The El Goose Times Volume 12 - On Cotter and Improvisation
Read in this tour's issue of the EGT!
Instead of my usual tour recaps for the “Depths of Space” column, I opted to put together a piece on how Goose’s improvisation has evolved across 2024 - looking at the arc of not just how the lineup change has affected the music, but the growth of each individual member as well.
Read in volume 12 of the El Goose Times - available at merch stands this tour while supplies last!
One of the greatest things that has happened with Goose in 2024 has been the leaps forward in how they jam. While the whole band has been energized since Cotter joined – something evident at every single show they’ve played so far – it’s astonishing to listen for the maturity and expansion in their improvisational palette in such a short amount of time.
The real key has been the uptick in full-band egalitarian jamming, which happens when it doesn’t sound like just one member is leading – all five musicians on stage working on a theme collectively, each one making up an equal part of a single improvisational brain.
In the past, many of Goose’s jams were either led by Rick or Peter, sometimes handing off to each other after a segment to let the other produce the next idea in a leadership role. There were some that broke through to the full-band mode – mostly with Peter on guitar (the best of Winter ’22), but the majority stuck to the single-lead.
Enter the band’s early 2024 time in the Chateau. Not only did these sessions help them seamlessly integrate Cotter into their sound, but it also gave Rick and Trevor opportunities to completely reinvent their role in Goose jams. While high-octane guitar peaks are still fairly common (thankfully, because they’re awesome), the days of Rick rushing a peak are long gone, as the band has discovered a new kind of patience.
On the Trevor side of things, he’s escaping from the pocket and playing more melodically and aggressively in both Type I and Type II jams, pushing the rest of the band from the low end in ways we could only have dreamed of in previous years.
Even listening to their first jam of the year in front of a crowd, the Cap “Drive,” saw them lay out and build upon a single idea for several minutes without letting go and putting the foot to the floor too early. As the year has gone on – and especially in September – we heard them put an emphasis on major-key spaces (often referred to as “bliss” jams), but something different than the ones of the past.
As opposed to a traditional upbeat vamp and solo, each foray into similar territory has brought new and exciting elements to the themes, from the pulsating builds of the Mann “Tumble” and SPAC “Pancakes” to the synth-drenched patience of the SPAC “Drive,” the contemplative toggling between tension and release in the Salt Shed “Thatch” and “Dripfield” to the straight hose of the Utah “Zalt” and Carnation “Earthling” – and even the “When The Saints Go Marching In”-inspired spaces of the Raleigh “Pancakes” and Portland “Wysteria.”
Listening to each of these jams in succession will really make you appreciate the development even just from June to now – and that’s just on the lighter side of things. While more infrequent, evil Goose has been rearing its head (and not just in the breakdown of “Big Modern!”) here and there, taking on new forms like the runaway freight train dissonance of the Westville “Rockdale,” going for nearly 15 minutes in a sustained frenzy – this kind of jamming was previously reserved for quick builds like the 3/31/23 “Rosewood.”
There have also been moments of thick, soupy darkness – Peter’s use of OB-6 and now Moog Muse synthesizer have dominated many of these like the Fox “Arrow” and Holmdel “Madhuvan,” but my real favourite (personally, not the best jam per se) might be what the band unleashed during the SPAC “Arrow.”
With Peter hanging back on minimalist synth tones for much of the jam, Cotter, Rick, and Trevor were able to take centre stage with so much momentum and space (thank you, drums) for some raw, dark jamming that has yet to be replicated.
All the jams listed here are, of course, just the tip of the iceberg of the watershed year 2024 has been for Goose, and with a ton more shows to go I have no doubt that they will continue to break new ground as the year finishes – even in the last week of west coast tour, Jeff’s confidence on guitar and contributions to jams have grown, his Bob Weir-like chordal stabs adding a unique flavour to journeys like the LA “Big Modern!” and more.
I frequently have to remind myself that this is still Cotter’s first year with Goose – and if the last months have been any indication, there’s still nowhere to go but up.