Brooklyn duo Buke and Gase performed at 291 Grand Grand St Wednesday in New York City. The evening sponsored by Gavin Brown’s enterprise is presented in conjunction with artist Christopher Knowles exhibition C12 Large Typings. The venue is carpeted and the audience actually sit on the ground to watch the performance. This is great if you’ve been on your feet all day, but just don’t wear a short skirt.
Buke and Gase comprised of only Arone Dyer and Aron Sanchez create their sound by multitasking on their handmade instruments. I can’t actually describe their music but what they produce is full, vibrant, deep and unusual, as well as rhythmical, all made through a breeding of bi-instrumental devices which include the guitar-base ‘gase’, the toe-bourine, and a six string baritone ukelele ‘buke’. But don’t assume with all these nifty gadgets, that it was just all about the experimentation in the instruments as you were well aware that the instruments, as beautifully powerful as they sounded, were just the supporting characters to Dyer’s much needed vocals.
By the end of their set, legs were getting restless and bums were getting sore, as a few in the audience got up to start dancing. For the finale, Dyer ordered the whole room to get up and start dancing, to which, thankfully with tingling feet, the room obliged. Buke and Gase are worth seeing live just for the workmanship alone. Buke and Gase have a couple more U.S. sets, then it’s off to Europe for them.
Opening up was Empyrean Atlas, a five piece instrumental from Brooklyn. I think they were hit or miss for me. I was mesmerized by the guitar fingering and I loved the gradual layering of each guitars, but after a while, I wanted to hear vocals.
Photos: 2015 © Tear-n Tan. All Rights Reserved.
Buke and Gase
Empyrean Atlas 
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