Some Other Dimensions In Yo La Tengo

In researching my Yo La Tengo’s Guitar Sculptures piece for Aquarium Drunkard, I came across a previously unknown project to me while reading Big Day Coming: Yo La Tengo and the Rise of Indie Rock by Jesse Jarnow. Between 1999 and 2003, there was a series of collaborations between Yo La Tengo and the free jazz group Other Dimensions in Music. Though only a limited number of recordings have been released from this alliance, they represent a fascinating thread of sonic exploration, especially for Yo La Tengo.

According to Jarnow, the partnership began as a suggestion by Steve Joerg, founder of AUM Fidelity. On January 27, 1999, Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley, and James McNew entered the studio with the horn section of Other Dimensions in Music — Roy Campbell Jr. on trumpet, Daniel Carter playing alto saxophone, and Sabir Mateen on tenor saxophone. Also joining them was Sue Garner, a solo artist, previous member of the band Run On, and an old friend of the members of Yo La Tengo.

The collective assembled that day released two individual 7″ sleeves, sold as a pair under the moniker, Some Other Dimensions in Yo La Tengo. Two recordings are featured on the release, cut into four different tracks. The first is “Excalibur 2001 (Parts 1 and 2)”:

The track begins with an insistent organ riff played by Kaplan and tapping from different percussion instruments to create an instantaneously catchy groove. Hubley is on drums joined by Garner on tambourine and McNew on snare and crash cymbal. There’s no bass, despite McNew and Garner both being excellent bass players and the visionary William Parker — Other Dimensions in Music’s regular bass player — not in attendance. The organ part provides the bottom end for the recording.

The horn section enters, playing a line made up of descending notes and then ending with a little fanfare. At this point, the music is much more groove-based than the free jazz of Other Dimensions in Music. The horn part — combined with the organ and percussion — could be the whole song, a fun little instrumental number that’s over after a couple of minutes. But that’s not the plan. The horns soon begin to diverge from the original part marking the beginning of the insurgency. Chaos takes over as Campbell, Carter, and Mateen play freely, over and around each other and the consistent rhythm section. Many horns can be heard so it’s fair to assume that additional horn flights into the stratosphere have been overdubbed into the mix. Soon, the drumming intensity increases, and the percussion players also begin diverging from their foundation. Kaplan’s organ also deviates from its regular riff. There’s chaos on top of chaos on top of even more chaos. The center cannot hold because there’s no center. The recording continues on the flip side of the record and the organ has become more prominent with Kaplan playing a more traditional organ part rather than simply being a substitute for the bass. There’s a percussion break before the organ returns to its original riff and the main groove resumes. Each of the horns play a series of long, descending wails. The group builds to a crescendo with a mass of noise and then comes to a sudden stop.

The second recording released on Some Other Dimensions in Yo La Tengo is titled “NOW 2000 (Parts 1 and 2).” The name is obviously a riff on Now!, Other Dimensions in Music’s album from the year before. 

“NOW 2000” follows the same pattern as “Excalibur 2001” as the drums and percussion open the track, Kaplan plays a riff on the organ establishing a groove, and the horns enter with a pre-written part. Kaplan’s organ riff is much more exotic in “NOW 2000” than in the previous recording, and it is matched by the beguiling beauty of the horns. This music sounds like Duke Ellington from Mars. The horns begin new variations almost immediately as the tumult of the song increases. An overdubbed organ is introduced, adding more turmoil to the proceedings. Suddenly, both organ parts stop as the recording arrives at the flip in the record. In “Part 2,” the horns and percussion play together before the organ comes back, playing long, sustained notes as if Kaplan is sitting on the keys. The band generates waves of sound that build to an ecstatic state of pure noise. Mateen’s sax is especially powerful and alluring. Then, everything falls away except for the percussion. This break is extended and longer than “Excalibur 2001.” The organ eventually resumes the original riff and the horns re-enter. Finally, the ensemble works to a big ending with the horns and organ holding notes as long as possible. 

In a 2003 interview, McNew reflected on what it was like to collaborate with Other Dimensions in Music:

“It was an amazing experience to play with these guys that we didn’t know personally who were absolute monster, champion musicians. It was intimidating until we started, and then we learned right away that they just weren’t interested in whether we could play scales… They were just interested in the feeling of the music and what was happening right then and there, in the moment. It was a real revelation.”

Yo La Tengo would go on to perform three times in concert with the horn section from Other Dimensions in Music. The first was at the Matador 10th anniversary show at Irving Plaza in New York on September 25, 1999. The setlist that night was made up of Yo La Tengo’s most well-known songs as well as a performance listed only as “Instrumental Jam with Horns.” Next, the Other Dimensions in Music joined Yo La Tengo onstage at the 2001 Vision Festival in New York. Kaplan marked the collaboration in his online diary, stating that their performance was entirely instrumental besides a cover of “You Can Have It All.” Lastly, Yo La Tengo’s website noted that on November 30, 2002, Mateen, Campbell, and Parker sat in for a set, which tantalizingly included a cover of the Velvet Underground’s “Venus in Furs.” Unfortunately, no video or audio recording of any of these performances has emerged.

The culmination of the two bands’ series of collaborations was Yo La Tengo’s 2003 release Summer Sun. In a 2009 interview, Kaplan detailed the differences between the music on the Some Other Dimensions recordings and Summer Sun:

“We’d written this song…that we called ‘Now 2000,’ which was clearly a Sun Ra rip-off. (laughter) We were curious what it would sound like if we had real jazz musicians playing with us on it. Those songs were much more jazzy than this record. It was more of a genre piece. We didn’t know they were gonna play on Summer Sun. Everything was recorded in Nashville. They came to a New York mixing session and did a bunch of recording.”

Or as Kaplan put it in a different interview, “We just kept throwing different songs at them.” All members of Other Dimensions in Music contribute dreamy background wooziness on “Beach Party Tonight” and “Don’t Have To Be So Sad.” These tunes reflect the overall vibe of the album: mellow, thoughtful, contemplative. The jazz musicians’ most prominent appearance on Summer Sun is the penultimate track, “Let’s Be Still”:

The title of the song may be a tip of the hat to Sue Garner, who played on the original Some Other Dimensions recordings. The same year as that session, Garner released an album Still with her husband Rick Brown and more than a few of the songs are reminiscent of Yo La Tengo’s sound. Lasting more than 10 minutes and staying on a single chord, “Let’s Be Still” features Carter and Mateen both playing flute, while Campbell and Parker are on their regular instruments.

The track begins with the bleeps and bloops of atmospheric keyboards, which lead to a perfect groove foundation set by the bass and drum. Soon, the main piano riff begins backed by guitar loops and the gorgeous, hazy swirl by the trumpet and flutes. Eventually, Hubley and Kaplan’s vocals enter, sounding as if they are underwater. The lyrics tell a story of the bittersweet and poignant emotions that come with an abiding love, as they sing, “Lose our way and sit side by side / Passing time so carelessly” and “Time goes by unendingly.” At one point, the words “You start to cry” can be heard, and it’s heartbreaking.

In between the vocals, different instruments move in and out of the mix, some more conspicuous than others. This shifting sound has a narcotic effect as if the only concern in the world could be floating in a pool or watching gently, flowing water. The theme of time in the lyrics aligns with the length of “Let’s Be Still” as the song is only about 10 minutes, but by all rights should be at least 45 minutes long. The company decides that the recording does in fact have to conclude as one of the flutes freaks out, while a clanging sound is heard in the background. The guitar, drums, and bass finish playing to allow the trumpet, flutes, and the other musical atmospherics to properly end the song. 

In Big Day Coming, Mateen described playing with Yo La Tengo:

“It’s like going to another city…The music is pure and good and sincere. There’s no difference [between it and jazz], except rhythmically.”

The series of recordings made by Yo La Tengo and Other Dimensions in Music is indeed its own city, one that’s separate from the municipalities regularly governed by the participants. Before this collaboration, Yo La Tengo certainly demonstrated the ability to set the controls for the heart of the sun and get weird, but their music rarely achieved the level of freedom as represented in the two recordings on Some Other Dimensions in Yo La Tengo. Not only do those tracks capture the sound of musicians having an absolute blast making music together, but they set a high water mark of what Yo La Tengo could do within their music.