Rachel Musson, tenor sax
Noel Taylor, clarinets
Pedro Velasco, guitar
Ansuman Biswas, percussion

 

 

‘Plank’ first played together as a heavily ‘deputised’ version of the Berlin/London band ‘Splatter’ and enjoyed themselves so much they desperately wanted to play again in their own right. So here we are : PLANK !

I think it is fair to say that when Rachel Musson agreed to play at LUME with us, she wasn’t expecting to find herself in an improvising band that sometimes played melodically and would sometimes settle into a groove – albeit for small bursts. The surprise gave way to pleasure as everything clicked together – wonderful detailed percussion, sensitively underpinned with guitar and a fine understanding between Musson and Taylor in the winds. Plank run the full gamut – from coruscating screeching sax, grinding guitar, heavy beats  to seductively mesmerising trance-like rhythms in a miasma of gentle tones. It’s not ‘cute’ or ‘twee’, but hot as a cup of steaming capucino, fresh from the pot.