Now entering its second decade of existence, the New Haven Improvisers Collective has become an anchor in the Elm City’s music scene, drawing in newer musicians and providing a home for devotees of improvised music. It has also spawned several smaller ensembles. One of these is Electronhic. And its second release — NHIC’s 11th — finds the group both digging deeper into the musical language it has developed and broadening its sensibilities. Bob Gorry, who has been NHIC’s guiding spirit from the beginning, called Reaching Out “adventurous, exploratory,” and “accessible.” He’s right.
New Haven’s music fans will get to experience it live at Best Video Film and Cultural Center on Thursday, where Electronhic celebrates the album’s release.
The particular skronk that is part the local lingua franca for improvised music is on fine display in “Enough of the Hyperbole” and “A Winding Course.” But Reaching Out also contains a lot of music that sounds downright lyrical and — dare I say it — composed.
The opener, “Deedle Doodle Deuxe,” introduces the album with a confident riff that partakes a bit of klezmer and Ethiopian jazz. It provides the material for a six-minute exploration that switches from a slow groove into swinging jazz and back again, but the riff is never really lost. Likewise, “VCS‑5,” with the exception of some flourishes of noise, is planted squarely in the blues. “Personent Hodie,” which employs a bass recorder throughout, is based on a medieval melody that unspools in a way that is, oddly, both a little unsettling and rather soothing.
Then, both “Scaly When Wet” and the album’s closer, “Reaching Out,” marry the two sensibilities, layering longer, singing phrases atop some of the most jagged rhythms on the record.
Throughout, the musicians in Electronhic — Brett Bottomley on Chapman stick, Jeff Cedrone on guitars and keys, Bob Gorry on guitar, Paul McGuire on saxophones and bass recorder, and Peter Riccio on drums — are in command of their instruments and listening really hard to each other, keeping things together ably while playing music without a safety net. The performances captured on Reaching Out show the group, and NHIC in general, building something new on the strong foundation a decade of musical collaboration has created.
Electronhic plays at Best Video Film and Cultural Center, 1842 Whitney Ave. in Hamden, on Thursday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $5.
Not sure if I should eat my Italian loafers or French kiss a theremin. Either expresses my sincere rapture and true love of NHIC. It only hurts when I see you in everyone - my heart cries tears of sweet sorrow.