Artifacts, Live at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild

 

Photo by Liina Raud

Last Thursday, the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild presented a performance that swung a bit to the left of the nearly 40-year old musical institution's usual programming. Artifacts, the trio of Nicole Mitchell (flute), Tomeka Reid (cello) and Mike Reed (drums), was on tour and needed a spot to play. Mitchell, who ran Pitt's Jazz Studies program from 2019 to 2022, reached out to MCG Jazz executive producer Marty Ashby, who welcomed the trio to the space. Although all three musicians have played in situations where the music moves in an outward direction, their sound combined a sense of adventure with a hard-swinging mood.

Reid avoided the bow in the early part of the set and plucked her instrument like a bass. It set up a vamp in some of the tunes, like "Pleasure Palace" to which Mitchell added a throaty solo. One of the microphones on the flute ran the instrument through a set of effects which often gave it a theremin-style sound, which Reed and Reid abetted during the second track with stops that alternated on every two and three beats. Reed got some drones going on his drum heads a few tunes later, with his cymbals eventually blending into long tones from his bandmates before things broke into a solid 4/4 backdrop for the flute and cello. 

Throughout their set, the rapport between all three players was clearly on display, with an ability to move from jerky stop-start parts to a steady groove in a new, untitled piece. In Mitchell piece, which might be called "There" or "Their" unless I heard Reed's announcement wrong,  the composer's flute and electronics were really lifted by the drums and cello, raising the excitement of the set. 

MCG doesn't allow photography during the performances, hence the lack of live pics here. I wasn't fast enough to jump in on posed photos of the players following the performance either. Plus I was too busy being a fanboy with Reed, expressing my fondness for his Flesh and Bone album, which can be found here. (Read it and find a copy of it, pronto.) Reid's 3+ 3 album from last year was also a great find. And of course, Mitchell's discography continues to grow as we speak. 

Hopefully these three won't be strangers in the Steel City. When Mitchell gave the city a shout as things were setting up, the response indicated we were glad to see her again.