For Living Lovers / Brandon Ross / Takeishi,Stomu - Natural Name [CD]

As a musician begins to develop, he or she is essentially a product of influences. Musical syntax is developed by study, repetition, and memorization. Often a musician becomes a life-long recycler of artifice, never truly finding their unique musical identity or language. Choosing their authentic selves and inhabiting their own sound world through their collaboration has been the essential goal for guitarist Brandon Ross and acoustic bass guitarist Stomu Takeishi. Their duo, For Living Lovers, returns with Natural Name, a moving display of their interlocking values and incredible interplay.Ross has been on a path to musical clarity from his earliest days as a player. Receiving early encouragement from legends like Ornette Coleman and Archie Shepp, Ross was counseled to realize that he possessed the tools necessary to be a musician and what he really needed to do was to remove himself from the distractions of influence or striving for approval. He needed to define his own voice.The guitarist found an equal partner and communicator in Takeishi whom he recruited as a member of Henry Threadgill's Make a Move band in the mid-1990s. The duo created For Living Lovers two decades ago using Ross' compositions and adopting a concept informed by Threadgill's unique intervallic organization system. The system yields what might be called a pan-tonal structure for composition and developing improvisation, both highly specific yet inspiringly unbounded by diatonicism.The music that For Living Lovers creates is unique in sound, structure, and texture. Performing on acoustic string instruments designed by world renowned luthier Steve Klein, the duo's sound is natural, resonant, and full of personality. The forms of Ross' original compositions are built to provide a context for him and Takeishi to create and develop music in the moment, eluding staid responses and reflexive patterns. As the primary composer, Ross takes these elements and a wide variety of visual and philosophical influences to inform the pieces for the duo.The recordings that were compiled to create Natural Name come from two different performance occasions. The bulk of the music was recorded while the duo was in residence at the inaugural Cheswatyr Residency at Looking Glass Arts in September 2024. Ross and Takeishi were afforded two full days of rehearsal along with two days of recording in The Barn, Looking Glass Arts' former dairy barn turned recording studio. Three additional pieces were included from a For Living Lovers performance at the Yamaha Music Salon in New York City from February 2019. For Living Lovers continues to be a musical space for Brandon Ross and Stomu Takeishi to communicate authenticity in sound and act. This recording highlights emanations from two individuals who share the endeavor of "being musically one's self," eliciting an intimate stillness in which the illumination of the opportunities of the present moment can be heard and experienced beyond standard notions of style and genre. That is the heart of the music of For Living Lovers, delivered beautifully by it's own authority on Natural Name.