Bang, Toop, Wastell

released December 11, 2021

From the moment I heard that this trio had spent a day in a London studio I have been anticipating the results. Three distinctive musical minds and voices: each familiar, never before together.

Jan Bang’s sound environments are deeply affecting, created with an Akai sampler and interwoven with the work of collaborators in both studio and live remix situations. There’s a sensitivity and respect in David Toop’s sound-making borne from his insatiable curiosity about the evolution of music in cultures across the world. Mark Wastell’s use of acoustic percussion and his explorations into the potential of simple instruments result in nothing short of a spiritual communion with sound.

No parameters were set for the sessions. Three improvisations of around thirty minutes duration were recorded. Afterwards, every sound played in those performances was brought together to create a unified whole.

There are moments where each player’s voice is distinct: the resonance of Wastell’s tam-tam caresses, the bursts and trills of Toop’s woodwind, the pitch-altered looping of Bang’s manipulated samples. But the triumph of this collaboration is the sound world of their combined… more

Jan Bang – live sampling, samples
David Toop – lapsteel guitar, flutes, whistles, small percussion, harmonica, elastic, paper
Mark Wastell – Paiste 32” tam tam, gongs, beaters, brushes, sticks, bow, autoharp

Recorded by Shaun Crook, London, 22 November 2019
Compositional structure by Mark Wastell
Mixed and mastered by Rupert Clervaux
Cover image by Crimson Wastell
Liner notes by David Nibloe
Design by Matthew Brandi

Produced by Mark Wastell