Will Bernard’s discography is decidedly diverse to say the least, featuring as it does his work with a wide range of musicians including Charlie Hunter, John Medeski and Stanton Moore. Yet during the course of his career, the guitarist/composer/bandleader has never collaborated in quite so idiosyncratic a fashion as he does with Beth Custer on Sky (as in ‘the limit?).
Essentially alternating original material over the course of sixteen tracks that comprise just shy of forty-eight minutes, these two musicians render moot the absence of a rhythm section. In fact, on the opening number of Custer’s boasting the cryptic title of “Bear In Shamanic Transformation,” the variety of sounds emanating from the woodwind and the fretboard might be the work of more than two players.
There exist only minimal overdubs on what are mostly first takes of these tunes. The recording by Jeff Cressman, subsequently mastered by Jeremy Goody, brings a tangible sense of being there within those moments of intimate spontaneity that make up tracks like “Stain” and “Simone.”
“The Curve” ensures there’s no sense of the predictable here either. The Berkley California native guitarist’s slightly dissonant, bent notes mesh with the softer tones of Custer’s clarinet almost as if she’s aiming to mirror the sound(s) of the guitar. In turn, the acoustic textures Bernard fingers on “Fence” seem like nothing so much as his effort to replicate the inviting jollity of Beth’s instrument.
And therein lies the chemistry between these two on exhibit during Sky (the longstanding nature of which a vintage photo inside the package suggests). Both musicians have an intuitive grasp of the essential nature of each other’s instruments, so they can both write and play with that understanding. And on her own “Glistening Spirit,” Beth Custer adds gentle sonority with her voice, almost as another instrument with which Will Bernard parries through contoured slide guitar figures, one of a variety of textures he applies during the course of the album.
Although the deliberate gait of “Rhymes With Buster” suggests otherwise, the guitarist and clarinetist are never too careful. As they circle around each other on “Luv Jones,” for instance, their mutual trust is equal to their abiding confidence in each other and it’s that virtue that allows the pair to make their statements in less than three minutes on nine of these tracks, including “Daikon Radish” and “White Horse Shoes.”
Equal parts calming and provocative–and with some quasi-blues under the surface of “Not Necessarily Stoned” that correlate to this straightforward arrangement of the traditional “John Brown’s Body”– Will Bernard and Beth Custer’s empathetic, deceptively unassuming connection(s) on Sky simultaneously whet the appetite for more even as they satisfy to the fullest.