Ty Citerman

Time Phase Trio

Pho­to by Yuan Liu ©2023

Found­ed in 2022, Time Phase Trio fea­tures dynam­ic and nim­ble play­ing from Jen Bak­er, Ty Citer­man and Shay­na Dunkel­man in a provoca­tive ensem­ble of trom­bone, gui­tar, elec­tron­ics and per­cus­sion. Across six pieces (five by Citer­man and one by Bak­er), these three sea­soned impro­vis­ers have whim­si­cal con­ver­sa­tions, at times del­i­cate, cere­bral, provoca­tive and growl­ing. Rhythms erupt or unfurl, tex­ture and mood are key ele­ments, groove is fleet­ing. Mul­ti­phon­ics, elec­tron­ic blips and whirrs, per­cus­sive hums — all of this moves lyri­cal melod­ic sketch­es into strange and refract­ed ter­ri­to­ry.

The group pre­miered at the June 2022 Infre­quent Seams Stream­fest in Brook­lyn, NY and its first record­ing will be released on the Infre­quent Seams K7 Com­mis­sion­ing Series in March 2023. Vis­it Band­camp to hear the music and order dig­i­tal down­loads and lim­it­ed edi­tion cas­settes.

Most of these pieces are part of a new series of Ty’s com­po­si­tions about cli­mate jus­tice, and in this first install­ment, WATER as a life force and nat­ur­al resource endan­gered by cli­mate change. Inspi­ra­tion comes from the south­ern Atlantic Ocean; an unnamed Ver­mont stream; north Flori­da swamp­land; and New York City’s Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.

Daniel Spicer writes in The Wire (April ’23): “Time Phase Trio…stakes out a ter­ri­to­ry that’s infused with a cer­tain wry humour — even a lit­tle slap­stick lev­i­ty — not least because it includes the fruity parps and squelch­es of Jen Bak­er’s loqua­cious trom­bone. Per­cus­sion­ist Shay­na Dunkel­man pro­vides gen­tly accent­ed and thought­ful­ly posi­tioned tom beats and cym­bal splash­es, while gui­tarist Ty Citer­man adds taut plunks and pings…A debt to Antho­ny Brax­ton’s play­ful­ly seri­ous process­es seems likely.”