Enneads

Description

Enneads is a trio based in New York composed of pianist Phyllis Chen, drummer Hamir Atwal, and Zach Layton on the rare 17-string electric bass. Named after the writings of the Neoplatonist philosopher Plotinus, the ensemble approaches improvisation through the ancient idea, first articulated by Pythagoras, that harmony is "the number made audible." The trio uses natural harmonics of strings as the foundation of its improvisational concept. Harmonics and inharmonics, sympathetic vibrations, rhythmic proportions, and the resonant acoustics of the space are all parameters of an emerging musical form explored through the intuitive approach to spontaneous composition by Chen, Atwal, and Layton. Layton's gigantic and unusual instrument, the 17-string bass, is played in a variety of tunings and functions almost like an amplified Greek lyre (or perhaps an electric baroque theorbo), traversing heavy fuzz, distortion, and ring modulation, while Chen explores the interior of an amplified grand piano, producing rich constellations of extended sound clusters, and the percussive attack of hammers striking the strings, passing through a rat distortion circuit. Atwal's drumming anchors all of this through fluid cycles of hypnotic pulsation and propulsive movement that contribute to a hypnotic, sensitive, and tactile sense of temporal structure. Recorded between 2024 and 2026 in Layton's studio in the Hudson Valley of New York, the material for Enneads' debut self-titled album is a synthesis of the trio's approach to improvisation. Throughout the album, harmonics drift into slow rhythms, while dreamy and reverberant atmospheres evolve into dense layers of distorted harmonics, reminiscent of the gravitational pull of doom metal within the context of experimental music and contemporary jazz. Drawing on musical influences such as The Necks, John Cage, Gerard Grisey, Alvin Lucier, Cecil Taylor, Pauline Oliveros, Sunn-O))), Ed Blackwell, and Iannis Xenakis, Enneads has created a dense sound universe.