Danny Paul Grody Duo: Arc of Night

Over the past decade, Danny Paul Grody’s floaty guitar sketches have imbued the kind of hope one often loses in this world.

Radiating a similar warmth to his native San Francisco, Grody’s 2023 LP, Arc of Day, saw the experimental guitarist scouring new frontiers in the way of collaboration. Joined by former bandmates, bassist Trevor Montgomery (also of Tarentel and The Drift) and percussionist Rich Douthit (The Drift), alongside pedal steel maestro, Chuck Johnson and clarinetist Jonathan Sielaff, the ensemble carved out one of the year’s most charming releases.

Now billed as the Danny Paul Grody Duo alongside Douthit, the pair return with Arc of Day’s sibling piece, Arc of Night. With Montgomery and Johnson returning throughout, Arc of Night sees the collective explore new dimensions, providing a stellar contrast to its predecessor.

Like Arc of Day, Douthit’s sparse percussion – largely informed by the jazz greats – elevates these songs into a new stratosphere, recapturing the majesty of the work he and Grody accomplished in The Drift. It’s an electric synergy, and on Arc of Night the pull gets stronger the deeper you go.

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As the title suggests, there’s different energy that Arc of Night feeds off in comparison with its older sibling. An album for the AM, where time to examine and draw up plans to navigate life’s challenges are better devised during the late hours. Perhaps there’s no better soundtrack to these moments than what Grody and Douthit have created here.

Kicking off with Last Light, a languid composition that sets off towards the dark corners of night, it’s not long before we arrive there with Hawk Hill. With the addition of Montgomery on electric bass, Hawk Hill echoes those transcendental moments that all three musicians have captured together at regular intervals throughout their career.

Meanwhile, Grody’s spidery arrangements and Douthit’s fractured rhythms on Clearing form as ominous clouds that rumble over a late-night jazz club. It’s only fleeting, as the pair deliver the contrasting Dream (of Night) – a calming interlude with chimes and slow atmospheric build-ups that tap into a similar world Ex-Easter Island Head have explored over the years.

Meanwhile, Cloud Forest is piece that mirrors its appellation: brooding minimalism that continues to excavate further down the emotional well. It sets the scene for the first of two epics that close the curtain on Arc of Night. Coyote Valley at Dusk sees Grody and Douthit twisting and turning through the perilous terrains of the song’s namesake. With Grody’s rich guitar echoes and Douthit nimble drum fills, the pair pull together the best parts from the preceding four compositions for something truly majestic.

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Then there’s Moon Garden. Zeroing in on the conceptual aspects of the Arc of Night, the resonance of Johnson’s pedal steel alongside Douthit’s symbol washes and Grody’s meandering riffs create an atmosphere swallowed up by darkness.

Shaping the appropriate atmospheres and emotions through the lens of experimentation has been a facet where Grody hasn’t received the credit he deserves. His ability to weave darkness and euphoria through sound has been a constant soundtrack indicative of life’s ups and downs.

Between the two releases, Grody has captured this better than ever, and to coincide with the summer solstice, he and his ensemble have delivered a constellation of grandeur and high-watermark musicianship. In the case of Arc of Night, one could argue that it reaches further than its older sibling.

Arc of Night is out via Three Lobed Recordings. Purchase from Bandcamp.