Black Decelerant
Reflections, Vol. 2: Black Decelerant
Black Decelerant is the second installment of 'Reflections,' a series showcasing contemporary collaborations orchestrated by RVNG Intl., recently inaugurated by Steve Gunn and David Moore. Black Decelerant, the duo of Khari Lucas, aka Contour, and Omari Jazz, explores jazz traditions, improvising with synthesizers, guitars, and electronics as a practice laid forth by their musical ancestors. This experience allows for sonic meditations on themes such as black being/nonbeing, mourning/life, expansion/limitation, and the individual/the collective. The two strive to create a sonic surface which can simultaneously allow black listeners a place to be still, and to serve as a basis for a movement beyond "the moment." The album's ten compositions configure vast, resonant landscapes with signals, weathers and spirits, suspended in memory and distilled in time. The Black Decelerant machine recalibrates archival relics and acoustic impulses into collages of amalgamated timbres, where harmony exists not without discordance. Across the expansive space of the record, cadent storms of modulated sound ascend beside serene melodic spells. Piano keys and bass lines tumble in free fall throughout the release, accompanied on tracks "two" and "eight" by the spectral trumpet improvisations of Jawwaad Taylor. The duo arrived at their name upon reading Aria Dean's Notes on 'Blacceleration,' an article which explores Accelerationism within the context of black being or non-being as a foundational tenet of capitalism. Coupled with the record's intended effect, Black Decelerant references the music being an invitation to slow down, while hinting at the shared politics between themselves and the artists and thinkers who inspire them.