Elkhorn & Mike Gangloff

I do love it when a couple of favorites cross paths and this latest from Elkhorn and Mike Gangloff (Eight Point Star, The Black Twig Pickers) combines the prowess of both artists into a gorgeous tapestry of folk and Appalachian roots. The set was recorded live at 2223 Fish, Philadelphia on a recent tour that Gangloff and the band wound around the East coast last summer. Split into two long-form improvisations, the record turns down a bit of Elkhorn’s electric singe for an earthier glow. Elkhorn, however, remain masters of circular patterns, embroidering the air with intricate dips and swirls. Played against Gangloff’s fiddle, the songs wrap around American folk traditions, splashing themselves with mountain mud before stretching towards something a bit more exploratory — hinting at threads of Träd, Gräs, Düül, & Vuh.

Much of the latter comes to light on the second side, as the trio arcs out of the dust of “East Dauphin Sweet,” and into the slight drone and daylight splendor of “Summerfield Raga.” Here Gangloff’s fiddle turns from its task of stippling the soul to opening up a deep meditative mood behind Jesse and Drew’s guitars. Times like these I’m glad folks are keeping the tapes running as this could have just as easily bounced off the walls of Fish and been lost forever, but wrapped up in an engrossing print from Jake Blanchard (who’s become something of a signature for the band these days) the set becomes an indispensable part of the band’s catalog. Long live the tapers, the capturers of light.