Empty Vessels by Patrick Shiroishi & Marta Tiesenga

Effectively a suite of improvised duets for soprano saxophone that recalls both the leviathan cistern meditations of Pauline Oliveros’ Deep Listening Band and Catherine Christer Hennix’s extended raga drones, these pieces were recorded during the early days of the pandemic in an underground tunnel located beneath a shuttered hot pot restaurant.

‘Empty Vessels’ stands apart as a remarkable document of almost architectural sound, in a sense, with the natural reverb of the tunnel asserting itself as a third player in the ensemble. Indeed, the natural acoustics of the space evoke a palpable sense of isolation and uneasiness. Fragments of melody, wails, and strained breaths dissolve into extended silences, erasing themselves in real time before being built back up into towering columns of resonance.

It’s odd to think that this music was effectively enabled by the pandemic. Without California’s extended lockdown, there likely would have been people coming in and out of the area, not to mention street noise seeping into the recording. While the reverberations of Patrick and Marta’s performance have long since dissipated and the tunnel has returned to silence, what remains is music that longs to be underground – ever seeking, digging deeper still into the shadows.

Patrick Shiroishi is a Japanese-American multi-instrumentalist & composer based in Los Angeles.

patrickshiroishi.com