kahn&mueller.
It’s telling that the one picture I have from tonight doesn’t even have the two musicians in it. The truth is, if I were to have taken a picture, the sound from my camera would have been louder than the music emanating from Jason Kahn and Jon Mueller. It was undoubtedly the most subtle and subdued set of music I have ever witnessed, but also one of the best. With only a few pieces of equipment - metal discs, mixers, snare, tape loops, and a cymbal - the two created an hour or so of challenging, thought-provoking improv that accomplished so much more than nearly any other live act I have ever seen. Unlike so many, they forced the audience to concentrate on sound, not volume. On sound, not riffs or beats or melodies or notes or rhythms or any of the superfluous bullshit people try to make you believe that music is about. But to most people, I would probably have that all wrong. Besides, most people probably wouldn’t even consider defining their set as “music.”
And I’m sure that’s precisely why it affected me so deeply. Twenty minutes into their set, I finally realized that my whole body was tense and compressed, like I had been waiting to exhale for a third of an hour. It was an odd, rare feeling - one that seemed to calm me and make my heart race in the same instant. Also one that I hope returns many times.