Dogs Do Dream (Drip Audio)
Ron Samworth
Released June 16, 2017
DownBeat Four-and-a-Half-Star Review
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nsoQoHIq22VywPi0aiEwFYfcNy7O7ybcU
Spotify:
About:
Dogs Do Dream is a suite of compositions and texts by composer/guitarist Ron Samworth inspired by the dream life of dogs. Scientific research indicates that many animals, including Dogs, Do Dream. We can only imagine the nature of these dreams… Dogs Do Dream had it’s premiere at the Barking Sphinx produced Vancouver International Improvisation Festival in March of 2015 and since has performed a number of gigs in Vancouver including the Vancouver International Jazz Festival in 2016.
Ron Samworth has a great interest in integrating text with music and has worked with numerous poets, theatre artists and singers over the years. Scientific data indicates that animals – dogs, as well as cats, even rats, dream. There is much speculation about what the content of these dreams are – running, eating, exploring, interacting with other sentients. Encephalographic readings of sleeping rats who have been put through complex mazes can even pinpoint what part of the maze they are dreaming about by matching the data with their waking responses to said maze. However, the poetical conundrum is that, as intimate as we may be with our animal friends, we will never actually know what they dream about – the imagery, specific scenarios, the inhabitants, or the topography of their dreamworld are fully encapsulated within their own consciousness.
Taking this as a jumping off point, Ron Samowrth has created a suite of imagined dog dreams – writing first person texts in the voice of the dog to be presented within a series of musical compositions that employ both composed material and improvisation. While a degree of anthropomorphism is inevitable, Ron has tried to limit the text to descriptive prose devoid of metaphor – a satisfying exercise of inhabiting the mind of a dog. Each text has been drawn by Ron’s experience of watching and enjoying dogs – each segment is dedicated to a Vancouver location which inspired it, and sometimes even a specific dog friend. The stellar members of the ensemble and the guest artists have all worked together in a wide variety of projects on the Vancouver scene over the years. Dogs Do Dream was recorded over two days in May 2016 at the Warehouse Studio in Vancouver.
Track Listing:
1. Sleeping (For Hoxha) 2:38
2. Rapid Eye Movement 4:57
3. Swimming 4:51
4. The Underbrush 5:19
5. Reflection 2.16
6. Lying On My Back (For Callie & Chloe) 1:15
7. Muck About 1:07
8. On The Trail 4:36
9. Cold Grass/Frisbee 7:32
10. Evening Crows 1:33
11. Smells/Other Dogs 6:33
12. Gulls, Gills, Guts 3:22
13. Drones…Bones 2:29
14. Fighting 2:43
15. Waking Up (For Tosh) 3:26
16. Dog Day 3:46
Music & Text by Ron Samworth
Personnel:
Ron Samworth: guitar, effects (1-4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 14-16)
Barbara Adler: narration (1-4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 14-16)
JP Carter: trumpet, effects (1-4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13-16)
Tyson Naylor: piano, keyboards, accordian (1-4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 14-16)
Peggy Lee: cello (1-4, 6, 8, 9-11, 14-16)
James Meger: bass, effects (1-4, 6-8, 9, 11, 14-16)
Skye Brooks: drums
Guest artists:
Iris Pomeroy: voice (2)
Torsten Muller: bass (2, 12)
Dylan van der Schyff: drums, marimba (12)
Bill Clark: trumpet (11)
Robin Holcomb: piano (5)
Wayne Horvitz: DX-7, effects (11)
Recorded May 10 & 11, 2016, at The Warehouse, Vancouver, Canada
Produced, Mixed and Mastered by Dylan van der Schyff
Engineered by Sheldon Zaharko
Additional Recording by Dexter van der Schyff, Dylan van der Schyff & Wayne Horvitz
CD Design by Lee Hutzulak
Review:
For more than a decade, Vancouver’s consistently excellent Drip Audio label has been bringing creative Canadian musicians to light. Formidable guitarist Ron Samworth’s Dogs Do Dream project presents an evocative creative/jazz/rock/New Music-influenced fantasy. Primal stream-of-consciousness thoughts are observed from the impulsive, animalistic and sensual perspective of a dog. It’s exceptional artistry.
Kerilie McDowall (DownBeat)
