The Supplicants - Richard Howell, David Boyce, Sameer Gupta, David Ewell
In 2001, recognizing hidden pasts and futures, The Supplicants recorded their first musical encounter while remaining devoted to the profound musical act of pure in-the-moment improvisation. For the ensuing twenty years, woven between their contributions to other bands around the world, the Supplicants were able to come together in the Bay Area of California to hold and sanctify performance spaces with their sound whenever possible.
The quartet of Richard Howell (Tenor/Soprano/Alto sax), David Boyce (tenor/soprano saxophones, bass clarinet), David Ewell (upright bass) and Sameer Gupta (drumset tabla hybrid), paint spontaneous compositions conjured from their collective melodo-rhythmic mind. Each track is an expansive sonic world unto itself. Taken as a whole, the new releases lead the listener on a sensory journey through the emotional intellectual vibrations of four musicians focused on the subatomic act of pure improvisation. Each musical gesture is a call to a response, a reaction to an action. The horns sing and shout in a jubilee dialogue as they ride the waves of polyrhythmic propulsion orchestrated by the bass and drums. The collective listening is outstanding, the playing is cosmically virtuosic.
This is truly soul music channeled from the ancestors, born in the moment, of the moment.