Quint by Shibui

“While such music is too easily characterized as cinematic, there is also something undeniably photographic about it, breaking down moving images one precious still at a time. And if it may be called minimal, it is primarily because the sparse arranging allows listeners to weave between every instrument, picking up hints of fragrance along the way.” Tyran Grillo, Between Sound and Space: ECM Records and Beyond.

Boston based band SHIBUI led by composer, guitarist and bass player Tim Doherty presents its second album QUINT, the premiere on Ronin Rhythm Records with its connected community. The album contains five elaborated minimal groove compositions by Doherty, conceptually titled with numbers. This already indicates the composer’s clear vision and the band’s focused understanding of this contemporary groove chamber music.

Tim began writing and performing with various artists in the Boston area in the early 2010's including Progressive/Indie outfit Here We Just Dream, the experimental Rock and improvisational band The Ben Levin Group, Courtney Swain (of Bent Knee), among others. This influential and lively creative community is still active today and SHIBUI has become an important part of it.

Tim studied with Swiss Pianist and Composer Nik Bärtsch in 2015, which began one of the more important formative experiences for him as a composer and was the seedling of the conception behind the SHIBUI project. Since then, Tim has integrated the lessons learned from Bärtsch’s music, bands and workshops into his own writing and performing, as well as helping in the organization of rhythm workshops in the U.S. and Canada.

The Japanese evolutionary concept of SHIBUI has accumulated many meanings over time, evoking a discreet sense of beauty, elegant simplicity, and a gradual sense of value and meaning with repeated exposure to the experience or object. The discovery of value through repeated exposure to the music one takes the time to learn, comprehend, and perform is a central tenet most musicians understand deeply and personally, but which is always open to the listener when engaged with the same music through time, the evolution of one's experience, and mood. The music of SHUBUI attempts to invite the listener into this active engagement with discovered value through played repetition in real time, while offering an awareness of the unavoidable necessity of change, whether deliberate in the composition or incidental to our shifting perspectives.

This tenet of gradually evolving beauty and value while retaining a sense of elegance and sophistication became the central foundation for SHIBUI. Never highlighting one voice over another, but rather maintaining a balance throughout each piece while allowing the space to breathe and flow became the engine that moved the compositions. SHIBUI has explored its versatility as a Sextet, a Quintet, and finally its core as a trio (Curtis Hartshorn on drums, Tim Doherty on bass, Céline Ferro on bass clarinet), giving it a unique perspective on its own inner working and ability to expand again with Piano and Marimba as its harmonic content in larger performances, while maintaining flexibility as a trio for more intimate performances.

Minimal groove Quintet (sometimes trio, sometimes quartet) Shibui from Boston, MA