The Balance of Trade

1996 studio album by Paul Lytton
The Balance of Trade
Studio album by
Paul Lytton
Released1996
RecordedMay 15 and 16, 1996
StudioThe Spirit Room, Rossie, New York
GenreFree jazz
LabelCIMP
114

The Balance of Trade is an album by drummer and electronic musician Paul Lytton. It was recorded in May 1996 at The Spirit Room in Rossie, New York, and was released later that year by the CIMP label. On the album, Lytton is joined by trumpeter Herb Robertson, violinist Philipp Wachsmann, and bassist Dominic Duval.[1][2]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
The Penguin Guide to Jazz[3]

The authors of the Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings awarded the album 31⁄2 stars, calling it "visionary in scope." They noted that Lytton's gigantic drum kit "apparently took several hours to set up," although he used it "as sparsely as possible" in the context of the recording. They wrote: "each [piece] seems to last as long as it ought to, or has to... Nobody has ever used electronics in the way [Lytton] does; in fact, it's hard to hear how his electronics even affect the music." They concluded by describing the album as being "about as difficult as it gets."[3]

Bill Shoemaker, writing for Jazz Times, called the album "challenging," and commented: "The quartet works with the aural equivalent of sub-atomic particles, realigning bits of texture into startling new configurations. Rather than emphasize virtuosity, the work taxes the musicians' ability to build upon emerging forms with tenuously defined materials. It's a cliché to say that such albums reward committed listening, but, in the case of The Balance of Trade, it's true."[4]

Track listing

  1. "Frames of Mind" – 2:45
  2. "Diagonals" – 19:34
  3. "Frogger's Lament" – 6:13
  4. "Gong" – 7:56
  5. "Ella's Dance" – 1:45
  6. "Flitters" – 10:27
  7. "Panade" – 2:25
  8. "Bach Goes to Redwood" – 6:23
  9. "For Breakfast I Eat..." – 9:15

Personnel

  • Paul Lytton – percussion, electronics
  • Herb Robertson – cornet, trumpet, trombone, tuba, horn
  • Philipp Wachsmann – violin, viola, electronics
  • Dominic Duval – bass, electronics

References

  1. ^ "Paul Lytton: The Balance of Trade". Jazz Music Archives. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  2. ^ "Paul Lytton: The Balance of Trade". AllMusic. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. Penguin Books. p. 919.
  4. ^ Shoemaker, Bill (April 1, 1997). "Vincent Golia and Ken Filiano: The Art of Negotiation". Jazz Times. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  • v
  • t
  • e
Paul Lytton
Years given are for the recording(s), not first release, unless stated otherwise.
Studio albums
  • Collective Calls (Urban) (Two Microphones) (with Evan Parker, 1972)
  • Natives and Aliens (with Evan Parker, Barry Guy, and Marilyn Crispell, 1996)
  • The Balance of Trade (1996)
  • English Suites (with Ken Vandermark, 1999)
  • Odyssey (with Barry Guy and Marilyn Crispell, 1999)
  • Ithaca (with Barry Guy and Marilyn Crispell, 2003)
  • Phases of the Night (with Barry Guy and Marilyn Crispell, 2007)
  • Deep Memory (with Barry Guy and Marilyn Crispell, 2015)
Live albums