by mel minter
ABQ’S THRIVING LOCAL MUSIC SCENE
DIFFERENT STROKES ON THE FLY
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Micah Hood, left, and Jefferson Voorhees, right, make up the duo DogBone.
hees says, “I mainly explain it by what isn’t there. There’s not even an inkling of competition or ego, and therefore no need to think. To say the word ‘react’ is not really accurate because it gets so simultaneous.” The key for both is listening with open ears and heart. Then, reviewing the recordings, they “find those spots that really groove or say something,” says Hood. “That kind of teases out the nuggets.” Those nuggets might stand as individual pieces or be combined into a single piece. Then, Hood applies his music production skills—he runs the Music and Sound Technology lab at UNM—to maximize the sonic quality of that material. Voorhees calls him an audio genius. “He took those and massaged them and worked them and did all this magic that I don’t know anything about because I’m a cyber idiot,” he says. The duo is quick to point out, though, that all the sounds heard on the recordings were created in the sessions, not in postproduction. The two have released three recordings on Bandcamp, the first in June 2019, fol-
lowed by two more a year later (another is on the way). When Tom Guralnick, executive director of Outpost Performance Space, happened to hear some of the music playing in the background at Voorhees’s place, he was intrigued and asked who they were listening to. That led to an invitation to perform at the Outpost. “Without knowing it at all, what we were essentially doing was rehearsing for the Outpost gig we didn’t know we had,” says Voorhees. The duo’s 2021 concert at the Outpost earned them an extended standing ovation from the audience. The two would love to perform live more often, though they recognize they will attract a niche audience. They’d also love an opportunity to improvise a score to film clips. You can check out their work and reach out to them on both Bandcamp and Facebook (dogboneabq).
FINGERTIP ORCHESTRA Terry Burns, a native of Clovis, started playing bass on December 25 at the age of 13. His parents had gifted him with an
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hen drummer/percussionist Jefferson Voorhees and bassist Maren Hatch first met at a gig, they had no idea that it would lead to a new and adventurous musical project. Voorhees, well-known in these parts for his work with Wagogo, Pray for Brain, and other ventures, and Hatch, best known for her work with Entourage Jazz, found that they had a nice musical fit, and they started getting together to jam at Voorhees’s place on a regular basis. “She’s a monster,” says Voorhees. Hatch thought that Micah Hood (trombone, flutes, electronics, and percussion), a member of Baracutanga and Entourage Jazz, might make a nice addition and invited him to join them one day. That was the start of the trio DogBone, whose name was inspired by the trio’s dogs, who attended the sessions. Jamming on standards and occasionally creating freely improvised music, they played more for pure pleasure than for any commercial intentions. When Hatch had to drop out to fulfill her commitment at Sandia Labs, Voorhees and Hood decided to continue as a duo, though Voorhees notes that “we will play with her anytime that she’s available.” Still, her absence “forced us into a different creative space,” says Hood. Rehearsing together once a week, the duo found that they share a deep correspondence that expresses itself almost effortlessly in music created purely by improvisation, which they record using fairly basic equipment. When they meet, they simply sit down, press record, and play for 30 or 40 minutes with no predetermined agenda. They describe the sessions as almost spiritual exercises in remaining “present” and available to one another. What’s remarkable about the music is how closely connected they are, flying by the seat of their pants and offering uncanny complements to what each other might be playing at any moment. Asked to describe how this correspondence happens, Voor-
