Pat Thomas — HIKMAH (Tao Forms)
There’s a sense of experimentalism on Pat Thomas’s new LP HIKMAH. It’s a solo piano record where he uses the instrument in unusual ways: strumming and rubbing the strings or getting percussion effects from the keys. Some of the songs drift by in silence, while others have deep rumbles or waves of sound. Throughout the record Thomas explores his piano’s full range of sounds. It’s not always successful, but it is interesting to hear him push at the edges.
Thomas is a UK-based pianist maybe best known as part of [Ahmed], an edgy jazz quartet that’s released a handful of records over the last few years and played a few dates Stateside earlier this year. But outside that group he’s been carving out a niche for himself: The Truth captured a live duo performance with Matana Roberts on saxophone, while The Elephant Clock of Al Jazari was drawn from a 2015 solo performance at Cafe OTO in London, England.
His latest record wasn’t from a live performance, but from a single day in the studio last year. Some of them are improvisations, some aren’t, but they all have a sense of walking a tightrope, where the slightest mistake can be fatal. For example, when the record is at its most straightforward it still feels a little angular, like he’s not going to rest on standards or more traditional, swinging playing. The title track starts with sparse notes that never quite come together: there’s always this little silence between them where you can hear them hanging. There’s a sense of tension in how Thomas plays here and it’s not far away from Cecil Taylor on his solo records like For Olim or Ian Underwood’s opening solo on “Little House I Used to Live In.”
It’s a style Thomas uses elsewhere on the record. “For Toumani Diabaté” has him playing slow, reflective lines but without the little angular phrasing of the title track. He opens this one like a ballad, drawing out the notes in a deliberate fashion, but about halfway through there’s a pause where he changes tack and begins playing faster lines of shorter notes.
He mixes up his pace here and there.“For Joe Gallivan” has him playing jagged and sharp chords, little bursts that punch out between him banging on the same note two or three times. It’s a percussive and rapid style that feels like he’s taking quick jabs, darting and weaving before trying to land a solid blow. And on “For Caroline L. Karcher” his playing has a fast moving style that’s not too far from the piano rumbles of Cecil Taylor’s Live At Fat Tuesdays, February 9, 1980. When he plays in this style, he’s like Derek Bailey in how the lines explode into sweeping bursts of color. His playing’s at its most accessible and effective here: it grabs your attention and holds it. You want to see where he’s taking you.
But he’s less effective when he pushes at what a piano sounds like. “Luqman the Wise” has muted, almost dead sounding strings getting plucked and hammered before he moves to what sounds like him rubbing the strings. It’s a quiet piece where one has to really focus to hear the minute sounds.
He stretches out this style on “The McCoy Tyler” for almost ten minutes. Between the dull thuds, the sharp sounds from him strumming the piano strings, and the shrill tones he gets from playing the strings with his hands, this piece takes solo piano out into the stratosphere. It’s abstract and hard to listen to unless you’re already a fan of experimental playing: there isn’t a melody or even really a repeated phrase here to return to or use as a handrail. It’s him at his most uncompromising, a piece that plays with silence and esoteric piano sounds.
Indeed, HIKMAH is a record that can be difficult. It’s all but asking you to meet it halfway with pieces that feel like something out of a John Cage or Arnold Schoenberg record. Like Anthony Braxton’s For Alto - a record where the performances were also dedicated to influences - it rewards people with a sense of patience and an open mind. But that’s also not most listeners. There’s a kind of jazz or classical fan who gets a lot out of this, and they’re the kind of person who enjoys Taylor, Braxton, or Bailey. If you’re not already that kind of listener maybe dip a toe in here first. It’s all deep end here, but that only gives you more room to move around in.
Roz Milner
