#chuck johnson

Arc of Night follows the similarly titled Arc of Day by about a year, and it’s very similar in texture and vibe, though perhaps a little moodier and introspective.  Once again, the tracks foreground Grody’s lyrical guitar lines but this time, there’s more space for Douthit and other guests are kept to a minimum.  Only two tracks feature artists outside the duo. Trevor Montgomery adds some electric bass to eerie, hovering “Hawk Hill,” while Chuck Johnson joins on pedal steel for the slow-blooming, very nocturnal “Moon Garden.” 

Both of those cuts have their own appeal, but perhaps it makes sense to focus first on unassisted tracks. Grody and Douthit have an undeniable chemistry that comes through best when it’s just the two of them. Consider, for instance, the opening “Last Light,” which unfolds in a free-form, unhurried, unconstrained way. Grody unspools a thoughtful melody, his tone full of force and clarity, but with long meditative pauses between phrases. Into those gaps, Douthit inserts abstracted bits of cymbal shimmer, short drum rolls and unexpected thwacks. Their interaction sounds like a conversation, the guitar proposing, the drums answering with bursts of conciliatory or contradictory energy. There’s a fluidity to the piece, which moves as it will, without the guardrails of obvious time signature.

Later, the two extend their dialogue into a longer form in “Coyote Valley at Dusk.” The guitar licks flurry upwards from a single lingering low note. At first, the percussion simmers a barely audible jangle of bells. Then, in time, a rhythm asserts itself, first in the guitar line, later picked up in a minimalist cadence of cymbal and snare. The piece takes on purpose and propulsion; it sounds a bit like Chris Forsyth’s extended grooves with Solar Motel Band. You can hear the two musicians testing cracks in the repetition, finding ways to make a repeated motif fresh from measure to measure without violating its integrity. The addition of slide (or maybe e-bow?) in the second half infuses ethereal spirituality, turning the music from chug to free flight.

The music is quite beautiful in a somnolent, dusky sort of way. It can fade into the background if you let it, but there are details worth hearing if you take care and listen closely.