The duo met in 2001 when Derek Bailey suggested that Zach hook up with Davies when he was visiting London with his trio TRI-DIM. They have since played together in many groups including; No Spaghetti Edition, Muta (with Alessandra Rombola) and in a trio with Evan Parker.
“There are few harpists approaching their instruments in the moment, but even within this small group of improvising free thinkers, Rhodri Davies is quite distinct. He uses an extended battery of techniques to further his sound, preparing his instrument, detuning, bowing and e-bowing strings and mic’ing the sound board to produce both clipped precise notes of minimal detail and also otherwordly glistening drones, rich with sustained metallic timbres that breathe with the scraped pulse of bowed metal.
Zach, who’s set with John Butcher was one of the highlights of Instal 04, is one of the most distinctive and impressive percussionists to break cover in recent years. He has a particular bent for sounding his kit without conventional attack, utilizing fans, shavers and wind-up toys to blur the edges of his sound, muffling the references to his kit while mixing in judicious us eof an Indian sruti box, small bells or singing bowls. In the right situation though, he’s totally capable of letting loose direct, walloping rhythmic pulses.”
instal programme notes, 2005
“Both Davies and Zach have had their feet planted in the ever-fertile soil of the European free music scene for some time now and over the years they’ve both delivered some beautiful brain-scrambling documents of speed-of-thought assemblage, especially when they’ve been paired with arch-thinker Derek Bailey, but this 2002 recording has to got to be the most beautifully inspired work from either of their fingers to date. Rhodri Davies is one of the world’s few improvising harpists but his approach is a world away from the overdriven drama of Zeena Parkins. Here he triggers slow-burning lines of drone that are as woozy and deep as a blanket of warm snow. Drummer Zach holds back on any kind of rhythmic strategy, instead focussing on triggering buzzes, clicks and tones from various wind-up/electronic gadgets, bowls and percussive devices and together the two generate the kind of seamless cloud-void that you’d more immediately associate with the lost-in space style of early Taj Mahal Travellers. Over on the flip things get a little tauter, with Davies launching the kind of pinched notes that bring to mind Kazuo Imai’s nylon string guitar work and Zach responds with some windmill drum patterns. This is a beauty and Emanuele Pinotti reckons this is the best album he’s released on Qbico to date. Highly recommended. Comes on sick psychedelic vinyl and is limited.”
volcanic tongue of ieirll
rhodri davies and ingar zach: ieirll (lp qubico 31, 2002)