Bassist Devra Hoff has one hell of a resumé, being the rhythm partner for singers Julia Holter, Sharon Van Etten, and Tara Jane O’Neil on the one hand, and for genre-agnostic guitar gods Nels Cline (in his Singers) and Ava Mendoza (in the amazing Mendoza Hoff Revels) on the other. Her latest solo album Baile as Baile puts the focus solely on her own creativity, as her double bass takes center stage, in both solo and overdubbed configurations.
Made over a time of intense introspection and transformation and inspired by Celtic folk music, Hoff uses the bass as an expression of emotion, rather than an instrument with which to show off her skills. There’s a darkness running through “Drawing Down the Moon,” “Triple Goddess Suite,” and the three-part “Plains Song” – a sign of internal struggle that soars through her arco work. But in the second half Hoff turns to traditional Celtic folk songs, and the emotion turns from conflict and sadness to triumph and melancholy. “An Buachaill Caol Dubh,” “The Cuckoo” (both of which guest star O’Neil and Holter on prepared autoharp and harmonium, respectively), and “Taimse Im Choladh” acknowledge the gloom that haunts the fight, but let the tunes’ essential beauty rise above the tide and into the sky.
Hoff turns back to her own pen for “Drawing Down the Sun,” closing the record with a glistening hymn to overcoming the struggle and being present back in the world. Pouring her emotions into her bow and strings, Hoff uses her instrument on Baile as Baile to reveal who she is, not what she can do.
