Ha-Yang Kim

With percussionist Nathan Davis, cellist and composer Ha-Yang Kim constitutes one half of the cello-percussion duo Odd Appetite, an up-and-coming ensemble on the Downtown New York scene. While Tzadik's release Ama is devoted to Kim's work as a composer, half the disc consists of her pieces as played by Odd Appetite, and the other half consists of Metasmatter, a work for a six-piece chamber ensemble enclosing both Davis and Kim and a solo, semi-improvised piece featuring Kim herself, her cello, and a variety of guitar pedals. Although credited to Kim alone, ostensibly this is an Odd Appetite album, as according to the website the musicians "also play with guest performers in a trio or other configuration," ergo Metasmatter, which features flutist Claire Chase, violinist Jennifer Choi, pianist Eric Huebner, and Joshua Rubin on bass clarinet. This is the most consciously "composed"-sounding piece on the disc, although all of the works here have clearly defined sections and demonstrate that Kim exercises great skill at integrating improvised material within a distinct compositional framework. Although the cello is in a traditional sense "all about" the legato line, Kim's primary interest is in rhythm, and Davis' subtle drumming helps both to support and to extend her ideas about pulse and explore the tactile combination of percussion and cello. Some of the music here has a superficial connection to so-called world music; Kim and Davis have played in Balinese Gamelans and have played Carnatic (South Indian classical) music, although Kim has also jammed with Cecil Taylor and Metasmatter demonstrates that Taylor's approach to ensemble writing has also had some impact on her thinking. On Lens, Kim's playing through the muff pedals has, at points, an aggressive and almost freaked-out rock & roll guitar solo feel. Cellists may well take interest in what Kim is doing; it definitely extends the capabilities of the instrument and moves it out of the common realm with which it has been associated since the days of Pablo Casals and Hans Kindler. As compositions, Kim's work is certainly tasty, and Ama will definitely please those with a taste for cutting-edge contemporary music, though it whet's one's appetite for a full-fledged Odd Appetite collection featuring its own works and interpretations of music the group has commissioned