Released May 5, 2023
[TAO 11]
CD – [one-time edition / 850] in heavyweight 4-panel digipak, with notes by López on the inner.
LP – [one-time edition / 650] on black vinyl, with 10x10" insert & Bandcamp-hosted download code.
Brandon López: bass, compositions
1. LikeTheEdgeOfAMachete - 04:11
2. Piri - 06:12
3. Billie - 03:51
4. RealBadVibes - 05:48
5. vilevilevilevilevilevilevile - 04:48
6. como el filo del machete - 03:17
7. PonceNewYork - 05:41
8. The Real Bad Vibe - 07:09
Recorded by Brandon López
Mixed and Mastered by Jon Lipscomb
Artwork & Design by Maria Farré
TAO Forms is proud to present vilevilevilevilevilevilevilevile, the exquisite new solo bass work by young maestro Brandon López, to be released May 5.
The more complete (although not full) album title is:
vilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevile
vilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevile
vilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevile
vilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevile
vilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevile
vilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevilevile
Moving to NYC a little over a decade ago, Brandon López immediately began the process of making himself indispensable within numerous creative music scenes and stages in the city. From the New York Philharmonic’s David Geffen Hall to the DIY basements of Brooklyn, López has worked extensively beside many luminaries of jazz, classical, poetry, and experimental music.
As with all bass players of abundant skill and commitment through the ages, López has been prolifically active in collaborations because he has been in duly high demand. The Cleveland Review of Books noted, “This is virtuosity as vocabulary, a total command of texture, subtlety, and a depth that can be reached into.”
López is also an improvising composer of estimable gifts. One recent example is his expansive work in duo with equally astonishing drummer Gerald Cleaver; recently incorporated into a trio with Fred Moten, the inimitable poet, theorist, critic, and 2020 MacArthur Fellow. Among the attention paid to their 2022 debut was an “8.0” review in Pitchfork & a “Best Jazz Albums of 2022” notice from the New York Times.
Much has been made of the brawn which Brandon brings to his playing. This has oft been stated in reviews of his live performances and his recorded work – because it is true. The palpable physical commitment in his expression is abundantly clear when seeing/hearing him live on stage, and can be viscerally felt as a force coming out of his recordings. The strings & wood frame are wholly resonant when called forth, by muscles well-developed for the purpose by a longtime gravedigger. Yes, López did do that for a strong spell as a young man.
Hearing his work – or in conversation – it becomes immediately clear that the brain over the brawn are a key differential. A Puerto Rican kid growing up working class in North Jersey doesn’t perform with the New York Philharmonic (as a soloist, no less) without the brains.
vilevilevilevilevilevilevilevile is about perceptions. More pointedly, as López told us, this new work is “less about -a thing- than it is about perceptions of things, questioning those perceptions, and possibly altering them.”
As with all musicians of mettle, López has kept busy during these pandemic years, releasing ongoing solo bass works (and other collaborative stealth live recordings) via his Bandcamp page & creating live streams on Instagram. This new work is, by his own description, only the 2nd “real one” for solo bass – an album created with forethought towards wider release. His 1st solo bass work by the same rubric, quoniam facta sum vilis, was released on the Astral Spirits label in 2018.
From a supporter/fan’s review of quoniam facta sum vilis posted on Bandcamp:
“Every track feels like a different world, of techniques, vibes, and influences. But underneath it all is an incredibly powerful sense of structure, and each expresses a different view on a central “presence” or personality or being. Scary, ecstatic, gorgeous, and awe-inspiring.” –Giles
And, elder maestro of the bass – Mark Dresser – wrote of that same album in International Society of Bassists Magazine:
“A poignant, highly dynamic, and personal collection of solo bass music that with all of its sonic ingenuity and virtuoso finesse is still grounded in pulse, pitch and linearity. A sophisticated and auspicious solo recording debut.”