green is a technically far more advanced player. His playing reflects the influences of African music a.o. He has a beautiful dark-coloured tone. For sure a fantastic guitarist, who developed definitively his own voice.

Overall the music moves on in a groovy way, laid-back and comfortable. With tasty and functional drums by Deamer. But don’t be mistaken, it is full of ingenious twists and licks like the opening for instance of ‘Self Portrait in 3 Filters’. Great record. – Dorf Mulder, VITAL WEEKLY http://vitalweekly.net/1249.html

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This couldn’t have been a moment longer and preserved its fragile beauty. If 25 minutes sounds like short commons, it’s pretty much perfect and would that a few more artists would see the virtue of going back to LP durations, even if they don’t want the fuss of vinyl.

 

Green comes from the same approximate sound-world as Derek Bailey but his music has greater obvious connection to world events and conditions. His theme here is the state of our ability to communicate meaningfully with one another. Ostensibly, it’s never been easier or better, but in a world of sexting, catfishing, ghosting, trolling and the rest (I speak without authority or direct experience, though I got a hilariously unintended double entendre in an e-mail from an overseas student yesterday), one wonders if it’s all it’s cracked up to be. And Green’s music captures that perfectly. These are like little Dowland studies for the cyber age, sweetly melancholic meditations on where and who we are now and what matters to us.

Though it’s largely improvised, there are pre-composed elements, which are neither obvious nor hidden, just a sense that there is a controlling logic and trajectory for each piece. It falls into two long and two very short tracks, but the balance is fine and Self Portrait In 3 Filters and You Don’t Reply Anymore don’t need to be any longer than they are. Their miniaturism is part of the message.

 

I wondered briefly what Deamer brought to the proceedings, but it wouldn’t have worked without him. Probably better known for his rock and post-rock work on the Bristol scene (Portishead, but also Hawkwind and Radiohead), he provides a steady accompaniment and often helps to give the piece some form. It’s a lovely little set, likely to be of interest to anyone already hip to Discus’s genre-defying catalogue but also anyone interested in the extension of jazz and improv procedures into other realms of music. – Brian Morton, JAZZ JOURNAL https://jazzjournal.co.uk/2020/10/09/craig-green-love-notes-in-binary-code/

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Guitarist and composer Craig Green has released this superb instrumental album that crosses musical boundaries, including contemporary jazz, blues and avant-garde music.  Craig Green has a modern style that recalls the innovative sound of Bill Frisell.  Love Notes in Binary Code contains four masterfully-performed improvised and structured musical pieces with Green on classical guitar and Clive Deamer on drums and percussion. - PROGRESSIVE ROCK CENTRAL

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The guitarist Craig Green has been active as a composer, performer and teacher for over 20 years, and usually works in jazz, avant-garde, electronica and world music fields. In May 2019 he met with the drummer Clive Deamer, who has already drummed live or in the studio for Portishead, Robert Plant, Radiohead and Hawkwind to record a few duo numbers. 

 

"Love Notes In Binary Code" offers just acoustic guitar sounds (sometimes somewhat detached and coloured with reverb and echo) and drum patterns, complexly interwoven and playfully dancing around each other. Quiet to brisker, very atmospheric soundscapes are created by the two, which are performed with virtuosity and with attention to detail. In a record/CD shop (which should still exist somewhere) the disc would probably be housed in the jazz department, where the main clientele for this music will probably be staying. But I don't feel the music is limited by calling it jazz.

 

The improvisations for acoustic guitar and drums are mainly melodic, without which it would become too oblique, occasionally sometimes a little more experimental or abstract sounding along the way (especially in "The high price of real estate in the simulation"), and Green then knuckles over the strings with his fingernail, or beats the strings with some device. One could also consider this music as an instrumental prog, acoustic instrumental prog. At least I could very well imagine that everyone appreciates the instrumental side of productions from the more recent King Crimson environment, e.g. the Stick Men, even with the four pieces of "Love Notes In Binary Code".

 

In short: Perfectly played, intricate and beautiful. More of it please! – Achim Breiling, BABYBLAUE SEITEN   http://www.babyblaue-seiten.de/album_19047.html#oben

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Le guitariste et compositeur Craig GREEN est né à la Nouvelle Orléans et est actif aux États-Unis, même s’il a fait sa scolarité et a vécu en Europe. Il explore, depuis plus de 20 ans, les différentes possibilités de son instrument, la guitare classique, à travers divers projets qui touchent au jazz, à l’avant-garde, à la musique électronique et aux musiques du monde. Pour l’album « Love notes in binary code », il s’est adjoint les services du batteur et percussionniste Clive Deamer (Radiohead, Robert Plant, Portishead, …), dont le rôle est principalement de mettre en valeur le jeu de guitare. Cela donne un album calme, reposant même … Et c’est tout à fait ça : des notes d’amour en code binaire ! Un plaisir … - Guy Stuckens, Radio Air Libre

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