On September 13 2019, American trombonist, composer and producer Peter Zummo released his latest album, Deep Drive, on Unheard Of Hope. Coming from the interdisciplinary avant-garde of New York City’s downtown scene, Zummo’s work over the years with Arthur Russell, Love of Life orchestra, Downtown Ensemble, Flying Hearts, and Lounge Lizards saw him create a style that he wryly termed “minimalism plus a whole lot more.” Across the five tracks of Deep Drive, Zummo refines the work he describes as “composition of and for ensemble” with five, very different musicians.
Along with old friends bassist Ernie Brooks and percussionist Bill Ruyle, Zummo plays with three new collaborators on Deep Drive: turntablist Keith McIvor (aka JD Twitch of Optimo), electronic producer and trombonist Ralph Cumbers (aka Bass Clef), and cellist Oliver Coates; a sextet merging Zummo’s “open form” composition and performance techniques with electronic and live instrumentation, vocal processing, collage and spoken word.
The music of Deep Drive was recorded in 2014, when Zummo led a UK tour with the aim of bringing three American and three British musicians together for the first time. The group performed four consecutive shows in October 2014 – at London’s Cafe Oto, Edinburgh’s Summerhall, Coventry’s The Tin, and Bristol’s Cube Cinema. Immediately after the tour, the group spent one Sunday at London’s Strongroom recording studio in order to document the tour’s work and mood.
The identity of Deep Drive comes in large part from the way Zummo moves through the world. Using his smartphone, he records daily fragments: of daydreams and conversations, signage and slogans, moments that that strike him as insightful, odd, amusing, thereby creating a sonic collage of rhythms, melodies and voices. His deep baritone is imbued with laconic humour, and Deep Drive’s track titles riff off his messaging. “Prepare For Docking” refers to the Staten Island ferry and the spectacle of humdrum city movements, but also suggests the nautical deep or even extraterrestrial life, with otherworldliness woven deep into the sound. “It’s not a recital,” says Zummo, of this way of working, “it’s a movie.” Deep Drive, then, is an album about the totality of the artistic process, seen from a generous and honest vantage point.
Discography
UOH 001 - Deep Drive purchase