JEM3 is a new free-improvising trio that features American, New York-based prolific, polymath Elliot Sharp, who plays an 8-string guitarbass, bass clarinet, and electronics, Italian-born, Brooklyn-based classically-trained guitarist Marco Cappelli (the leader of the trio Italian Surf Academy), who also adds electronics, and fellow-American, Brooklyn-based drummer-percussionist J.T. Lewis (of Harriet Tubman). Cappelli initiated this trio, and its debut album, Apices, was recorded after a few live performances at GSI Studios in New York.
JEM3’s fourteen and concise free improvisations that gravitate into instant compositions with structure and narrative, enjoy the extensive experience, and the masterful, unorthodox, and innovative approaches of Sharp, Cappelli, and Lewis. Sharp and Cappelli’s guitars’ sonic palettes are enhanced by many distorted and noisy effects and layers of electronics, while Lewis’ drumming refuses to surrender to common grooves.
The trio’s restless, tight, and intense dynamics keep feeding it with more and more stimulating ideas. JEM3’s inclusive sonic vision ranges from heavy or acoustic bluesy textures à la Sharp’s Terraplane, experimental timbral searches and percolating, funky pieces, and irreverent Eastern-like, snake-charming pieces. But all pieces blend these supposedly alien elements into an urgent, volatile mix, and each piece is packed with many inventive sonic surprises and sketches its own cryptic sound universe.
Eyal Hareuveni
Elliott Sharp (Strandberg Boden 8-string guitarbass, bass clarinet, electronics), Marco Cappelli (classical guitar, electric guitar, electronics), J.T. Lewis (drums, percussion)
