The Soundbase - Dangerous Territory (2019)

On his new release, Dangerous Territory, guitarist Xiongguan Zhang showcases his forward thinking sensibility on 10 wide-ranging original compositions, combining driving beats with an electronic sound palette.

His ensemble, the Soundbase, is a bass-less quartet with two horns, guitar, and drums. The absence of bass places greater responsibility on Zhang to hold down the grooves with drummer Zhitong Xu and An Yu, but also gives Zhang more control over the sonic make-up of the music. He meets these technical and creative challenges with grace and self-assuredness, employing various pedals to modulate his guitar sound and conjure various moods. On songs like “Intro” and “Ping Pong,” Zhang uses delay and chorus to produce rippling echoes of his guitar that reverberate across the ensemble texture, while he uses low-pitched organ and octave pedal sounds to dramatic effect on songs like “Robotic Human Heart” and “Double Threat.”

Zhang is perhaps at his best, however, in a more introspective and searching mode, as on the haunting “Like Clouds,” a floating modal exploration reminiscent of the studio recordings of saxophonist Joe Henderson in the ’70s. Zhang notably contributes both vocals and a reading of an original poem on the track, delivering a meditation on transience and human experience through electronic distortion that conveys an underwater quality. On “One is Too Many,” Zhang reveals the beauty of his acoustic guitar sound with an unadorned melody that reflects his understanding of the Great American Songbook tradition, while also bringing to mind modern guitar masters like Bill Frisell.

While expressly seeking the unknown in this project, Zhang clearly has benefited from an extended period of live experimentation and performance with the Soundbase. In January 2019, Zhang had the unprecedented opportunity to lead a month-long residency at Shanghai’s House of Blues & Jazz, much of which featured the Soundbase night after night. Following the spirit of openness and exploration, Zhang has employed differing personnel during various Soundbase performances at major music festivals across China and in residency. This recording, however, documents him alongside some of his closest collaborators, and the sonic rapport is unmistakable.

Throughout its ten tracks, the band’s execution is tight and never tentative, which speaks to both the quality of the musicians, who are among the premiere young jazz players in China (Toby Mak on trumpet, Shihai Li on alto saxophone, and Xu/An on drums), and Zhang’s clarity of vision as bandleader. Zhang has synthesized various streams of music in his newest album, showing how rock and modern jazz grooves can come together with electronic processing and improvised music to invite listeners into his personal sound world. Having set forth his manifesto for musical experimentation, Zhang’s next move will be anyone’s guess. ----- Kevin Sun