By Michael J. West | Published January 2025
There’s a seeming paradox at work on Give Way, the joint debut recording by trumpeter Emily Mikesell and saxophonist Kate Campbell Strauss. The project ostensibly centers on the intimacy of the duo’s friendship and collaboration; yet intimacy is not what we hear, with each player overdubbing themselves into a dense ensemble of horns. Nor is there much spontaneity in these through-composed pieces. The writing was apparently done rather spontaneously, with some improvisation at some point as well, but by the time we receive these six short but multi-layered tracks they’ve been pretty well worked over.
Ignore all that. What Give Way lacks in intimacy and spontaneity it makes up in gorgeousness, pure and simple. Who cares about the mechanics behind the cascading “WWYD” or the lightly contrapuntal “Give Way” when one can simply absorb the exquisite sounds for their own sake? If the intricate, interlocked voicings that vivify “Recipes” weren’t banged out at the spur of the moment, are they less enchanting?
The two players do account for and respond to each other as the pieces progress. Mikesell’s longing, gauzy trumpet melody on the opening “Cloud Castles” is balanced by Campbell Strauss’ call-and-response with herself later in the piece, each musician providing obbligato punctuation for the other. “Quiet Evenings” — which for all its softness nods to the brass-band heritage of the duo’s New Orleans base — is also a product of close listening; trumpet is the lead voice, but it also allows space for the layered saxes to properly undergird it (and indeed provides some support of its own to the reeds).
To be clear, Give Way does create a hunger to hear what these two smart, creative musicians could do in a looser, more extemporaneous setting. That shouldn’t detract from what they accomplish in this one. —Michael J. West
