Dun-Dun Band are a ten-piece ensemble from Toronto assembled by eclectic sound-maker and guitarist Craig Dunsmuir. An associate of the long song maestro Sandro Perri, check the Off World and Glissandro 70 projects from a while back, Dunsmuir has been diligently probing the possibilities of repetitive and juxtaposed rhythms in his work for well over two decades now. Search back to 2012 for his quirky solo release as Kanada 70 ‘Vamp Ire’ and you’ll catch the teasing beginnings of these explorations, brief cycles of tunes and tempos played by hand but resembling loops.
A perennial pivot of his city’s experimental scene, as a DJ, record store sage and performer, Dunsmuir has usually developed his idiosyncratic rhythmic and melodic ideas primarily as a solo endeavour. That was until 2016 and the formation of Dun-Dun Band to widen the scope of his soundscape via a large group dynamic. This unconventional big band was an assemblage of some of Toronto’s finest experimental jazzers: Josh Cole (electric bass), Mike Smith (electric keyboards), Karen Ng (alto saxophone/clarinet), Colin Fisher (tenor saxophone), Brodie West (alto saxophone/clarinet), Ted Crosby (alto saxophone/bass clarinet), Kurt Newman (electric guitar), Jay Anderson (electronic hand percussion) and Blake Howard (congas). Here was a group of players with the improv capacity to weave their own conversations within Dunsmuir’s meshed minimal compositions.
Dun-Dun Band moved diligently from forming to performing crafting their own organic take on systems music but eventually reached the recording studio to make their debut ‘Riff Ref’ EP in 2023 and then the full length ‘Pita Parka, Pt. I: Xam Egdub’ album a year later. Now, seemingly on a roll, they’re releasing another instalment ‘Pita Parka, Pt. II: Nim Egduf’ through the ever- supportive We Are Busy Bodies.
For an album made up of long form instrumentals ‘Pita Parka, Pt. II’ is perhaps surprisingly both approachable and welcoming. Dunsmuir and Dun-Dun Band’s music aims to engage rather than unsettle, to involve the listener rather than transfix. Opener No.3 (No Chess Today) follows that inclusive strategy. Starting with a bright calypso lilt conjured by a lapping pattern from guitar and sax, the conga-led percussive shuffle gently encourages a sway. As the phrases cycle round, the instruments begin to meander care-free, softly chirping sax, lightly bubbling bass and twinkling keys weaving mutual melodies. What follows is well choreographed sequence. Following the intro there’s a brief pause before the second increasingly urgent riff in the medley takes over before the final section, all scurrying note codes and cascades of bantering sax skronks.
When this first track ends you’re struck by the distance the piece has travelled, from a sunny calm to a zone of speed metal abstraction. What the Dun-Dun Band bring to Dunsmuir’s musical ideas is the power to build a narrative and connect segments into a satisfying compositional whole. There’s a continuity to the group’s sound and a binding intuition which gives their collective improvising a natural flow. Equally significant is the range of stylistic associations and ever shifting sensations which this dynamic collective conjure, despite sticking close to those minimalist principles and repetitive structures.
The dazzlingly busy Drizzly dances with overtones of Neu kosmische, Canterbury prog and gnawa. With looping guitar phrases and hand drum taps stepping out in unison, a breathy sax free forms and locates those fluid ethio-jazz tones. Josh Cole’s effervescent bass stands out, building momentum while with the central musical pattern becomes locked into a unifying staccato. Throughout Mike Smith’s Hammond adds a warm resonance, guiding the tune towards its peaceful electric raga resolution.
Long Winter is similarly beguiling and eclectic introducing a new age wistfulness to ‘Pita Parka, Pt. II: Nim Egduf’. The piece’s early pastoral Penguin Café calm gets ruffled by waking activity when the riff system takes over, its bluesy rock guitar plus soul section horn stabs eventually hitting an Africa 70 stride. As the Dun-Dun sax quartet tangle energetically over the heaviest phrases you realise that Dunsmuir and crew have come this distance simply by shifting single notes in a basic pattern. It’s stunning.
As the ethereal album closer Styrofloam drifts away, making mystery from a peel of five bassy notes, there’s a sense that lines are being gently drawn. The ensemble has hinted that ‘Pita Parka, Pt. II: Nim Egduf’ is the final part of the trilogy of releases that began with ‘Riff Ref’, so the question is where does the unit and Craig Dunsmuir go from here. Wherever that is, any destination they arrive at should not be overlooked. The Dun-Dun Band go beyond crafting an intriguing musical exercise, they shape exquisitely realised mood shifting experiences.
Get your copy of ‘‘Pita Parka, Pt. II: Nim Egduf’ by Dun-Dun Band from your local record store or direct from We Are Busy Bodies HERE
