Jess Tsang is a percussionist, cultural organizer, and researcher dedicated to the creation of new interdisciplinary works. Most recently the percussionist for the Tony Award-winning musical, Illinoise, she has performed internationally in five continents and released sound shadows, her debut album for amplified bass drum, feedback, and objects, in 2021. As a member of cultural arts collective Found Sound Nation, Jess works to develop creative exchange programs for artists and communities.
Theme: Noticing and Noticing More
Hi, my name is Jess Tsang – I’m a percussionist based in Brooklyn, New York.
My playlist is very long. Drone music isn’t short, and some of my favorite drone albums and artists create and think in half hour to hour long increments. But that’s the thing, isn’t it – drone stretches our perception of time, changing the way our brains understand the world through repetition and subtle, gradual change. American cartoonist Lynda Barry, who’s one of my biggest inspirations and favorite living artists, always refers back to the phrase “noticing and noticing more”, which is the title of my playlist – when we really pay attention, what emerges?
I play a bass drum with feedback running through it, using found objects to augment and alter the beating patterns of the feedback drone. Most of the artists on this playlist are dear friends, and have drastically altered my understanding of music, particularly drone music, in some way.
I met many of these artists through my work with cultural arts collective Found Sound Nation. We’re a small organization based in New York, and we have created musical residencies for more than a decade. Yara, Basak, Zosha, Ben, Lester, Chris Williams, and I have all worked with FSN, and I’m very grateful to know all of them and name them as influences and inspirations. I hope you enjoy!
it’s always october on sunday by Yara Asmar
Yara Asmar is one of my favorite artists and an absolute master of the weird drone – this track off that opens her first record is laden with broken and stuttering music-box type interludes surrounded by lush electronic beds. Home Recordings makes me feel nostalgic for memories I don’t have. This is sonic object storytelling at its finest – never forced, consistently compelling.
Watching Paris, Texas for the First Time on a Laptop / Self Portrait in Smoke by Ben Seretan
Do you know about Ben Seretan’s masterpiece of a 24-hour-long record, 48 tracks clocking in at a clean 30 minutes each? It’s a functional, insanely beautiful timekeeper, like an hourglass I saw yesterday filled with bubbles instead of sand. I think I have listened to this record in more countries than I can count on my hands. Every time, it surprises me, and every time I find a new favorite.
nNami by FUJI||||||||||TA
I had the good fortune of performing at the 24-Hour Drone at Basilica Hudson in 2023, which meant I got to experience the magic of FUJI||||||||||TA’s organ at the break of dawn for several hours. I am bewildered by the innovation, versatility, and musicality of this instrument, and his playing of it. These records are wonderful but pale in comparison to the power of his live performance.
CD 1 by Marginal Consort
Marginal Consort are a Japanese collective improvisation group who generally play 1 show a year. At the insistence of Sarah Hennies, I caught their show at Zebulon in 2018 and had my brain rearranged. Their performances are a masterclass in active listening – you can hear their shared understanding of each other’s musical worlds, an understanding that only comes with 30+ years of playing together.
“Beach” by HxH
Any sound that comes out of HxH, the duo of Lester St. Louis and Chris Williams is bound to be one worth listening to, but “BEACH”, from their newest record STARK PHENOMENA, is a standout to me. The wash and the waves feel soothing and somehow brand-new, a cradle of sound, an oceanic warmth.
5 by Lê Quan Ninh
As a bass drum and object player, someone brings up Lê Quan Ninh to me every few months, and rightfully so – he’s a compelling improviser who’s been performing with bass drums, found objects, and techniques of his own invention since the 80s. There’s a measured stillness in his playing that I admire, and the balance between stillness and rumble in this particular improvisation feels like he’s breathing through his instruments, encouraging the listener to do the same.
first light by Zosha Warpeha
While I feel very fortunate to have collaborated with Zosha Warpeha a number of times, I’m almost happier to hear her as an audience member. Soaking in the richness of her instrument, the 10-string Hardanger fiddle, feels like a gift she’s entrusting to us. first light flows between declarative and whispering with natural ease.
Foraging by Başak Günak
Başak Günak, also known as acclaimed electronic musician Ah! Kosmos, has crafted an album themed around foraging and decay with Rewilding. Drawing from her own sound art and sound installations to craft pieces that evoke the reverberance of caves and the murky blur of swamps, what emerges is an otherworldly language all her own.
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