The “point in question” of the title of this album is always difficult to put into words. Miles Perkin, a Canadian double bassist and composer who is conquering the world bit by bit, prefers to do it musically, and this new opus gives you the entire picture of that fulcral point of a continuously reformulated question: what it is to write music for a band of improvisers? The conclusions you arrive to aren’t final, but they immediately deny the notion (once defended in contemporary classical music) that a score was enough to have music, not being necessary to perform it: a composition is incomplete until the moment it is played. Perkin calls “empathy” to that fulfilling process in which notation becomes sound, sometimes different from what was initially intended, seeing it as an interaction of individuals being true to themselves while acting for the benefit of the collective. But because each of us have a different perception of what we hear, Perkin’s all star quartet with trumpeter Tom Arthurs, pianist Benoît Delbecq and drummer Jim Black invite us to stop what we’re doing, take a breath and just listen to this record.
Recorded at Studio Börne, Berlin July 11 & 12 2018 | Recorded and mixed by Miles Perkin | Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann at 4ohm
Produced by Miles Perkin | Executive production by Pedro Costa for Trem Azul | Artwork and layout by Travassos