If granularity were a musical genre, its Olympus would undoubtedly be populated by fellow artists like The Caretaker and William Basinski . It became clear in 2021 that two more places need to be reserved for the New York duo Salenta + Topu. Back then, Salenta Baisden and Topu Lyo set an absolute milestone in this imaginary genre with »Moon Set, Moon Rise«. A piano and cello draw ostinato patterns in the dusty air of an old living room; vignettes influenced by classical music—especially Erik Satie—and the long history of urban jazz. The means used by Salenta + Topu are reduced to a minimum.
Yet out of this aesthetic modesty grows the cosmos in which the duo revels. The tender, sensual songs were recorded on a tape recorder, giving them the granularity that was praised at the beginning. Until now, the two musicians have been hidden behind their work; little is known about them. We took their first performances in Europe—including the one at the Meakusma Festival in Eupen—as an opportunity to shed some light on this darkness.
Salenta, where do you hail from? How did you get into music?
Salenta: I’m originally from Los Angeles. We have a long musical tradition in my family. My mother played the flute, my father Bernard toured the world as a trombonist [author’s note: with the Gap Band, Chaka Khan, Marvin Gaye and others]. My brother plays the trumpet and is a producer and composer.
Topu, how did you get into music and the cello?
Topu: My mother had a vision that I would one day form a piano trio with my two brothers. But while they stopped playing, I continued to study. Then my sister introduced me to Shostakovich and that changed my life. Later, in high school, my girlfriend gave me a cello pickup and I started running the signal through guitar effects.
How did the duo come about, how did you find each other?
Topu: I first met Salenta at a friend’s apartment; she was deejaying. That was in Brooklyn in 2017. A year later we met again at my friend’s place where we got straight into a jam session. We got to talking about music and the rest is history.
You both play instruments with a long history. What do you think about your instrument—and what about the ones that Salenta plays?
Topu: I love the cello because it’s so versatile and multifaceted. It can be melodic or bassy; you can play chords and it generally fits into any musical role.
I love the way Salenta plays piano. It’s a unique, peculiar style that’s full of spirit and fun.
Salenta: The piano has fascinated me since I was six, it was love at first sight. Topu plays the cello like nobody else. I love its tonality and Topu really brings it to life.
»The West is just beginning to understand that there are other moods too.«
Salenta Baisden
Both instruments represent a certain canon of white, Western, male composers. What do you think?
Salenta: Where to start? »Moon Set, Moon Rise« was recorded on a spinet that hadn’t been tuned in 40 years. This gave it a microtonal sound that was more reminiscent of Asian moods to which we both immediately connected. The West is just beginning to understand that there are other moods as well. I see our project as an attempt to recontextualise classical music, jazz and improv. To do that, we play as freely as we can, to the point where the technique is just a vehicle for something else.
You play as a duo and do without drums as the classical rhythmical instrument. Is your music an alternative to the current beat dogma?
Topu: Our music is beat music! We both play very percussive!y! We’re are directly influenced by the sample culture, by beat making, 404, MPC, 303 and so on.
Did any instructions for playing come in the box or did you improvise right from scratch?
Topu: We only discussed one song as a reference: »Have You Met Miss Jones« by Rodgers/Hart. We kind of sampled that for »I Have Met Miss Jones«.
You’re currently touring Europe for the first time. How are you managing to translate your unique aesthetic and sound when playing live?
Salenta: It’s actually impossible to play the record live. We can’t take the spinet on tour and there’s no way to recreate the same microtonal tuning. But what is possible is to play in the spirit of the album, in the spirit that makes our music what it is.
