Nate Wooley - Wrong Shape to be a Story Teller (Creative Sources Recordings, 2005)

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Errata: As revealed in the comments section by none other than KiC reader Nate Wooley, no editing or post-production went into this recording; Wrong Shape to be a Story Teller was completed all in one sitting. My confusion arose from the dating, which is explained within the comments section for the interested. Even though this invalidates a portion of my analysis, my praise for this album is steadfast, nor do I think Wrong Shape to be any less unique.

Many thanks to Nate for both reading this blog and correcting my error; I am very much so sorry for my false assumptions. Since in my review I stressed Nate's supposed transparency, I leave below my original post unedited. I do hope others enjoy the irony surrounding this post as much as I did -- so much so that it warmed my otherwise frigid bike ride.

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Compared to his lowercase brethren, and even with consistently glowing reviews, Nate Wooley has received little to no attention from RYM free improv enthusiasts. So with Wrong Shape to be a Story Teller, recorded in August 2004, I attempt to rectify this glaring omission.

As a member of the trio that released Throw Down Your Hammer and Sing, KiC readers ought to be familiar with his name, if not also his playing style. Although Wooley's work with Lonberg-Holm and Roebke is exemplary (and one of my favorites from 2009), his group approach, as it should, greatly differs from his solo style. An aside: I suggest those interested in group improvisation to check out an interview with Nate over at bagatellen. In this interview he describes the way in which he listens to his band mates, focusing on "cycles".

Indeed comparisons to the likes of Greg Kelley and Axel Dörner are apt, but at the same time incredibly reductionist. Yes, these three trumpeters heavily employ extended techniques, but those casual words -- "similar to" -- betray both the feeling and the creative process that goes into each of these artist's improvisations.

Throughout Wrong Shape to be a Story Teller I hear flashes of resemblance -- the timbrel fluttering around the tenth minute could easily be an excerpt in Kelley's Self-Hate Index -- but delightful quirks destroy the homogeneity hypothesis. For instance, around the fifteen minute mark, a field recording of (what seems to be) a BBC television report on the 2004 Presidential election can be heard. In this sample, the reporter makes reference to the "final hours" of campaigning. With this time-stamp, Wooley wears post-production on his sleeve (or at least stitched prominently on his jeans), giving the listener a welcomed moment of transparency. Silence, as well, is employed prominently in this fifty-odd minute piece, via Wooley's deft navigation between nearly inaudible hiss, font-size six licks, and overbearing feedback.

As a whole -- a precaution to the meek, this album is only one track -- through this unusual narrative, Nate Wooley provides not only a snapshot of lowercase technique, but also a glance at his distorted voice.