{"id":10557,"date":"2025-06-02T03:45:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T08:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=10557"},"modified":"2025-06-02T07:45:15","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T12:45:15","slug":"review-ches-smith-clone-row","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/review-ches-smith-clone-row\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Ches Smith&#8217;s &#8216;Clone Row&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>One never knows where drummer-composer Ches Smith\u2019s muse will take him next. From the Haitian voudou of <em>We All Break: Path of Seven Colors <\/em>(Pyroclastic, 2021)<em> <\/em>to the uncategorizable mash-ups of <em><a href=\"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/broken-trance-ches-smith-laugh-ash\/\">Laugh Ash<\/a><\/em> (Pyroclastic, 2024) to inventive trio albums with violist Mat Maneri and Craig Taborn to whatever else strikes his fancy, Smith is there. He has collaborated with Marc Ribot, Tim Berne, John Zorn, Bill Frisell, Nels Cline, Darius Jones, James Brandon Lewis, Vijay Iyer, and so many more that it will make your eyes glaze over. Now, the percussionist brings us <em>Clone<\/em> <em>Row <\/em>(Otherly Love, 2025), a two-guitar project featuring Mary Halvorson and Liberty Ellman with Nick Dunston on bass. While this project may, in the abstract, sound quite different from his previous work, those quirky electronic elements and unexpected twists and turns are still present, albeit with far less instrumentation than we are accustomed to. Check that, Smith made a fabulous one-guitar <a href=\"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/open-interpretation-ches-smith\/\">record with Bill Frisell joining his trio on <em>Interpret It Well<\/em><\/a><em> <\/em>(Pyroclastic, 2022)<em>,<\/em> where he primarily played vibes. Yet, this two-guitar project with Halvorson in the right channel and Ellman in the left is quite different than that one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Marc Ribot wrote in the album&#8217;s liner notes, <em>\u201cThis definitely ain\u2019t your father\u2019s guitar band. It\u2019s as if I\u2019m hearing a Jim Hall concert in which one of us did a lot of mushrooms, or&#8230; some post-punk Dave Brubeck post-trip-hop experiment with classical form.\u201d&nbsp; <\/em>The title is a play on \u201ctone row,\u201d the restrictive compositional method made famous by Arnold Schoenberg. While only the title track was actually built on a twelve-tone row, the altered name fits well with Smith\u2019s adventurous imagination. All four members of the quartet are composers. Halvorson sits atop the creative music scene in terms of guitarists. Ellman has played with the likes of Henry Threadgill, Wadada Leo Smith, Steve Coleman, Myra Melford, and Vijay Iyer. Dunston is a member of Halvorson\u2019s Amaryllis Sextet and plays with Smith in <em>We All Break<\/em>. Ribot also attests that Dunston is his favorite bassist of the new generation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"120\" style=\"position: relative; display: block; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/v=2\/track=3953573805\/album=3655601468\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/artwork=small\/\" allowtransparency=\"true\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is more than just the two-guitar duality happening here. There are acoustic\/electronic parallels with Smith using a regular kit and drum machines, Dunston using a standup bass and a synth bass, and the two rhythm mates sharing a batch of samples they use either in complementary or contrary fashion, setting up echo effects and wild dissonance. Smith calls it relatively simple, but most listeners would vehemently disagree. Each piece was built around a different concept for guitar interaction. There are unison passages, contrapuntal sequences, feisty conversations, and plain weirdness as we witness two of the most imaginative guitarists playing \u2018out.\u2019 Couple that with the leader\u2019s zany compositional approach, which is the real star here, and you have another very unique Smith project. One where close listening reveals aspects of his eclectic previous works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.premierguitar.com\/artists\/jazz-innovator-liberty-ellman\"><em>Premier Guitar<\/em> says about Ellman<\/a> that \u201c<em>his surprising choices of intervals and his penchant for evocative and unusual chords, not to mention his judicious application of overdrive and delay, he\u2019s somewhat of an iconoclast. What\u2019s more, his impossibly clean technique would be the envy of even the fiercest shredder.\u201d<\/em> Halvorson\u2019s approach is best described as being built on percussive picking and her expert use of pedals &#8211; distortion and pitch shifting &#8211; and loops. Her style is primarily jagged and off-kilter, and she often uses a string-skipping technique to create unusual harmonics and textures.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Listen for the two different guitars over the bass-drum tandem steady groove of the opener \u201cReady Beat\u201d with the electronics weaving in and out, sometimes functioning as a ghost-like keyboard. It may well be the most straightforward tune in the program. These ears are even hearing aspects of his Voudou drumming from <em>We All Break<\/em>, although that becomes even more apparent in \u201cHeart Breakthrough.&#8221; The fusion-like collective interplay of \u201dAbrade With Me\u201d makes use of suspended chords from both guitarists, a monstrous bass solo from Dunston, and Smith\u2019s creative mashing of electronics with percussion. As mentioned, the title track adheres loosely to the concept of the twelve-tone row, with Smith\u2019s vibes interacting in a friendly way with the two guitarists, who, on the other hand, seem intent on sparring with each other. However, they come together as if to reconcile toward the end, where electronics are thrown in to make such a reconciliation somewhat awkward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"120\" style=\"position: relative; display: block; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/v=2\/track=3669194215\/album=3655601468\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/artwork=small\/\" allowtransparency=\"true\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More improvisation takes hold in \u201cTown Down,\u201d with glimpses of Halvorson\u2019s superb guitar tone married with pedal randomness and \u2018noise\u2019 while Ellman opts more for distortion. \u201cHeart Breakthrough,\u201d has Smith evoking some polyrhythms we may associate with We All Break while the guitars surf above before morphing into labyrinthine journeys. \u201cSustained Nightmare\u201d is the shortest piece, and as the title suggests, rubato is at play in the beginning. Smith applies an emphatic, steady beat to the tune, punctuated with electronics, dissonance, and unsettled guitar work. Closer \u201cPlay Bell (for Nick)\u2019 is naturally a feature for the bassist without any overt solo, however, while filled with electronics, sustained guitar tones, and tons of tension.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ches Smith proves once again that he is one of the most important visionaries of these times while displaying the talents of each member of this elite quartet.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Ches Smith\u2019s \u2018Clone Row\u2019 will be released on Otherly Love Records on June 6, 2025. It can be <a href=\"https:\/\/chessmith.bandcamp.com\/album\/clone-row\">purchased on Bandcamp. <\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Photo credit: Chase Pierson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One never knows where drummer-composer Ches Smith\u2019s muse will take him next. From the Haitian voudou of We All Break: Path of Seven Colors (Pyroclastic, 2021) to the uncategorizable mash-ups of Laugh Ash (Pyroclastic, 2024) to inventive trio albums with violist Mat Maneri and Craig Taborn to whatever else strikes his fancy, Smith is there. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":10558,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"iawp_total_views":484,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Credit_Chase-Pierson_FOR03806-ARW_DxO_DeepPRIME-copy-2.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/peRkRR-2Kh","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12000,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/review-dream-archives-craig-taborn\/","url_meta":{"origin":10557,"position":0},"title":"Review: Craig Taborn\u2019s \u2018Dream Archives\u2019","author":"Jim Hynes","date":"January 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The first release by Craig Taborn since being named a MacArthur Fellow in late 2025, Dream Archives (ECM, 2026) finds the pianist\/composer leading an unusual trio with noted cellist Tomeka Reid and in-demand drummer-vibraphonist Ches Smith. All three are acclaimed bandleaders in their own right, with Reid having an extensive\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Album Reviews&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Album Reviews","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/img_3839.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/img_3839.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/img_3839.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/img_3839.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7702,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/broken-trance-ches-smith-laugh-ash\/","url_meta":{"origin":10557,"position":1},"title":"Broken Trance: A Conversation with Ches Smith on \u2018Laugh Ash\u2019","author":"Rob Shepherd","date":"January 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"As Arnold Schoenberg once noted, \u201cIntelligibility in music seems to be impossible without repetition.\u201d Repetition is a shared facet of all music. And it seems an attraction to repetition is an innately human response. Repetition transcends style. Repetition transcends culture. Repetition transcends era. But things are not exactly as they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Interviews&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Interviews","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/interviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_7522.jpeg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_7522.jpeg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_7522.jpeg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_7522.jpeg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4460,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/open-interpretation-ches-smith\/","url_meta":{"origin":10557,"position":2},"title":"Open to Interpretation: A Conversation with Ches Smith","author":"Rob Shepherd","date":"May 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"People often start down the path of better understanding and appreciating art by emphasizing an artist's intent. While a valid line of inquiry, this focus on artistic objectives is also flawed. Too often, the interpreter's personal biases predominate the analysis. Ultimately, subjectivity is an inescapable part of every artistic study.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Interviews&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Interviews","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/interviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Taborn_Frisell_Smith_Maneri_photo_by_Kesler_Pierre-1.jpg?fit=750%2C499&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Taborn_Frisell_Smith_Maneri_photo_by_Kesler_Pierre-1.jpg?fit=750%2C499&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Taborn_Frisell_Smith_Maneri_photo_by_Kesler_Pierre-1.jpg?fit=750%2C499&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Taborn_Frisell_Smith_Maneri_photo_by_Kesler_Pierre-1.jpg?fit=750%2C499&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11651,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/best-2025\/","url_meta":{"origin":10557,"position":3},"title":"PostGenre&#8217;s Best of 2025","author":"PostGenre Writing Staff","date":"December 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Deeming any album the \"best\" of a given year is inherently fraught with problems. First, there are the logistical issues. Generally, thousands of recordings are released annually. Given that a year has only 8,760 hours, it is logistically impossible to listen to everything. Often, classifications can help limit the scope.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Best of Lists&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Best of Lists","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/lists-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/img_2649.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/img_2649.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/img_2649.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/img_2649.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2833,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/ceramic-dog-hope\/","url_meta":{"origin":10557,"position":4},"title":"Review: Marc Ribot&#8217;s Ceramic Dog&#8217;s &#8216;Hope&#8217;","author":"Rob Shepherd","date":"June 23, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Nobel physicist Erwin Schr\u00f6dinger once noted that \u201c[i]f a man never contradicts himself, the reason must be that he virtually never says anything at all.\u201d Perhaps no finer quote could describe Ceramic Dog\u2019s Hope (Northern Spy, 2021), a recording full of paradoxes.\u00a0 Approaching the album from afar, one sees an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Album Reviews&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Album Reviews","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/20210315_CeramicDog_EbruYildiz_41.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/20210315_CeramicDog_EbruYildiz_41.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/20210315_CeramicDog_EbruYildiz_41.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/20210315_CeramicDog_EbruYildiz_41.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11291,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/kiwanuka-review-brennan-near-far\/","url_meta":{"origin":10557,"position":5},"title":"Review: Patricia Brennan\u2019s \u2018Of the Near and Far\u2019","author":"Brian Kiwanuka","date":"September 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A fierce expansion on the percussive focus of More Touch (Pyroclastic Records, 2022) and the addition of intricate saxophone parts made Breaking Stretch (Pyroclastic Records, 2024) a bold step forward for vibraphonist Patricia Brennan. The progression from More Touch\u00a0 to Breaking Stretch sounded natural, but the difference between those albums\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Album Reviews&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Album Reviews","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/img_1532.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/img_1532.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/img_1532.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/img_1532.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10557"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10564,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10557\/revisions\/10564"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}