[TR24][OF] Reid Anderson, Dave King, Craig Taborn - Golden Valley Is Now - 2019 (Jazz Fusion, Electronica)

Reid Anderson: electric bass, electronics;
Dave King: acoustic and electronic drums;
Craig Taborn: synthesizers, electric and acoustic piano

Once upon a time, in a place called Golden Valley – a city of 20,000 nestled on the periphery of Minneapolis, especially fertile musically back then – a teenager named Dave King met another by the name of Craig Taborn at a basement party. Rounding off the encounter was their mutual friend Reid Anderson, leading to a lifelong friendship and musical partnership. To add some historical facts to this fairy-tale intro: the start of this intimate fellowship, also a narrative showing the invaluable role of friendship in music, is dated 1982.
Born and raised in neighbouring districts in Golden Valley, whose name has earned respect as a breeding ground for this influential voice in contemporary jazz, the three attended different junior highs and high schools, but this did nothing to hinder this triadic relationship. A shared interest in avant-garde art forms, an insatiable drive and an eclectic appetite for music cemented their comradely bond back in the 1980’s and culminated in their first concerts in rehearsal cellars. Spurred on by cheerfully competitive listening experiences and working their way through the jungle of musical information together, they soon shared a love of jazz and rock, especially punk rock (which was flourishing at the time in Minneapolis) and a weakness for electronic music. In the basement however – a laboratory for the musical process of integration, opposing the logic of exclusion – nothing remained untested: from bebop and free jazz to dance music and metal. And soon the three shared the dream of a life in progressive jazz.
Unperturbed by influence anxiety, they set out together on musical forays between disparate landscapes to measure the wide world of music in a quest for freedom. Each identified for themselves the co-ordinates of musical zones where diverse streams of inspiration flow together, beyond the ring-fenced genre, creating a stylistic puzzle in which jazz, improvisation, techno club culture, alternative rock, industrial and ambient all shine. And if we are to speak of styles and genres, each musician discovered jazz individually as a multifaceted art form following the principle of musical diversity. This simultaneity of varied stylistic trends is shown in the various projects which Reid, Dave and Craig pursue. What is impressive and exceptional is the consistency and authenticity with which the three musicians play with various musical idioms. Sticking for now with their collaborative projects: when Reid Anderson and Dave King play with rock energy in The Bad Plus, it’s real rock energy and not a jazz imitation of rock energy. Equally impressive in this regard is Craig Taborn’s 2004 electronic album Junk Magic, with Dave King on acoustic and electronic drums, a somewhat rare and genuinely refreshing example of an experiment to create digital jazz. Here the electronics are understood rigorously and consistently as a means of expression with their own laws and are not just grafted on as a supplement to create an additional layer of sound.
The principle is always ‘no half measures’. This credo has governed the careers of these three maverick musicians as they maintain a discerning ear for the respective sense of the music in a wide range of contexts, and it also applies to Golden Valley Is Now. At the forefront are songs based on a pop sensibility, played live without sequencers and delivered by astounding improvisers and virtuoso instrumentalists, eschewing the muscular gestures of soloist free-styling and improvisatory furore and thus making wisdom audible: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. They all put themselves in the service of compact songs in which the overall sound itself becomes the event. The power and magic of this musical statement lies in the modus operandi of the soloists’ restraint and a precise finger-tip feeling for the textures and dynamics of the songs. This is a declaration of love to the song. Mixed with progressive elements and served on a multi-coloured palette of sound, Golden Valley Is Now celebrates intelligent, sophisticated songs with pop appeal, while nodding to electronic innovators such as Autechre and Aphex Twin. The fusion of acoustic and electronic elements, resonating melodies and a punchy production aesthetic characterise the band’s sound. Whether calmly fluid or eruptive, Golden Valley Is Now’s finely tuned music is beautifully direct. While Craig Taborn’s acoustic piano playing – which is rooted in the jazz piano tradition – often follows a rhapsodic impulse, in this electro-acoustic context he proves himself a filigree form-finder, enhancing his singing melodies and rich harmonies live with a precise sound design. Strictly following the motto ‘if it’s electronic then seriously electronic’, their playing gets to the essence of electronics. But these synthesised sounds never appear soulless or chilly. With the same musical warmth and sensibility for electronic colour, Reid Anderson, the compositional leader on electric bass, performs with appealing succinctness. So too does Dave King, on the organically woven acoustic and electric drums, in which a homage to the early 1980’s can be heard, recalling the rolling drum-machine beats of early hip-hop or Ornette Coleman’s electric free funk band Prime Time.
Back to the history of this non-hierarchical trio, based on mutual trust and deep friendship. In 2010, as part of Dave King’s carte blanche ‘King for Two Days’ event at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis he presented a band premiere of Golden Valley Is Now. The resonance was immense. The musicians were continually questioned about the future of Golden Valley Is Now (the author himself admits asking the musicians several times about the future of this project since seeing footage of the premier in 2010). Short-shelf-life culture is an antipathy to them; ‘Rome was not built in a day’. Now the time has come, and thirty-seven years after their first meeting, this release opens a new chapter in this fairy-tale story.
FLORIAN KELLER June 2019
Translation: Steph Morris

https://www.allmusic.com/album/golden-valley-is-now-mw0003310755
AllMusic Review by Thom Jurek
In 2010, Bad Plus drummer Dave King, his bandmate bassist/keyboardist Reid Anderson, and pianist/synthesist Craig Taborn performed together at the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis as part of the drummer's King for Two Days Extravaganza. The music they offered, while fully imbued with their individual musical personas, bore little resemblance to their better-known projects. This trio's members, all from different parts of Golden Valley, Minnesota, have known one another and played together off and on since high school. They explore rock, punk, and post-punk, electronic music, jazz, and indie pop together and separately. All are lovers of songs above all else, despite the fact they are highly developed improvising jazzmen. Given their wildly busy schedules, The Golden Valley Is Now took roughly a decade to come together. Recorded in August of 2018 in Minneapolis, these ten tracks have little -- if anything -- to do with jazz, and that's a good thing.
Anderson (electric bass and electronics) wrote eight of these 11 tunes, while King (organic and synthetic drums) wrote the other three. Their fixed focus was on song forms. The notion of "soloists" was thrown out the window. The music is tightly scripted and pays careful attention to texture, color, dynamic and, to a lesser extent, hooks. Taborn's place on synths and electric and acoustic pianos is central as the most recognizable center of melody, but his bandmates stick very close. Elements of indie electronica meld with lighthearted prog, easy flowing indie rock, and D.I.Y. electro-pop. Opener "City Diamond" combines keyboard riffs and drum fills with a sparse yet pronounced melody shaded by Anderson playing chords on his bass. King's "High Waste Drifter" commences with an aggressive set of drum rolls before careening off into angular electro-rock that sounds like a rave-up take on a futuristic cartoon surf theme. "Polar Heroes" offers off-kilter synth vamps and lyrical lines, underscored by electronic snare and double-tracked basslines playing complementary melodies and rhythmic vamps. "You Might Live Here" commences with a snare-and-kick-drum rock shuffle, answered by Anderson's bass before Taborn slides up front with a series of pop chords that could support any modern singer. His limpid, chiming single notes in the tags form a companion lyric element to the drama and mystery before the tune extrapolates with progressive cues and feints. "End of the World" is a two-minute closer that sounds like it's a space age counterpart to Satie's Gymnopedie No. 3. Golden Valley Is Now is lovely just for what it is. This date isn't about showing musical muscle; it's about composing, playing, and arranging songs -- simple instrumental ones -- with creativity and panache. This trio accomplish that with rawness, immediacy, collective good will, and a wacky kind of elegance.