KUZU (Tashi Dorji, Dave Rempis, Tyler Damon)

KUZU is a hard-charging but patient trio that came together in the fall of 2017, after saxophonist Dave Rempis, a stalwart of the Chicago improvised music scene, worked with both Tashi Dorji (guitar) and Tyler Damon (drums) individually as part of a lengthy solo tour of the U.S. that he undertook in the spring of that year. Dorji and Damon’s work as a guitar/percussion duo has become well-known, a highly refined and specific language developed through relentless touring and recording over the last few years, with a sound that straddles improvised music, rock, and any number of as-yet-undefined territories. These two provide an incredibly fresh take on the possibilities inherent to spontaneous composition. The trio’s debut record Hiljaisuus (“silence” in Finnish…) was released on LP by the well-known label Astral Spirits in summer 2018, and on cd by Aerophonic Records in January 2019. The band plans two new releases in early 2020 on the same labels, using material recorded live on tour in October 2018. They also plan tours of the US and Europe in 2020.

Musically, these three create a highly focused pallet of sounds. At times, spacious gestures carve up the canvas with the austerity of a calligrapher, while at others those sparse gestures build into an unstoppable tsunami of energy. Those waves are never impulsive or impetuous though, they ebb and flow logically and patiently out of simple and clearly defined sources.

KUZU Bandcamp