Greg Weeks, a New York-based singer, songwriter, guitarist and keyboardist
(the moog being his favorite keyboard),
debuted with
Fire In The Arms Of The Sun (BaDaDing, 1999), which introduced
his
hushed, subdued, minor-key and melancholy bedroom style,
somewhat reminiscent of Nick Drake.
What is unique about Weeks is the way he lets the instrumental parts
digress, as if they have a life beyond the lyrics, and complement
the song's story with an inward journey to the depths of the soul.
The Angel Of Death is an appropriate manifesto: a whispered
litany ends with a lengthy coda in which the guitar wanders aimlessly,
eventually met by a cello and an organ.
Joan Of Arc is a bit more upbeat, like a bossanova played by
Donovan.
Donovan's ethereal/pastoral/medieval tone also comes to mind for the six-minute
The Pale Shade, with one of the most complex, almost orchestral, codas.
Another relatively serene song,
The Flesh Of Terrain, resembles Leo Kottke's domestic vignettes.
But then the mood collapses, first with
Tracey Bowen's Double Life (and another odd instrumental coda)
and then with Leaves And Limerance, another highlight in that
semi-bossanova style (and one of the purest ballads),
all the way to the sinister tinkling and the solemn piano of
Straw Days (track 14), a song so gloomy to sound like a requiem.
Electronic noises flood the score of Harvest of Sighs (track 13),
another lengthy and complex confession.
(Note: the numbering of the tracks on the CD sleeve is incorrect).
The eight-song mini-album Bleecker Station (Ptolemaic Terrascope, 2000)
is a concept that documents the breakup of a relationship. Unlike the album,
this is a starker work, mostly limited to voice and guitar.
The electronic lieder of
Awake Like Sleep (BaDaBing, 2001)
mark a return to the style of the first album and a progression towards
a more futuristic sound.
The EP Slightly West (Acuarela, 2003) is a graceful appendix to the
album, with the material that sounds slightly more straightforward.
Philadelphia's Espers (Locust, 2004) is a folk-rock trio
(featuring vocalist Meg Baird and acoustic guitarist Brooke Sietinsons)
that perhaps relies too much on the pyrotechnics of Greg Weeks' acid guitar.
Even the lengthy Hearts & Daggers and Travel Mountains sound
contrived and unfinished.
The mini-album The Weed Tree (2005) collected covers.
Espers' II (Drag City, 2006), with the band now a sextet
(Weeks mainly on electronics, Baird on vocals, Sietinsons on acoustic guitar,
Swedish-born
Helena Espvall on cello, Chris Smith on bass, Otto Hauser on percussion), was
a far less derivative affair, more preoccupied with crafting ambience than
penning acic-folk ballads.
The lengthy Dead Queen, Children Of Stone and Dead King
melancholy evocative and zen-like impressionistic.
Even the singing is more ambient than merely decorative.
Blood Is Trouble (Ba Da Bing, 2005) returns to the introverted mood of
his solo albums. It loses in poetry what it gains in structure.
Espvall and Batoh (Drag City, 2008) was a collaboration
between Helena Espvall of the Espers and Masaki Batoh of
Ghost, continued on
Overloaded Ark (Drag City, 2009).
Most of the Espers, including Greg Weeks, as well as members of Fursaxa and Fern Knight played on The Valerie Project (Drag City, 2007).
The Espers' III (Drag City, 2009) is their most serene but also least
engaging collection.
Espvall debuted solo with Nimis & Arx (2006).
singing and playing
cello, guitar and recorder while
George Korein played electronics.
Espvall also played in Anahita, documented on
Arcana En Cantos (2006) ,
Matricaria (2008), and
Tourmaline (2016).
Leaves from Off the Tree (2006) was Espvall with
Sharron Kraus and Meg Baird.
Lapidary (2010) collects improvisations with Marcia Bassett of
Double Leopards,
and
Improvisations for Strings and Electronics (2012) collects improvisations with Marielle Jakobsons and Agnes Szelag.
Cauldron (2012) was Espvall with Alan Sondheim and Azure Carter.
Other collaborations include
A Hallowed Shell of Ash and Rust (2013)
with San Francisco-based guitarist Ernesto Diaz-Infante
(Espvall on amplified cello and electronics, Diaz-Infante on amplified bajo sexto, steel guitar and electronic
tanpura, tom-tom drum and singing bowl)
and
Sombras Incendiadas (2015) with Portuguese composer David Maranha of Osso Exotico.
A 2014 split album with Jackie-O Motherfucker contains the 22-minute duet Electrogesis
with guitarist Tom Carter of Charalambides
Espvall moved to Portugal and quickly became a staple of the local scene of jazz improvisers.
The cacophonous 34-minute piece of Sul (2018) was performed by a string
orchestra led
by Ernesto Rodrigues
and augmented with percussionist Andrew Drury.
The string orchestra consists of Rodrigues on viola,
Espvall and Miguel Mira on cellos,
Gianna de Toni and Miguel Almeida on acoustic guitar,
Abdul Moimeme on electric guitar,
Alvaro Rosso and Hernani Faustino on double basses,
Maria do Mar on violin,
and
Biagio Verdolini on zither.
Espvall also performed
in the 30-minute Mare Tranquillitatis (2019) by
Ernesto Rodrigues' Variable Geometry Orchestra.
Queen Triot (2020) documents free-jazz improvisations by a quintet with
Ernesto Rodrigues and Marie Takahashi on violas,
Maria do Mar on violin,
and João Valinho on percussion.
Turquoise Dream (2021) documents a quartet with
pianist Marta Warelis, violinist
Carlos Zingaro and acoustic guitarist
Marcelo dos Reis playing abstract, dissonant chamber music.
Ernesto Rodrigues also leads the Isotope Ensemble and drafted Espvall for the
27-minute piece of Radium (2019) and the
41-minute Electroacoustic on Uranium (2022).
The Quartet Exquis with bass clarinetist Noel Taylor, clarinetist AnnaMarie Ignarro and double bassist João Madeira is documented on
Da Multiplicidade Do Vacuo (2021).
The all-female sextet Lantana with vocalist Maria Radich, violinist Maria do Mar, cellist Joana Guerra, trumpeter Anna Piosik, and electronic musician Carla Santana is documented on Elemental (2022).
